U. S. VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
401 
chemical standard, thirteen per cent, of total solids : yet the milk is consumed 
without any knowledge of the health or sanitary surroundings of the cows pro¬ 
ducing it. Boston is ahead of most other large cities in this country in having a 
properly qualified veterinarian as inspector at the abattoir ; in other respects she 
is much the same and in other ways there are a few cities in advance of the rest 
in having veterinarians appointed to the Board of Health—for example, New 
York, Brooklyn and Jersey City. I have taken Boston as an example because 
living there I know the state of affairs there. 
The recognition which we most demand from the general government just 
now, is the organization of a proper army veterinary corps, to place army veteri¬ 
nary surgeons in this country on an equality with commissioned officers and with 
their confreres in every other country on the face of the globe having any claims 
to civilization. I will not say any more upon this matter as I suppose there will 
be a report from the Committee on Army Legislation, dealing with this subject in 
detail. 
With regard to the standing of the profession in various parts of the 
country, I have incidentally received quite a good deal of information from the 
Assistant State Secretaries in response to my circulars. I find that veterinarians 
have the best standing in the communities where qualified men have been longest 
kuown. For example, Boston, New York City, and cities around New York ; 
outside of these centres the West is the portion of the country that shows the 
greatest appreciation of veterinary science. With their great live stock interests 
as their principal sources of wealth, it is the Western States which have ap¬ 
pointed State Veterinarians and taken the most active steps to pass laws for the 
eradication and suppression of contagious animal diseases ; and it is in the South 
where the greatest lack of progress is shown. 
In Missouri the law is particularly good because it first defines that the State 
Veterinarian must be a graduate of a reputable veterinary college, beside which 
he must present good evidence to the trustees of the State Agricultural College 
that he has a good practical and theoretical knowledge of the diseases of animals 
before he can receive his appointment. If he cannot perform all his duties alone 
he can appoint deputies in various parts of the State to act as assistant veterinar¬ 
ians ; and the law provides that they also must be competent and graduates of 
veterinary colleges. This is a fitting tribute to the veterinary graduates that 
every State should be made to pay. This law provides for dealing with all in¬ 
fectious animal diseases, so that under it the State Veterinarian can take meas¬ 
ures to suppress tuberculosis and actinomycosis, as well as other communicable 
maladies. The chief objection is the amount of salaries—I think $2,500 a year 
is too small salary for a State Veterinarian, and I know $5 a day and expenses 
will not procure any very heavy timber to act in the capacity of deputies. 
Taking one section of the country after another, judging from the letters I 
have received, and being as brief as possible, I find that in New Hampshire the 
people appreciate the usefulness of veterinarians, but do not yet readily distin¬ 
guish between the graduate and quack. In Massachusetts the profession stands 
for the most part well, especially in Boston. Dr. McLaughlin’s letter which I 
have just read speaks for Rhode Island; and in Connecticut I find that the veter¬ 
inary surgeon is constantly gaining in the esteem and confidence of people around 
