RELATION OF VETERINARY MEDICINE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 589 
a commercial sense, in protecting the animal wealth than they 
do for what the science does for the health and lives of the peo¬ 
ple themselves. 
When the veterinary practitioner is successful in restoring 
to health his patron’s pet dog, or in saving the life of his valu¬ 
able horse, his services are in the great majority of instances 
appreciated, but what he does to protect the health and lives of 
the people is seldom understood or recognized. 
A great work is being done by qualified veterinary practi¬ 
tioners all over this broad land in sanitation and preventive 
medicine, and it is a deplorable fact that the nature and scope 
of this work is not more fully understood by otherwise intelli¬ 
gent people. Preventive medicine will advance as its value is 
recognized and demanded by the public generally. 
Not many years since when contagious pleuro-pneumonia 
broke out among cattle and the animal industry of the country 
suffered heavy financial losses it did not take the public long 
to demand State and National legislation to exterminate the 
disease. This disease struck the most sensitive thing in cre¬ 
ation—the bank account—and although there was absolutely 
no danger of transmission of the disease to mankind, yet meas¬ 
ures were taken at once, which, under ^ble guidance at Wash¬ 
ington, resulted in the extermination of the disease. While 
this was as it should have been, yet it seems strange from the 
standpoint of the veterinary profession that the public is so 
slow in supporting and encouraging what veterinary science is 
capable of doing for the health and lives of the people them¬ 
selves. The conscientious veterinarian is constantly looking 
out to improve sanitary conditions, have animals kept under 
hygienic conditions, as well as to treat diseased animals, and 
last, but not least, to prevent the transmission of disease to hu¬ 
man beings. It should be remembered that the veterinarian is 
truly the guardian of the public health, as in many instances 
diseases transmissible to man as well as bad sanitary conditions 
first come under his observation. If he deals with them as they 
should be dealt with he protects human life and health. Is it 
