EDITORIAL. 
645 
the Bureau had prepared a careful and valuable paper upon the 
subject, the Secretary of the American Association again ad¬ 
dressed a letter to the Bureau Chief saying that when the 
; Washington society found Dr. Salmon’s name upon the pro- 
.gramme it went into hysterics and asserted that if it remained 
there all interest in the meeting would be suspended. The 
writer proclaimed innocence of any responsibility for this action, 
regretted the circumstance, and assured him of distinguished 
consideration by the American Association. Dr. Salmon’s letter 
of reply is so full of wisdom and is such a complete exposition 
of the ridiculous position of the Washington Society that we 
append it in full: 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, 
D. C., November 29, 1898. 
Mr. James M. Brown, Chairmayi Sub-Executive Committee, The American 
Humane Association, 405 Gardner Building, Toledo, Ohio. 
My Dear Sir: —Your favor of the 21st instant is received, 
and I assure you there is no cause for you to feel embarrass¬ 
ment on my account. It is remarkable, however, that the 
Washington Humane Society should so greatly fear the reading 
of a paper before your body, upon such a practical subject as 
I was to present, that it would lose all interest in the meeting 
in case that part of the programme were carried out. If the cause 
which they are advocating would be so seriously endangered by 
I one man and one paper, with a convention predisposed in their 
I favor, should not this confession of the fact prove embarrassing 
I to them rather than to any one else ? 
The Washington Humane Society is making a great effort 
to secure legislation to stop experimentation upon animals even 
I for the advancement of medical science. In this I sincerely 
! hope they will never succeed ; but they are alienating from co¬ 
operation with the humane societies the great humane forces of 
the country, viz., the medical and veterinary professions, the 
biologists, the universities, and the Agricultural Departihent of 
the Government. In the meantime the value of such experi- 
; mentation is becoming more and more apparent, and we are 
slowly learning, by means of it, how to control the destructive 
I'.diseases affecting mankind and the lower animals. This 
! Bureau has distributed upon request of the owners of cattle, 
^500,000 doses, of blackleg vaccine, during the past year, reduc- 
