THE VETERINARY SURGEON IN THE U. S. ARMY. 
259 
from which I will give a few extracts), I am encouraged by 
this partial success to renew my efforts in this direction and 
place the matter once more before the profession, with a hope 
that I may be assisted in these efforts by some of the veteri¬ 
narians now in the army. In all probability it will be asked 
why I am so much interested in elevating the standard of the 
army veterinarian. To this I would reply that the only in¬ 
terest I have in the matter is to see the veterinary profession 
occupying that position which is its right to fill in the military 
service of this country. I am a military man by instinct, and 
I may add, education, and as such respect the traditions and 
customs that govern the military service; but still, being a 
member of the veterinary profession, I cannot stand passively 
by and see the members of that profession who have entered 
the military service of the United States as veterinarians re¬ 
duced to the category of “ horse doctors,” when their train¬ 
ing, study and education calls for something more. 
The day of the “horse doctor” is rapidly waning in civil 
life, and even the army regulations call for men of education 
and ability to fill the position of veterinarian, yet it denies 
to them the position that is theirs by right and places them 
on the same level as the non-commissioned staff. My object 
in writing these articles is to obtain for the army veterinarian 
proper recognition at the hands of the Government, to arouse 
the members of the profession in the United States from their 
lethargy in order that they may enable me, by their influence, 
to introduce and pass a bill in Congress, giving the army vet¬ 
erinarian the position that his education demands, and provid¬ 
ing for all the veterinary surgeons who are now serving with 
the army. Before leaving the subject of legislation I would 
remark that it was with feelings of regret that I read a certain 
portion of the report of the United States Veterinary Medical 
Association, (May Review) in which the Chairman, Dr. Liau- 
tard, reported the lack of success of the Committee on Army 
Legislation. Of course there was lack of success where I pre¬ 
sume the committee did not exactly know the wants of the 
members serving in the army, and when in all probability 
there was only a half-hearted interest taken in the matter by 
