DISEASES OF CATTLE. 59 



The work of State boards of health is not surely to be limited to 

 gathering statistics of mortality in man, or inspecting our water- 

 sources alone, but should extend to the investigation of those experi- 

 ments by which alone the true causes of disease may be discovered. 

 We are too apt to satisfy ourselves with fine-sounding hypotheses 

 with regard to the origin of many so-called strange diseases, which 

 a few exact experiments would soon send to the winds, and which 

 would lead to the discovery, if not of the cause or causes, certainly 

 of means for their prevention. 



The real germ of small-pox contagion has never yet been posi- 

 tively isolated, although many fond supporters of the micrococcus- 

 germ theory cherish an idea to the contrary ; yet careful experiment 

 and exact observation, in unison with practical experience, have 

 taught us that exact attention to, and universal application of, vacci- 

 nation, is an almost infallibly sure means of prevention against its 

 deadly ravages. 



With regard to this very milk question, a few facts, gained from 

 actual experiment, are worth thousands of surmises from practicing 

 physicians. 



To this end State boards of health should have at their com- 

 mand an experiment station, under the control of a competently 

 educated person as superintendent and observer of the experiments. 

 Such a person should be a veterinarian, and be at the same time a 

 member of the State Board of Health ; the advantage to such boards 

 of such a member is by no means appreciated at the present time, 

 either by the members of such boards or by the people at large. 



With reference to the expenses of such a station, the question 

 for legislators, and also for the people, to consider, is not one of im- 

 mediate outlay, but whether it is cheaper to spend a few thousand 

 dollars yearly for experiments, or to have causes of disease, and 

 sometimes death, existing for years, which it is possible to discov- 

 er, or at least to find means to prevent their action. 



Another most important questionto which I desire to call atten- 

 tion is, Have States or cities done their' whole duty when they have 

 appointed inspectors to examine milk after it has left the producer, 

 as it is ready for delivery to the consumer f 



If, as I can but think, experiment will prove that the consump- 

 tion of milk from cows having diseased udders, so called " garget," 

 is fraught with danger to human health, then city inspection, or de- 

 livery inspection, is next to useless, and the place for the most im- 

 portant inspection is at the stable of the producer. 



All such cows should be isolated by an official veterinary in- 



