AN APPEAL 
TO THE 
CITIZENS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
FOR THE 
FOUNDATION 
OF A 
VIT1BIIABY BIFABTMIIT 
IN THE 
University of Pennsylvania, 
PHILADELPHIA. 
1879 Extract from the Minutes of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, January 1st, 1878. 
" The Committee on the Department of Medi- 
cine made report, when, on motion, it was 
44 Resolved, Thal it is expedient to establish 
one or more Veterinary Professorships in the Uni- 
versity as soon as a suitable endoivment can be 
raised for the purpose." 
CADWALADEB BIDDLE, 
Secretary. 
At a Special Meeting of the Boa rd of Managers 
of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals, held April 10th, 1879, the 
President, Coleman Sellers, announced, that the 
object of the meeting was the consideration of a 
paper directed to be prepared at the last staled 
meeting. 
ITe then read the annexed Circular, which was 
considered and adopted, and the Committee were 
authorized to have it, together with other perti- 
nent matter, printed for distribution throughout 
the State. 
SAMUEL J. LEVICK, 
Secretary. 
Thomas W. Stuckey, Printer, 
57 North Seventh Street, CIRCULAR. 
Office of the Pennsylvania Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals, 
1216 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
To the Citizens of Pennsylvania:- 
By resolution of the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I have been re- 
quested to call your attention to the pressing need there is, at the 
present time, for some well-organized system of teaching Veteri- 
nary Medicine and Surgery to those who are willing and anxious 
to avail themselves of such instruction. There is no Veterinary 
College in active operation in this State. In New York State and 
elsewhere much attention is being given to this subject, and the 
Veterinary practice of Medicine is taught in some of the Colleges. 
During January, 1878, the Trustees of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania passed resolutions looking toward the establishment of a 
Veterinary Department so soon as money could be obtained to de- 
fray the expense. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals has made a study of the methods of effect- 
ing some organization to bring about so desirable an end, and have 
held communication with the Committee appointed by the Trus- 
tees of the University having charge of this branch of science. 
The Hon. John Welsh, our Minister at the Court of St. James, 
writes from London under date of February 26th, 1879, to Dr. 2 
Circular to the Citizens of (Pennsylvania. 
Wm. Pepper of this city:-"At this moment, the importance of 
well-instructed men in this (Veterinary) branch of medical science 
is particularly prominent, for the opinions of the Privy Council in 
regard to the American live-cattle trade are entirely controlled by 
them. The diseases of animals are becoming of great interest to 
the public, and for some years past the efforts of the (English) 
government have been directed toward stamping out (as they ex- 
press it) the rinderpest, pleuro-pneumonia, and other epidemic 
and contagious diseases among cattle, sheep, and swine. At 
this time there seems to be great probability that the live-cattle 
trade with the United States will be suspended, because one cargo 
of oxen which reached here about a month ago had thirteen cases 
of pleuro-pneumonia, although some eighty thousand were brought 
here before and some three thousand since in good health. There 
appears in the newspapers of the United States so many state- 
ments of its existence in various parts of the country, that al- 
though I have the fact, which I have given above, of the wonder- 
ful exemption in so large a number, that avails nothing when the 
Privy Council has so many evidences of the existence of the disease 
in the United States." This extract from the letter of one so well 
informed on the subject shows its importance not only to the citi- 
zens of Philadelphia, from which port so many head of cattle are 
or may be shipped, but to the entire State. 
The officers and agents of the Pennsylvania Society for the Pre- 
vention of Cruelty to Animals are every day confronted not only 
with the need of more educated Veterinary practitioners, but with 
the necessity of educating the masses in a knowledge of a proper 
care of domestic animals. To remedy this defect, it presents itself 
as the proper organization to aid, through its agents and represen- 
tatives in all parts of the State, in collecting the money needed for 
the purpose. The offer made by the University of Pennsylvania 
should not be permitted to fail for want of means to carry out 
its wise and humane project. A very large sum of money will 
be required to erect the buildings needed for the school and to 
prepare the hospital or infirmary, and fit them with all the require- 
ments necessary for the successful treatment of different domestic 
animals. The resources of the Medical Department of the Uni- Circular to the Citizens of Pennsylvania. 
3 
versity will be utilized as far as possible to the saving of much 
expense, and it is believed that the knowledge of some of the bet- 
ter educated of the Veterinary practitioners of this city can be 
utilized in the new organization, and will go far toward the early 
establishment of such a department. 
In order that the burden of this project may fall as lightly as 
possible on the charitably-minded citizens of this Commonwealth, 
a plan has been agreed upon, in consultation with the authorities 
of the University, whereby each contributor may receive an ample 
equivalent for the money he will invest in this laudable undertak- 
ing. It is proposed to establish a rule, such as is in force in con- 
nection with the Royal Veterinary College of London, England, 
as follows :-Each subscriber of one hundred dollars is to be known 
as a life-subscriber, and is, in return for his subscription, to be en- 
titled to certain advantages. Thus :-He is entitled to accommo- 
dation in the infirmary so far as space will admit, and in preference 
to non-subscribers, for such animals, his own property, as may need 
medical or surgical treatment, at a price to be fixed, closely ap- 
proximating the actual cost of feed.and care. He may also demand 
free examination of ten horses or mules each year, as to sound- 
ness, with a view to purchase. He can also secure free advice in 
case of animals brought to the Infirmary, but which he proposes 
to treat in his own stables or kennels. Rules and regulations 
looking toward the protection of the University and of subscribers 
will be made to prevent abuse of these privileges, and firms will 
be permitted to register as subscribers on the condition of one 
member only being named to act as the representative of the firm 
in its correspondence with the authorities of the Veterinary De- 
partment. This brief outline of some of the advantages to accrue 
to subscribers will, it is thought, show that the University is quite 
willing to hold out ample pecuniary return for the money en- 
trusted to it. 
