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CORRESPONDENCE. 
raisers’ attention to the sanitary and hygienic rules which should 
govern every stable and stock farm. 
Indeed, it is more and more the endeavor of veterinary medi¬ 
cine to prevent disease by preventing the violation of nature’s 
laws, and when the press lends its great influence to the more 
silent but earnest exhortation of the veterinarian, as he goes 
from barn to barn on his mission of mercy, the feeling implanted 
would not be that of meddling, but would impress the reader that 
assistance and comfort were being given his animals. 
But to our most sincere regret this is not always the attitude 
of the press towards the profession. It is by no means a rare 
thing to see a paper heaping ridicule on ridicule on the whole 
profession, either because of the unfriendly feelings of a few or 
because of some personal prejudice of the editor. Besides the 
injustice to the qualified veterinarian, utterances in which 
“quack,” “ fakir ” and similar terms figure largely, we think 
that much injury is done to the public. 
There are many people, principally among the poorer classes, 
who are at best quite sceptical as to the merits of veterinary 
medicine, and if their scepticism is strengthened by editorials and 
squibs derogatory to the veterinarian it may readily occur that 
the practitioner will find himself helpless because of the want of 
confidence of his client and the half-hearted way in which his 
instructions are carried out by the attendants. Sometimes these 
strictures are more due to thoughtless writing than to a desire 
to harm or impede the progress of veterinary science. But let 
the editor imagine himself describing or criticising his own 
veterinary surgeon and perhaps he would alter his words in such 
a way that they would leave a milder and more exalted impres¬ 
sion for the veterinarian. For those who do really and truly 
mean to do harm we can only say that much harm is done to the 
public as well. 
When an individual commits a wrongful or unprofessional 
act or a crime, scourge and scorn him as he deserves, but not the 
whole profession—the good and bad alike. 
In this connection we might mention a frequent custom of 
the press which often produces wrong impressions on the public 
and leads to injurious consequences—the printing of the treat¬ 
ment of diseases. No two cases are alike in every particular, 
thus though the plan of remedy recommended may prove bene¬ 
ficial in some cases it may result in much harm in others. 
Teach the people the laws of health, urge them to obey the 
laws of veterinary hygiene, persuade them that certain diseases 
