GLANDERS AND FARCY IN THE ARMY. 
19 
published, they would at least direct some attention to the sub¬ 
ject and serve to confirm the urgent need the army has fo r 
a reorganization of the veterinary department. 
But if the reports of the sick, wounded, etc., made by the 
officers of the army are not reliable as statistics , undoubtedly 
they are usually made in the best of faith and in accordance with 
what they believe to be the facts obtained from whatever sources 
are at hand. Are the services of the army veterinary surgeon as 
conscientiously performed ? I regret exceedingly that my exper¬ 
ience in the army will not permit an affirmative answer to my 
question. Let me explain. 
After having inspected a large number of horses presented to 
the Government for purchase, and several hundred horses and 
mules that had done from one to twenty or more years’ public 
service, without meeting a single case of glanders or farcy, I 
came to the conclusion that these diseases were by no means com¬ 
mon in the army. Still, I believed my short experience could 
not furnish reliable data on the subject, so on the 9th of April, 
1881, I addressed a circular letter to all the veterinary surgeons 
in the service, requesting replies to the following questions : 
How many cases of glanders have you seen in the army horses 
and mules, and when and where did you see them ? I received 
the following replies: From J. B. Going, reporting three cases 
at Fort Clarke, Texas, two being horses and one a mule ; one 
from W. H. Going, Fort Meade, Dakota, stating that he had 
seen a number of cases of the above diseases, and that he would 
prepare the statistics at the earliest opportunity. I have not yet 
received them. I also received a reply from Jas. Humphries, 
Fort Custer, Montana, saying that he had no record of the cases 
of disease occurring at his post; one from C. B. Leverett, Fort 
A. Lincoln, Dakota, in which he states that he saw an outbreak 
of glanders at that post in February, 1879, but that Dr. Going 
was the veterinary surgeon there at that time, and he (Leverett) 
had no record of the cases. C. L. Hingston, Fort D. A. Russell, 
Wyoming, reported one case of farcy in the horses at that post. 
He says : “ I believe glanders and farcy in the army is an 
exceptional disease.” 
