RELATION OF VETERINARY MEDICINE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 591 
lactic and therapeutic purposes to mankind cannot be esti¬ 
mated. 
We hear a good deal in these latter days about the “passing 
of the horse,” which is absurd ; but even if such were the case, 
there would still remain a vast field open in this country for 
qualified veterinarians in connection with the work of State 
and local boards of health, throughout the length and breadth 
of this broad land, to say nothing of laboratory and experi¬ 
mental work which veterinarians must participate in if true 
science is to advance as it should. Another great field for the 
veterinarian is in aiding the development and maintenance of 
the animal industry and wealth .of this country ; not only in 
presenting and actually treating and restoring sick animals to 
health, but primarily in the science of breeding and in the de¬ 
velopment of animal life for special purposes useful to man, as 
well as in securing a sound, wholesome meat and milk supply. 
Then, again, people will always have dogs and pet animals that 
they want cared for when ill ; so it must be evident to every 
thoughtful person that the field of veterinary research and prac¬ 
tice is almost illimitable to the scientific veterinarian. 
The United States Bureau of Animal Industry is doing a 
great work in the matter of the inspection of meat foi inter¬ 
state and foreign trade, but this matter of meat inspection 
should not stop here. We as a people are a business people, 
and here again the financial considerations seem to have more 
weight with us than that of our health. We are more paiticu- 
lar, yes, far more particular, about the quality and healthfulness 
of the meat we export to Kngland, France and Germany, than 
we are of the meat produced for home consumption. 
This is no criticism of the work of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, for this branch of the Federal service is carried out 
as far as the law contemplates and in a very effectual and far- 
reaching manner. It is the function of local boards of health 
to take care of this matter. Competent veterinarians must be 
selected to do this work if it is to be of any real value to the 
public. 
