666 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
these are useless from an official standpoint, noted as they are 
without system and without supervision of any kind. 
Diseases may creep in, unsanitary conditions may exist, 
methods of meat and othei food inspection may be unscientific, 
unsystematic and even perfunctory, without anyone to demand 
an explanation. There is no rule laid down for the veterina¬ 
rian s guidance, and not even the shadow of a report made 
whereby the faithful, 01 otherwise, performance of the individ¬ 
ual may be judged. It is true that the veterinarian is under 
military discipline, and that his commanding officer can and 
will call him to account if negligent, but is this sufficient—is it 
all that is desired ? This supervision of the commanding officer 
would be important if he were a veterinarian himself, and it is 
all sufficient where the military administration is concerned, 
foi undei these conditions the commanding officer knows his 
business exactly and is a competent judge, while ordinarily his 
knowledge of veteriuary medicine is not much more than super¬ 
ficial. 
The authorities could remedy the present lack of system 
and haphazard manner of doing things in the veterinary service 
by appointing one of its veterinarians to supervise and direct 
the lest, but ne in all probability would be a man ignorant of 
the customs of the service, more of a civilian than of a soldier, 
and would as a consequence be the unconscious cause of contin¬ 
ual misunderstandings until experience (which he would have 
to gain with the colors) expanded his mind and showed him 
that he was not “ the whole thing.” Even should he be a man 
with military experience his position would certainly lack the 
necessary weight that rank alone bestows even in our own dem¬ 
ocratic army. 
To derive the best results from the improvement in the vet¬ 
erinary service and to place that service on a basis where it can 
an d will demonstrate that its work is well and thoroughlv per¬ 
formed, where the result of this work may be of lasting benefit 
both to the service and to veterinary science it should" have a 
competent head, and in this connection I would like above all 
others to mention the name of Dr. Rush S. Huidekoper, as a 
gentleman of long army, experience, splendid administrative 
abilities, a scientist, a medical man, and certainly a veterinarian 
of the fiist oidei. With this gentleman at the head of affairs, 
with a suitable rank (major), and with the rank allowed to 
those who have already passed the examination, there is no 
doubt that results would be attained of a lasting scientific and 
