EDITORIAL. 
269 
The Bureau of Animal Industry, with Dr. E. Salmon, its 
chief, have lately entered upon the work of taking a census of the 
sickly animals which may be found in the States hitherto known 
to be infected. 
The Brooklyn Board of Health is fighting again its periodical 
battle with the local swill-milk associations upon the question of 
the existence of contagious pleuro-pneumonia in the long-existing 
and too well known infected districts in that city. The Board is 
supported by Prof. L. McLean and other veterinarians, while the 
swill-milk interest employs Prof. B. W. Finlay and some others 
as advocates and defenders. 
And what is the gist of all this ? 
The U. S. Treasury Cattle Commission has, in all probability, 
been prevented from more closely watching the progress of pleuro¬ 
pneumonia by a point of official etiquette, in the fear of interfer¬ 
ing with the Department of Agriculture, under which the Bureau 
of Animal Industry is laboring (?). And this bureau has been 
unable to prevent the march of the disease westward by the 
pressure of a more important affair, in the East, to wit, the solu¬ 
tion of the inquiry as to what may be the exact number of pleuro¬ 
pneumonia cows inhabiting New York, New Jersey, and neigh¬ 
boring States. It is thought to be important to know whether a 
given region contains just one hundred, or only ninety-nine indis¬ 
posed cattle, for in the first case Congress may be relied upon to 
appropriate funds to sustain a conflict with the enemy, but not if 
feeling only the pressure of an odd number with only two figures. 
It is interesting to inquire what may be the value of a census of 
sick cows, which, in order to be effective in respect to inducing 
public aid and exciting public alarm, must be governed by the 
theory that ninety-nine cases may be ignored as to the danger of 
communicating infection to other cattle, and only when the num¬ 
ber requires three figures to write it, it becomes a stupendous 
economic evil and fearful hygienic scourge. 
As to the Brooklyn Board of Health, their action will at least 
show once more that there are veterinarians in these infected dis¬ 
tricts who are faithless as to the existence of contagious pleuro¬ 
pneumonia in that city, and are, on the contrary, willing to look 
