78 ESSENTIALS OF VETERINARY LAW 



in the stable, and nnsterilized, he deserves severe 

 punishment if tetanus develops generally among 

 his patients. Thirty years ago this would not have 

 been considered as necessarily carelessness. To- 

 day it is criminal negligence. He should know 

 what he is doing. 



This new method imj^oses another duty upon 

 the physician, whether he treat human or four- 

 legged animals. He must use due care in the selec- 

 tion of his bacterial remedies. He should assure 

 himself that the manufacturers whom he pat- 

 ronizes use proper care. It is true that all these 

 substances are manufactured in this country under 

 governmental supervision, when they are to enter 

 into interstate commerce. It is, however, impos- 

 sible for the government to warrant their purity. 

 A firm may get a license, and may still show care- 

 lessness in their product. This has been demon- 

 strated several times within a few years. It there- 

 fore becomes necessary that the veterinarian who 

 uses an anti-hog-cholera serum, for example, 

 should assure himself that the firm manufactur- 

 ing the serum is careful and in every way reliable. 

 Cheap goods generally mean a lack of care, but 

 high price alone is not the only guaranty neces- 

 sary. A fimi which has once put out impure goods 

 should ahvays be regarded with suspicion, unless 

 it has been definitely and clearly demonstrated 

 that it was the result of an accident w^hich could 

 not have been foreseen. See §§ 157-159. 



51. Liabilities for the Acts of Others. '■ ^ A phy- 

 sician is not responsible for the acts of nurses and 

 interns in a hospital in dressing the wound of the 

 patient there operated on by the physician, where 



