406 
R. W. FINLAY. 
stream, above which point the excreta of typhoid patients had 
been deposited in vaults near the banks of the stream, thus pol¬ 
luting the water and carrying the poisonous influence to families 
served with milk supplied by this dairy. 
Scarletina and diphtheria are carried into the household by the 
animal pets, the cat and dog, medical literature furnishing posi¬ 
tive proof on this point to the mind of the most skeptical. 
Bouley, Chauveau, Davaine and others have traced the origin 
of malignant pustule iu man to the carbuncular diseases of 
animals. 
European veterinarians have enriched medical literature with 
the results of their investigations in trichinosis, hydatid diseases, 
measles in swine, glanders, farcy and hydrophobia. 
We have the whole realm of parasitic diseases to investigate. 
The London Lancet reports cases of eczema and ringworm in 
child Jen taken from the dog and cat. 
There have been tabulated twenty-two parasitical diseases of 
the skin common to both the human family and the domestic 
animals. 
We still have hog cholera , pleuro-pneumonia and tuberculosis 
demanding the closest study and comparison. Recent discoveries 
in scientific medicine show the growing importance of the study 
of comparative medicine. 
It is only by the closest scrutiny in these channels that pre¬ 
ventative medicine can be surely and rapidly advanced, so im¬ 
pressed are the minds of professional men becoming with the 
liability to various diseases through the medium of the flesh 
eaten and milk consumed, and the utter helplessness of the con¬ 
sumer to defend himself against the various maladies that may 
arise therefrom. 
Organized effort should be made to demand from our general 
government the protection afforded by European countries in the 
way of inspection, by competent veterinarians, of the flesh and 
milk supply. Until this is accomplished, we are virtually without 
the protection that science affords in keeping up with advanced 
ideas of the nineteenth century. 
Are they of much moment ? 
