PREFACH. 
It has been very gratifying to be able to prepare, in the last days 
of the Nineteenth Century, an appropriate souvenir of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry as it exists at this time. There have been many im- 
portant duties committed to this Bureau, some were educational, some 
consisted in the protection of property, others in the preservation of our 
export trade, and still others in alleviating animal suffering and in guard- 
ing the public health. To the development and guidance of this Bureau 
during its earlier and more critical period, the Author has given the best 
years of his life. From its establishment he has given the questions 
which have arisen in connection with this service his constant study. 
The utility of the service and its conservative direction are made evident 
by the growth and popularity of the Bureau from its organization to the 
present time. 
There are comparatively few persons who know of the great work 
which this Bureau has accomplished in scientific research, in the eradica- 
tion of animal diseases, in guarding against the importation of exotic 
plagues, in preserving our export trade in animals and animal products, 
in opening new markets for these products in foreign lands, and, above 
all, in protecting the health of our people by the condemnation and de- 
struction of diseased meat. This work is so widely distributed and is 
carried on so quietly without ostentation or display that it has not at- 
tracted the public notice which its importance deserves. Nor have the 
members of the staff who have been cooperating for years had an op- 
portunity to form a general acquaintance with each other. It has, there - 
fore, appeared extremely desirable to collect and bring together, in one 
volume, a brief account of this work, and such portraits and biographi- 
cal notes of those engaged in this service at the end of the century 
as could be obtained. 
No individual, by his unaided efforts, could have achieved success 
in the preparation of this volume. ‘The undertaking has been much 
more extensive and exacting than was anticipated; and it has been only 
through the generous and cordial cooperation of those engaged in the 
Bureau service that it is possible to present the completed book within 
a reasonable time from the inception of the plan. To all who have 
aided in any manner to make this volume worthy of the Bureau and its 
great work, the Author extends the assurance of his sincere appreciation. 
D. FE. SALMON. 
WasuHINGTon, D.C., 
December 31, 1900. 
