CORRESPONDENCE. 
665 
pages, with some new features, and perfectly indexed. Although 
the two most active members of the Publication Committee were 
hors de combat during the latter part of the session, they lost no 
time in getting down to work when they reached home, and 
we extend our congratulations to them and the Association on 
the creditable presentation of the interesting proceedings and 
valuable papers, many of which could not for lack of time be 
read and discussed, and appear in this volume for the first time, 
and form an invaluable addition to American veterinary litera¬ 
ture. 
The volume contains the constitution and by-laws of the 
Association, a new departure, and an excellent one, placing in 
compact and convenient form for reference this important in¬ 
strument. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE FUTURE OF THE VETERINARY SERVICE IN THE U. S. ARMY. 
Mayaguez, Porto Rico, Nov. i, 1899. 
Editors American Veterinary Review : 
Dear Sirs: —The future of the veterinary service in the 
army is one that has a most absorbing interest for the profession 
at large, and a peculiarly absorbing one for those of us who are 
connected directly with the service at present. Are we satisfied 
with the existing condition of affairs; are there no future steps 
to be taken, and has the recent improvement in the status of 
ten of the army positions improved the service to such an ex¬ 
tent that there is no room left for improvement ? Will the bet¬ 
tering of the condition of half of the present army force have 
any bearing on the welfare of the cavalry horse, and will the 
functions of the veterinarian be performed with more benefit to 
the service, working as he is without organization and without 
a governing and guiding mind? These are questions that will 
not down, and must be solved before any real and satisfactory 
results are obtained, and before the service can receive the im¬ 
provement that it is entitled to under the recent partial reorgani¬ 
zation. 
We are all well aware that now there is no system of any 
kind in the administration of the duty of the veterinarian, no 
data of any kind preserved except that depending upon the taste 
or inclination of the individual, and it is needless to say that 
