VETERINARY REFORM. 
57 
where in our land ; and the future historian will allude to some of 
the practices of our horse doctors to prove that in the year of 
1878 we had not yet entirely emerged from the darkness of bar¬ 
barism, inasmuch as such a state of affairs was sanctioned, nay, 
indirectly aided, by being tolerated, by what is called the best 
government the sun ever shone upon. 
The status of veterinary institutions in Europe, and the esteem 
in which the science and art of preventing and curing diseases of 
domestic animals is held by all the leading nations of Europe, is 
an example worthy of following by us Americans. No course 
would be regarded by the people with more favor, or of which 
there is greater need. We have plently of lawyers, physicians 
and ministers, but the paucity of efficient doctors of domestic 
animals is remarkable when we think of the urgent demand for 
them a :d the good they might accomplish. 
The prevention of spreading disease among domestic animals 
should be regarded as a political question, as it involves more or 
less the well-being of the whole community. The extension of 
diseases among live stock is not only a loss to the owners thereof, 
but also to the general public. Besides the consequent diminu¬ 
tion in the food supply, the people also incur the risk of obtaining 
it of ; n inferior if not injurious .quality. 
Losses from diseases have, during late years, been heavy, par¬ 
ticularly in the middle and western States. A large proportion 
of the losses are the result of downright neglect and bad manage¬ 
ment. Diseases, obscurely named, such as “distemper,” “mur¬ 
rain,” “ hollow horn,” etc., are causing considerable losses in all 
parts of the country. Scab among sheep appears to be spreading 
uninterruptedly on no small scale. Of all domestic animals, the 
fatality is greatest among swine. Almost entire stocks of indi¬ 
vidual farmers have been swept away in some counties of Illinois 
from the so-called hog cholera. From the crop report of the 
Illinois Department of Agriculture, for 1877, it appears that the 
number of swine lost by disease is reported at 358,844 head, 
valued at $1,583,415, which is $7,403 more than the amount lost 
during 1876. Evidently these figures do not cover the actual 
losses; for we are informed that correspondents to the Depart- 
