September 10, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



327 



an unconscious murderer of little children. 

 Greater criminality than this can no man 

 possess: that he jeopardize the lives of his 

 kind for the sake of money. In no pro- 

 fession is there greater need for self-control 

 and the exercise of the strictest honesty and 

 personal integrity. 



The conservation of our domesticated 

 animals and their products is of the highest 

 importance to the welfare of our nation. 

 The following figures are taken from the 

 census of 1910. They are the latest official 

 figures available, although probably inac- 

 curate at the present time. During the 

 last five years there has probably been an 

 increase in the number of veterinarians. 

 In this period, also, there has probably been 

 a decrease in the number of some of the 

 domesticated animals because of the rav- 

 ages of foot and mouth disease and estab- 

 lished diseases as well as a decline, more or 

 less fluctuating, in production. 



The figures show that in 1910 there were 

 in this country on farms and not on farms 

 206,646,069 domesticated animals, includ- 

 ing cattle, horses, mules, asses, burros, 

 swine, sheep, and goats, with a valuation 

 of $5,296,421,619. With 11,652 veterina- 

 rians in this country, we have a ratio of one 

 veterinarian to 17,734 animals, or in finan- 

 cial terms one veterinarian to $454,550 of 

 animal valuation. While this average is 

 higher in some parts and much less in 

 others, it serves to emphasize the fact that 

 a great responsibility rests upon the vet- 

 erinarian if he is to assist, not merely in 

 the conservation of much valuable animal 

 stock already in existence, but in promoting 

 a still greater production. The necessity 

 for this is obvious in the case of the animals 

 used for food. The census returns show a 

 decrease of 8.7 per cent, in the number of 

 cattle on farms with an increase of 1.6 per 

 cent, in their valuation; a decrease of 7.4 

 per cent, in swine with an increase of 72.1 



per cent, in their valuation, and a decrease 

 of 14.7 per cent, in sheep with an increase 

 of 36.8 per cent, in their valuation. Horses, 

 mules, asses and burros have increased in 

 number during this period and their valua- 

 tion shows a much higher percentage of in- 

 crease than in the case of the food animals. 

 It has been figured that our average 

 disease loss of live stock in the United 

 States is $150,000,000 and our exposure 

 loss $44,000,000, a total of nearly $200,- 

 000,000 annually. It is evident that few 

 industries could endure such proportionate 

 losses and survive. The largest toll has 

 been taken from the food-producing an- 

 imals. We may assume that practically 

 all losses from exposure are preventable 

 and that this item will diminish as the 

 open-range boundaries contract and better 

 provision is made for the winter sustenance 

 of stock. 



The checking of the disease loss is a 

 slower and more serious matter and it is 

 here that the services of the veterinarian are 

 necessary. To meet this obligation he 

 must be something more than an uned- 

 ucated, practical horse doctor more or less 

 successful in the treatment of spavins, ring- 

 bones, colics and other routine cases of 

 practise. He must be able to see beyond 

 the educational horizon which treats only 

 of routine practise and, with a proper 

 blending of scientific and practical train- 

 ing, show an appreciation not only of per- 

 sonal but community interest in the animal 

 resources of our country. 



PiEREB A. Fish 

 Ithaca, N. Y. 



QUANTITY AND QUALITY 



Professor Emil Borel, who visited America 

 in 1912 as one of the inaugural lecturers at 

 the opening of the Rice Institute of Houston, 

 Texas, recently embodied some of his impres- 

 sions about America in an article under the 



