TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 493 
improved, making great progress ; further, that the rearing 
of cattle has become more general and rational, as well as much 
ameliorated ; and I am persuaded that if our rural districts 
had good veterinary surgeons, the loss of cattle by death 
would be considerably less, and that when epizootic diseases 
break out, preventive means would be more promptly taken. 
But, as the report states, there is such a scarcity of veterinary 
surgeons that on these occasions it is necessary to send them 
into the different cantons. Why this scarcity ? Not that 
there are not enough graduates, but because those who have 
passed the schools are obliged after a time to abandon the 
profession, so as to obtain a living by other means. It is 
therefore necessary that the administration should secure to 
them a position by removing empiricism, this pest of the agri¬ 
culturist, which is both expensive, and of no real service to 
him. I ask, for these reasons, that the petition which the 
commission proposes to be sent to the Minister of Agriculture 
and Commerce be taken into due consideration, as there is 
involved in it the future of our agriculture, and I energetically 
support the proposition in order to bring it to a determina¬ 
tion. 
M. ladoucette . — I entirely agree in the conclusions 
come to by the commission, and the statement made by 
Count Beaumont. It is very extraordinary that, since the 
time our veterinary schools have been established, there 
should only be 2544 veterinary surgeons in France.. This 
number certainly is too small for the great number of 
horses and cattle we possess, and which we hope will go on 
increasing. This must be owing to the fact that the position 
of the veterinary surgeon is not such as to induce young men 
to engage in it. In my opinion, encouragement should be 
held out to them. Not only the state, but likewise the 
departments ought to do this. The honorable reporter has 
stated what takes place in the departments of the West. I 
would ask leave to state what takes place in those of the 
East. In the Department of the Moselle, for instance, where 
[ am a member of the Council General, the necessity of having 
veterinary surgeons has been so severely felt that the authori¬ 
ties of the department have made a sacrifice, in which the 
communes have joined. In this department we have pri¬ 
marily established cantonal medical practitioners, and after¬ 
wards cantonal veterinary surgeons. The communes in the 
divers cantons have formed themselves into unions to insure 
(a clientele) patronage to the veterinary surgeon. The de¬ 
partment, on its side, has granted a certain sum of money to 
assist the veterinary surgeon by small subventions. By 
these means we have secured a certain number, not enough, 
