EDITORIAL. 
543 
the following announcement from Center County, Pennsyl¬ 
vania : 
“One of the greatest scourges the farmers in this part of the State have had to con¬ 
tend with for some time is the great prevalence of disease among their cattle. Dr. Pear¬ 
son, State Veterinarian, is kept busy trying to eradicate the diseases, but thus far has not 
succeeded. 1 uberculosis and pleuro-pneumonia are the two worst. The entire reserva¬ 
tion of young cattle on the Allegheny Mountains is afflicted with the latter disease and all 
have been quarantined. Over a hundred head have been killed and the carcasses 
burned. ’ ’ 
Any one in the least acquainted with the history of con¬ 
tagious diseases in this country would not have had to await the 
very prompt and emphatic denial of the existence of a single 
case of contagious pleuro-pneumonia by Dr. Leonard Pearson, 
State Veterinarian of Pennsylvania, because the merest tyro in 
recent history would know that such an alarming occurrence as 
the reappearance of that loathsome malady in this country would 
have been heralded by a much more reliable carrier than the 
journal which is edited by some one who is utterly incapable of 
giving public utterance to any statement of importance. We 
hasten to emphatically assure the profession and public of this 
and every other country upon the face of the earth that no single 
case of pleuro-pneumonia contagiosa has appeared in Pennsyl¬ 
vania under any guise within a recent period. 
The Army Bier. —The following circular letter from the 
Committee on Army Legislation of the United States Veteri¬ 
nary Medical Association, has been forwarded to all known 
veterinarians in this country : 
(Confidential.) 
Fort Myer, Va., Oct. 17, 1896. 
Dear Doctor .-—Accompanying this letter you will find some circulars clearly setting 
forth the condition of the veterinary profession in the United States Army and the great 
need for its improvement. 
The United States Veterinary Medical Association has appointed the undersigned 
committee to take charge of this work, and we ask your active co-operation. 
The V eterinary Bill was introduced last winter and was favorably reported, but owing 
to political complications we were unable to get it to a vote in the House of Representa¬ 
tives. 
This winter it will be brought before the House early in the session, and we have 
every assurance of success, but to clinch this matter we must be vigilant. 
