American Veterinary Review, 
SEPTEMBER, 1880. 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
^ REPORT ON DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, 
[By James Law, Professor of Veterinary Medicine in Cornell University.] 
Dr. J. L. Cabell: 
Sik : In compliance with your request, I respectfully submit 
the accompanying statement as to how far in my opinion the func¬ 
tions of the National Board of Health must embrace a superin¬ 
tendence of the sanitary condition of the domestic animals. I 
u 
have considered such animal diseases as determine specific and 
communicable disorders in man, and have sought to point out in 
what cases the gravity of the affection would demand the inter¬ 
ference of a health board. A large number are mentioned over 
which a national board of health must exercise a careful supervi¬ 
sion if they would fulfil their trust; and to enable them to ac¬ 
complish this, Congress must give them power to add to their num¬ 
ber men who have made a special study of animal diseases, and who 
are prepared to cope with them successfully. I have further 
sought to show how essential it is that a board so constituted 
should be invested with executive power and not left as a mere 
advisory body, which must lose in intelligence, efficiency, and 
