Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/143

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VETERINARY MEDICINE. lO'J federal authorities. In.spection i.s merely one of tile funetions of the veterinary service. The organization of the veterinary service dilfers somewhat in ditl'creut countries, accord- inj; to local conditions. In ticrmany, England, and other European countries there is an army veterinary corps, the personnel of which hear titles corresponding to the ref,'ular army grades. In the United States veterinarians attached to the army are civil and not military officers. Nearly all Eurojiean and other foreign countries maintain some form of official veterinary service, charged with the duties of investigating out- breaks of contagious or otlnuMise serious dis- ea9es_ among domesticated animals, and of in- specting animals and animal products which may be imported into the country. Germany has developed an elaborate organization of her veter- inary service, with department and district veterinarians in various parts of the Empire. Appeal may be taken from the decisions of these officials to the Federal Veterinary Commission or to the Imperial Health Office. From time to time special commissions are appointed for the investigation of urgent problems. In most of the English colonies there is a Government veteri- narian or chief inspector, with numerous deputies and assistants. In the United States these duties devolve upon the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture, and upon the various State veterinarians and State Boards of Agriculture. The Bureau of Animal Industry maintains inspectors and special agents in various parts of the country, and has charge of quarantine regulations. The State veterina- rians have full autliority to investigate animal diseases and to enforce all State laws con- cerning such matters. Many of the larger cities maintain municipal veterinarians in connection with the Boards of Health. The majority of animals kept in captivity in zoological gardens are subject to the diseases which affect farm animals. Tuberculosis is the most important of these diseases, and affects nearly all species of captive animals. It is especially fatal to apes and monkeys. On account of tli'ese facts it has been found necessary to fulfill the conditions of ventilation and other sanitary requirements in the construction of animal" houses. Official veterinarians are maintained in connection with the larger zoological gardens and administer treatment in eases of curable disease. The ad- ministration of medicines to most wild animals in captivity is not an easy matter, but may usually be accomplished in connection with food and drink. Surgery on such animals is largely confined to the reduction of dislocations anil the setting of broken bones. Veterinary medi- cine compares favorably in its achievements with human medicine. The etiology, pathology, treatment, and prevention of a number of animal plagues have been carefully and satisfactorily worked out. Blackleg and Texas fever, for ex- ample, are controlled as easily as smallpox and diphtheria in man, and rather more effectively. The recent discoveries regarding the etiology of malaria and yellow fever in man have been paral- leled by equally brilliant and important results obtained in studying the protozoim diseases of animals — e.g. surra, dourine. uial de caderas, nagana, etc. Many problems, however, remain VETIVER. (o be solved, and investigators have, in the study of animal diseases, a very tempting field which already boasts of such ilistinguishcd names as Koch, Ostertag, Von Behring, Kill, Chauveau, Nocard, Arloing, Perroncito, McKadycan, T. Smith, Salmon, Pearson, Law, Moore, etc. The literature of veterinary science is ex- tensive and rapidly increasing. Among books the following may be consulted: Nocard and Leclainelie, Maladies microhicmtcs drx nnimitiix (HtO;j); Ellenlierger and Baum, Ilandhuch der rcrulcichcndcn Anatomie der Uausthwre (1!)0.3) ; Ostertag, Ihindhuch der FUinchhesch.au (1!)02); Eiehl)aum, (Inindriss der (Icschlehle der Thier- hcilkundc (188,5); Smith, Phpsiology of Domestic Animals (1889); Fleming, Text-book of Vcteri- narij Obstetrics ( 1882) ; Hoare. Manual of Veteri- nary Therapeutics and Pharmacology (1806); Hopkins, Veterinary Elements (1901); Law, Farmer's Veterinary Adviser (1892) ; Law, Text- book of Veterinary Medicine (18n(i-i903) : Smith, Manualof Veterinary Hygiene (1887); Williams, Principles and Practice of Veterinary Medicine (1897); Winslow, Veterinary Materia Medica and Therapeutics (1901) ; Moore, The Pathology of Infectious Diseases of Animals (1902) ; and Thompson, Elementary Veterinary Lectures (1903). A large and increasing number of veterinary journals are published, among which may be mentioned The Journul of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives, and The American Veterinary Pevieuy, published in the LTnited States. The bulletins and reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry and of the State Experiment Stations and State Boards of Agri- culture are also important sources of veterinary information. VETILLART, va'te'yiir', jMahie Michel Henri (1848 — ). A French civil engineer, born in Le Mans and educated at the Polytechnique and at the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees, where he graduated in 1874 with highest honors. He was resident engineer of the port of Calais from 1875 to 1886, chief engineer of the ports of Boulogne and Calais imtil 1892, and then chief engineer of Havre and the ports of the lower Seine. He utilized the water-jet to sink foundations of locks and piers, built the new port of Calais and im- proved the canals of that city, and finished the great breakwater at Boulogne. One of the fore- most of modern harbor engineers, Vetillart was a prominent figure in the Maritime Congresses of London, Manchester, and Washington, and wrote: FoiK^age des picux par injection d'eau (1877), Le port de Calais (1889). La navigation aux Etats-Vnis (1892), and, with Quinette de Roche- mont, Les ports maritimes de I'Amerigue du Xord sur I'Ailantique (1902). VET'IVER, VITIVERT (from East Indian vitivayr) . or CuscLs. The dried roots of an East Indian grass (Andropogon squarrosus) which has an agreeable and persistent odor, re- sembling sandalwood, due to an essential oil which is distilled from it. It is much prized in India and elsewhere for perfuming linen, etc., making Ijaskets, fans, and mats. It grows in low, moist, rieli soils, and upon such it has been introduced in the West Indies, Brazil, tod Louis- iana, where it has spread to some extent. It has been successfully grown in Tennessee, but the pinnts do not bloom.