ARMY VETERINARY LEGISLATION. 
735 
tion and experience, is best able to pass upon the fitness of animal food 
for our army. 
I venture the assertion that had we had a properly and well-organized 
veterinary corps during the late war with Spain upon which had rested 
the responsibility for the selection and care of army animals and inspec¬ 
tion of meat for our soldiers, many thousands of dollars would have been 
saved to the Government and the deplorable condition now existing in 
the War Department would never have been. The necessity for such a 
corps does to me seem apparent when the value of army animals is taken 
into consideration. 
During the period of five months, viz., from April i to September i, , 
1898, the cost to the Government for horses and mules for all branches 
of the service was little short of $4,000,000. 
The following extract from the report of the Legislative Committee 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association I desire to read : 
“ The proper selection and care of the horses, mules, and other ani¬ 
mals in the cavalry, artillery, and transportation service and of those 
taken to be slaughtered for subsistence is a very important considera¬ 
tion, and upon it must depend to a large extent the efficiency and suc¬ 
cess of the army. 
“ Horses shotild be selected with a view to proper size and conforma¬ 
tion for the service in which they are to be used ; they should be free 
from lameness and other forms of unsoundness, the mares should not be 
pregnant, and all animals should be specially examined for contagious 
diseases. These points can only be determined by a competent veteri¬ 
narian. They would be passed upon most carefully by an official with 
rank and responsibility, who would be held to a proper accountability 
for the condition of the animals. 
“ When horses and mules in the service are injured or become lame 
it is important that they should be skillfully treated. If contagious 
diseases, such as glanders, break out, the proper measures should be at 
once taken to prevent the spread of the contagion and to stamp it out. 
Such measures can be intelligently formulated and enforced by expert 
veterinarians only. 
“ The provision in the bill for two veterinarians with the rank of 
second lieutenant mounted for each cavalry regiment makes the position 
of such veterinarians more agreeable, and will have a tendency to secure 
better men and to give them some standing and authority. But it should 
be understood that this does not provide an adequate veterinary service. 
It leaves the artillery, the transportation service, the inspection of pub¬ 
lic animals, and the military schools without military veterinarians. It 
also fails to provide veterinary advice for the War Department or the 
headquarters of the army. Surely there should be at least one veteri- . 
narian of greater ability and experience than can be obtained for the pay 
of a second lieutenant who can advise as to the medicines, instruments, 
regulations, and orders to be issued to the veterinarians in the several 
regiments. There should be some one with the most expert knowledge 
to see that the regulations are carried out and that contagious diseases 
are properly guarded against and suppressed. The experience of the past 
summer should be sufficient demonstration of this fact. 
In 1890 Dr. R. S. Huidekoper, of Philadelphia, Pa., late chief medical 
director, first army corps, in an address before the students of the veteri- 
