INTRODUCTION 



XIX 



existence in 1831, the result of the Cholera scare, and was 

 the nucleus of the present Medical Department of the Local 

 Government Board, in the same way as the Veterinary 

 Department was formed in 1865 as the result of the Cattle 

 Plague scare. 



A Central Board of Health, with its independent Medical 

 and Veterinary Sections, would be capable of performing 

 infinitely better service than at present, while the Agri- 

 cultural Department could be left to deal exclusively with 

 Agricultural matters— such, for example, as Statistics re- 

 lating to Crops, Areas under Cultivation, Animal Population, 

 Markets and Fairs, Imports and Exports of Animals, etc., 

 duties for which their constitution is adapted. 



We recommend the entire withdrawal of all veterinary 

 matters from the Board of Agriculture, and the re-erection 

 of the Veterinary Department under the wing of a Minister 

 of Public Health. This central body to take charge of the 

 duties of the eradication of animal diseases, nothing being 

 left to the discretionary powers of Local Authorities, who 

 are merely the machinery on the spot for carrying out the 

 orders of the Central Authority. With this must follow 

 the abolition of all lay Inspectors, the whole of their duties 

 being carried out by Veterinary Officers of Health ; these 

 must be specially qualified members of the profession inde- 

 pendent of private practice, and each having his own 

 subordinate staff to assist in carrying on the work. 



There is every indication of the willingness of Univer- 

 sities to confer a Veterinary Degree in Public Health, 

 which is abundant evidence of the importance and general 

 interest now being taken in the question. The feeling 

 that Veterinary Surgeons are unsuited to occupy a public 

 position in matters of State and Municipal Hygiene is fast 

 dying out, for which we have to thank enlightened public 

 opinion and an educated profession. 



It has taken the public a long time to recognise that our 

 work is highly specialized, and that no medical man or 

 layman can possibly take the place of the trained expert in 

 veterinary matters. The tutelage of the medical profession 



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