THE VETERINARY PROFESSION. 
153 
Diseases hitherto unmanageable, or treated only at a loss to 
the owner, must be studied carefully and rendered more amenable 
to treatment; and throughout the entire category of diseases we 
i 
may amend and improve the treatment in a manner to render our 
services more satisfactory and mutually remunerative, and by our 
increased skill and judgment elevate our profession in this respect 
to a far more honorable position than we now occupy. 
Hereafter, also, the veterinarian can and must be a humanita¬ 
rian. Closely interwoven in the higher sentiments of every 
enlightened people, there exists a tender, beautiful, ever extend¬ 
ing feeling of humane sympathy for the sufferings of the lower 
animals, especially of those so inexorably faithful as servants, or 
true as companions, as are most of our domestic animals. We 
can and should, when occasion permits, arouse public sentiment 
in this regard, and in our own work we should study how best to 
alleviate and avoid suffering, as well as to save money to our 
patrons. 
We very much fear that, as a body, we have been habitually 
far too inhuman in our operations and methods of treatment, 
sometimes from lack of appliances or the attendant expense, but 
in too many cases, from a fundamental want of true humanitarian 
ideas. Possibly the opportunities in this direction offer poor 
financial inducements, but a careful application of humanitarian 
principles in our work insures to us an ample reward by nourish¬ 
ing sentiments of inestimable value in rendering men truly happy 
and contented. 
The ever augmenting menace to national wealth, through the 
ravages and spread of contagious diseases of animals, must neces¬ 
sarily afford honorable and lucrative employment to a large num¬ 
ber of veterinarians, by National and State Governments, to deter¬ 
mine the nature and causes and devise means for the control and 
extirpation of these dread maladies. Already there is a consid¬ 
erable number so employed, limiting their operations mainly to 
the extirpation or control of pleuro-pneumonia and Texas fever in 
cattle and glanders in horses. The enlightened public is begin¬ 
ning to recognize the importance and effectiveness of their work 
and will be ready, as soon as we have sufficient trained force to 
