138 ESSENTIALS OF VETERINARY LAAV 



the city had exceeded its authority in framing the 

 ordinance, so that the enactment is void, the offi- 

 cer cannot plead as justification either the fact 

 that he was complying with the terms of the ille- 

 gal enactment, or that he was acting in good 

 faith. ^^ It therefore becomes evident that the 

 governmental veterinarian should not be content 

 with mechanically following the statute, or the 

 orders of his superior officer. He should learn at 

 least the jDrinciples of law governing the position. 



102. Quarantine. An infectious disease is a 

 nuisance, and as such it should be abated. The 

 animals in which it exists are not of themselves 

 nuisances, and they have commercial value in 

 most cases. The disease cannot be summarily 

 abated without also destroying the animals. For 

 this reason we are accustomed to adopt certain 

 restrictive measures. At one time the only method 

 upon which dependence was placed was quaran- 

 tine. The period of isolation may safely be mate- 

 rially lessened by certain modern methods by 

 which the disease germs, or their carriers, are 

 destroyed, without injuring the stock. 



103. Quarantine Does Not Depend upon Statute. 

 Where there is an enactment directing where and 

 how a quarantine shall be established, that enact- 

 ment must be observ^ed; but where the law is 

 silent, the police power of the community will 

 sujoport any reasonable measure taken for the 



19 PuBLC Health, 361 ; Fisher 196; Cunningham v. Macon E. 



V. McGirr, 1 Gray, 1 ; Ely v. E. Co., 109 U. S. 446 ; Poindex- 



Thompson, 3 A. K. Marsh, 70; ter v. Greenhow, 114 U. S. 270; 



Osborn v. Bank, 9 Wheat. 738 ; Sumner v. Beelor, oO Ind. 341 ; 



Norton v. Shelby Co., 118 U. S. Board v. McComb, 92 U. S. 531. 

 425; U. S. V. Lee, lOG U. S. 



