THE VETERINARIAN AS A SANITARIAN. 
147 
examination ; nor would they risk such a disease on their 
place, were the danger to the public and themselves properly 
and earnestly presented to them. Tuberculosis in the lower 
animals, especially in the case of milch cows, has certainly 
been demonstrated as one of the most insidious dangers to 
the health of man, and from recent investigations by veteri¬ 
narians, its growth in our cities, both public and private, is 
becoming a very serious matter ; and this fact, in connection 
with the thought that the Bureau of Animal Industry is to an 
alarming extent, handicapped in the control of this disease, 
was one of my strong reasons for writing these lines, for 
surely if tuberculosis in the lower animals is to be eradicated, 
controlled or modified, the local practitioner of veterinary 
medicine must do the work through the co-operation of the 
local boards of health, for in this disease it is not a question 
of quarantining an affected section, but to successfully cope 
with it, the affected cases must be ferreted out, through per¬ 
haps years of professional contact with the animals of a neigh¬ 
borhood. 
Doctoring an afflicted horse, prescribing for a sick cow, 
or the nursing of a poor, broken down, chronically crippled cob, 
is only one side of the veterinary profession. But the bright 
side, that which every devoted, enthusiastic veterinary stu¬ 
dent longs to have presented in its proper light to the consid¬ 
eration of the people of the United States, is its sanitary side, 
which in Europe is recognized, and is undergoing continual 
development there, although a high standard of efficiency has 
already been attained, proving the importance of the veteri¬ 
narian as a sanitarian, not only when under the jurisdiction 
and fostering care of a general government, for he is substan¬ 
tially esteemed and appreciated as of great value in the coun¬ 
cils of local authorities, which is in fact the most important 
medium of government, through whose sanction and assist¬ 
ance he can attest himself a public benefactor of high order. 
