CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 123 



edge of sanitary police he protects the i)iirchaser of animals against im- 

 position, and knowing how to exclude epizootics he protects interna- 

 tional commerce, which the constantly increasing facilities for commu- 

 nication render dail^' more important ; by his special knowledge of ani- 

 mal diseases he can insure that maladies intercommunicable between 

 animals and man shall not be conveyed to the latter through meat and 

 other animal products. 



The question of the organization of the veterinary service as a sani- 

 tary branch of every government had been extensively discussed at the 

 Third International Veterinary Congress at Zurich in 1867, and at the 

 following national veterinary conventions: For Germany, at Frankfort- 

 on-the-Main, in 1872; for France, at Paris, in 1878; for Italy, in Bo- 

 longe, in 1878 ; and for Belgium, at Brussels, in 1880. 



The Zurich Congress pronounced that : 



1. The practice of veterinary medicine should be regulated by law. 



2. The veterinary art ought to be an integral branch, but independ- 

 ent, of the sanitary administration. 



3. Veterinary medicine should be represented by competent persons 

 closely related to the authorities; inferior, medium, and superior. 



4. No one should be allowed to practice veterinary medicine unless 

 he has pursued the required studies in a public veterinary college, and 

 has acijuired after examination the diploma or the legal character of 

 veterinarian. 



5. All veterinarians may be called as experts by private individuals, 

 but the judicial authorities ought only to call as competent persons vet- 

 erinarians who are officially recognized. 



6. In cases of sanitary police the administrative authorities ought 

 not to have recourse, save exceptionally, to those who have not been 

 officially recognized as competent. 



7. The expression " competent person " should be understood in the 

 sense that he is a diplomaed veterinarian. 



8. All veterinarians ought to have the right to furnish the medicines 

 required in their practice, but always under a suitable control. 



The four national conventions pronounced in similar terms for a guar- 

 autee of education and competency on the part of the veterinarian, and 

 for the organization of a sanitary veterinary service in each state, which 

 should deal with ei)izootics, advise how to render districts salubrious? 

 and how to improve the races of domestic animals, and inspect abat- 

 toirs, slaughter-houses, and rendering works. The German convention 

 pronounced in favor of a unification of the laws of the different Germgiu 

 states in regard to veterinar^^ sanitary police, and veterinary Jurispru- 

 dence, and for the frequent publication of statistics of contagious dis- 

 eases and mortality. The French convention pronounced in favor of 

 including in the sanitary corps all the veterinarians practising in a de- 

 partment, and for the election of a departmental veterinary director by 

 their votes. 



