part n. 



THE HISTORY OF YETERIJSTARY 

 MEDICINE. 



In the foregoing pages I have endeavored to place before the 

 public some of the principal dangers to which mankind is liable 

 from animal diseases themselves, or from parasites which, while in- 

 fecting the so-called lower animal organism, do not in some instances 

 cause any very serious disturbances ; still, when introduced into the 

 human organism, may cause disturbances of a very serious if not 

 of an absolutely mortal character. 



The only known means by which prevention of these disturb- 

 ances, or maladies, may be hoped for, is by the enactment of laws 

 and regulations by the different State governments — which should, 

 however, be uniform in all States. These laws and regulations 

 should be rigidly executed. Their execution, however, does not 

 come within the province of human medicine per se. It belongs 

 to another branch of medical science, which has been, up to the pres- 

 ent time, utterly neglected by the people of this country, whether 

 represented by the respective State governments or by the General 

 Government at Washington. Coming under the same head, and 

 therefore to be considered with it, are the suppression and preven- 

 tion of those ravaging animal pests which in past ages have almost 

 depopulated the older Continental nations of their animal wealth, 

 and which can any day be landed upon our shores ; in fact, as I have 

 already shown, some of them are already "domesticated" with us, 

 and the sole reason that their real nature and their ravages among 

 our animals are not more immediately felt by the American people 

 is the utter failure of reliable statistics upon the subject to bring 

 it home to every American statesman and citizen as well. 



The Commissioner of Agriculture, at Washington, gave out, for 

 the year 1879, a pamphlet entitled " Investigations of Diseases of 

 Swine, and Infectious and Contagious Diseases incident to other 



14 



