THE VETERINARIAN IN RELATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH. 
GS3 
It is only of recent years that the close relation which exists 
between many of the diseases of animals and those of human be¬ 
ings, and the importance of the veterinarian as the guardian of 
the public health from this standpoint has been given serious con¬ 
sideration, even in scientific circles, and the ignorance of the gen¬ 
eral public of the sanitary work now being done by veterinarians 
and the sphere the profession is destined to* occupy is incredible. 
The efforts of the first organized health boards were directed 
against the more obvious causes of high death rates, such as 
cholera, yellow fever, smallpox and the various plagues; with the 
acquisition of the knowledge of the cause and prevention of these 
diseases and their consequent control, the sanitarians have been 
directing their energies to the control of the more insidious dis¬ 
eases, which, while not so 1 spectacular and terrifying as the 
plagues of old, take, nevertheless, their yearly toll of thousands 
of human lives, and to-day every factor which may possibly con¬ 
tribute to increase the death rate and impair the general health, is 
receiving the careful scrutiny of scientific minds. 
The number of veterinarians now employed by civil, state and 
municipal governments, as sanitary officers in different capacities, 
is very great, and as the science-of sanitation advances and be¬ 
comes more specialized, the services of the veterinarian, as a 
sanitarian, equipped for his duties by education and training, as 
he has never been before, will be considered absolutely indispen¬ 
sable. The city of New York now requires from every dairy¬ 
man bringing milk within its limits for sale, unless from a tuber¬ 
culin-tested herd, or exclusively for manufacturing purposes, a 
certificate from a graduate veterinarian, that his herd has been 
examined physically, all diseased animals excluded, reported to 
the state authorities and proper disinfection done. As the milk 
supply of this city comes from many different states, and repre¬ 
sents approximately 2,000,000 quarts a day, it will be seen that 
employment will be given many graduate veterinarians. The dif¬ 
ficulties of making an accurate diagnosis by physical examination 
are very great; but if the examinations are made conscientiously, 
a splendid opportunity will be given a great number of men to 
