406 
A. A. HOLCOMBE. 
to being considered liberal in the support of all struggling sci¬ 
ence ; for it not only handicaps the professions, but deprives the 
Government and the people of the untold advantages which must 
necessarily result from an early diffusion of every newly-gained 
truth that directly affects their interests. 
Our Government, in general, cannot be said to foster the 
growth of veterinary medicine, but rather, in most instances, to 
disparage the value of all information coming from that source, 
and to deride its warnings of danger. That this course has been 
a costly one to the nation will be readily seen from scanning the 
official reports of losses from hog cholera, contagious pleuro-pneu- 
monia and other contagious diseases. 
The interests which veterinary medicine guard, though re¬ 
ceiving, in years past, comparatively more attention from the 
War Department than from any other department of Govern¬ 
ment, are very poorly protected in the army; and the present 
apparent apathy in these matters is no doubt principally due to 
that absence of individual responsibility, in case of loss, which 
characterizes the officer in charge of such property, in contradis¬ 
tinction to the owner of private property where a loss becomes a 
personal one. 
The interests of the Government should be considered by the 
officer as paramount to those of a personal character, and yet a 
Quartermaster in charge of between $20,000 and $40,000 worth 
of horses and mules, when prompted by a whim, has refused the 
services of a qualified Veterinary Surgeon employed by the Gov¬ 
ernment at his post, and accepted in his stead the services of a 
blacksmith! And it would seem that the responsibility for such 
action, and the subsequent losses which follow, are not subjects 
for review or consideration by superior officers. 
The remedy is not far to seek. 
The efficiency of troops, particularly in Indian warfare, is as 
much dependent on the condition of the horses and mules as 
upon the men, and the veterinarian’s knowledge of sanitary sci¬ 
ence and police enables him to maintain a standard of health 
which cannot be otherwise secured, while his acquaintance with 
diseases and their treatment prevents the extension of contagious 
diseases, and unusual losses from those that are curable. 
