A test of public sentiment. Soil. Water. Exposure. Buildings. Local
hygiene. Breeding. Diet. Work. Harness. Ventilation.
With advancing knowledge of veterinary medicine the subject of
prophylaxis is steadily assuming a more important place, and especially
in the classes of enzootic and epizootic diseases. Indeed for the fatal
infectious diseases of animals one can fairly estimate the medical
intelligence of the people by the extent to which therapeutic treatment
is still allowed. With economy as the great central object of veterinary
medicine, the problematical recovery of the few can never balance the
assured preservation of the many. But this subject belongs to contagious
diseases to which the reader is referred.
In enzootic affections, improvements in soil, water, exposure,
buildings, and other local unhygienic conditions, are the final ends to
be sought, according to the particular nature of the prevailing disease.
So in sporadic diseases the correction of faults in breeding, hygiene,
diet, water, work, harness, exposure, buildings, ventilation, etc., are
called for in different cases as will be noted under the individual
diseases.