EDITORIAL. 
529 
but regular graduates can occupy positions as veterinarians in the 
ranks, but this regulation is comparatively a dead letter, as irreg¬ 
ulars are yet attached in such capacities to some of our regiments 
of cavalry; and yet from day to day the importance of veterin" 
ary science is impressing itself more and more upon the public 
attention, and the question as to the attitude of the General 
Government to the subject is growing more and more urgent. Is 
not this an auspicious opportunity for the authorities at Wash¬ 
ington to take the work in hand by recognizing the resolution 
of the National Farmers’ Congress ? It is not a new question nor 
a new subject. For years the establishment of a National Veter¬ 
inary School has been advocated, not by farmers, agriculturists, 
or Representatives, but by the very ones who were acquainted 
with the necessity and the importance of the work, who have no 
“ axe to grind ” and nothing to gain but to benefit the country 
and elevate the profession—and those were veterinarians. It is 
a subject that cannot remain much longer ignored. A National 
Veterinary School will yet impose itself upon the General Govern¬ 
ment, with the same claims as a necessity as account for the 
existence of West Foint or the Naval School. If these latter will 
furnish means to defend the country in time of war, the former will 
properly prepare men to protect her agricultural interests, her live 
stock—that is her national wealth—in the time of peace. 
Contagious Pleuro-Pneumonia in Pennsylvania. —“ To my 
knowledge, there is no pleuro-pneumonia in the State,” was 
about the answer given by Mr. Tb. J. Edge, the Secretary of the 
Board of Agriculture, who, since 1879, has had the work of 
eradicating that disease from the Keystone State in charge, and 
yet veterinarians knew better—and right they were. To-day the 
question is no more in doubt. The disease prevails there. It 
has been found in carcasses of animals killed for consumption, 
and also in living animals, which were under the treatment of a 
quack. To what extent the disease may have spread since the 
inauguration of the work carried on by Mr. Edge is not yet 
known, but the investigation which is to be made by the proper 
authorities (veterinarians) will soon determine it, and meanwhile 
the veterinarians of Pennsylvania have passed the following resol- 