Subscriptions predicated on the above plan are now solicited by 
the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
All subscriptions paid to the Treasurer of this Society will be held 
apart from all other moneys of the Society, for the purpose for 
which it is intended. When a sufficient sum has been raised to 4 
Circular to the Citizens of (Pennsylvania. 
warrant the Trustees of the University proceeding with the work, 
it will be handed to them in the name of the persons subscribing; 
or in the event of the plan of organization failing, it will be re- 
turned or disposed of as may be directed by each subscriber. An 
account of the Trust will be rendered quarterly to the subscribers 
until the final transfer is made, and the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals is thus relieved of its trust. Much pre- 
liminary work must be done by the Authorities of the University 
before the active work of the Veterinary Department commences, 
and before subscribers will begin to reap the benefit of their sub- 
scriptions,-hence the need of a prompt reply to this appeal for aid. 
All subscriptions must be addressed and endorsed to the Trea- 
surer of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals, at the Office of the Society, 1216 Chestnut Street, 
Philadelphia, and all subscriptions will be promptly registered and 
receipted for. Payment may be made at once, or at any time dur- 
ing the year that may be convenient to the subscriber. 
Soliciting your early and favorable response, 
I am, respectfully, 
COLEMAN SELLERS, 
May, 1871. President. ADDRESS ON THE NEED 
OF A 
VETERINARY SCHOOL IN PENNSYLVANIA 
BY 
COLEMAN SELLERS, 
PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF 
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 
THE practice of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery has, in Great 
Britain, but more particularly on the Continent of Europe, 
attained a high rank among the learned professions. Men of po- 
sition and liberal culture have taken it up as their life-work, and 
have found in it a source of pecuniary return, in most cases more 
certain than in the over-crowded profession of M. D.: the time 
has now come when this nation will either have to import from 
abroad men skilled in Veterinary science, or it must take imme- 
diate steps to put it into the power of its own citizens to acquire 
the information needed, to improve the sanitary condition of their 
domestic animals. It is estimated that cows and the land to sup- 
port them represent a money value of $1,300,000,000; these ani- 
mals yield 350,000 lbs. per annum of cheese, 1,500,000,000 tbs. 
of butter, which, converted into money, stands at $350,000,000 
per annum, only one fifth less than the corn-crop of the land. 
We are said to export $13,000,000 worth of butter each year, and 6 
Address on the .Need' of 
$14,000,000 worth of cheese, while the ocean freights on these 
exports cost $1,000,000, and the railroad freights $5,000,000 per 
annum.* 
Such figures as these give some little indication of the vast in- 
terests at stake in the rearing of animals which yield during their 
life the necessaries for the life of man. Now, the export trade in 
meats is assuming a proportion which, if expressed in dollars, 
would be astonishing. Our continued success and, certainly our 
greater progress, in this branch of trade, as Mr. Welsh has said 
in his letter [see page 2], will depend upon just how much science, 
true science, we can bring to bear on the subject, and how we can 
prevent loss by contagious or other diseases. 
It is imperative that the value of Veterinary science be recog- 
nized, and the sooner the better. Governors of the States and 
our National Government should take the matter in hand at once. 
We have governmental entomologists studying the habits of in- 
sects on the field, and pointing out the best methods of destroying 
some of the most hurtful ones. Our rivers were becoming de- 
pleted of fish, with no seeming hope of any restoration of the 
fruitfulness of the waters; Professor Baird, the Secretary of the 
Smithsonian Institute, and others made fish-culture a study, and 
now we understand how, and do actually bring back to our streams 
in even greater abundance than formerly all those fish valuable for 
food; and yet, at the present time, we have no government recog- 
nition or Veterinary medicine. An industry so vital, on which so 
much of the wealth of our country depends, " is left without gov- 
ernment recognition, without schools, without appreciation; and 
even its scientific votaries laughed at, derided, and held in social 
disrespect." f We can have no recognition of this branch of med- 
icine as a science until our great centers of learning lift it up to 
its true place, by putting it in the power of students to fit them- 
selves for the work, and the students begin to distinguish them- 
selves in their profession. 
* See Nation, Dec. 19, 1878, p. 380. 
t See J Plea for Veterinary Science, by Horace G. Smith, p. 100, Pennsyl- 
vanian Record of Agriculture. Agriculture of Pennsylvania, No. 4. A Veterinary College in (Pennsylvania. 
7 
Medical students throng the various colleges of the land, and 
each commencement-day turns out so many young doctors of med- 
icine that America now stands at the head of the list in its pro- 
portion of physicians to patients. If any of these young men 
wish to turn their attention in the direction of the treatment of 
the diseases of animals, they have here no means of prosecuting 
their studies: so we must perforce either employ as our medical 
advisors, when our animals need care, those who have come to us 
from foreign colleges, or trust animals we value to the tender mer- 
cies of quacks. At just this place comes in the thought, that the 
average horse-owner or dog-owner has no very certain method of 
deciding between the true and the false in his selection of advisor. 
In Great Britain and Europe, the skillful Veterinary practi- 
tioner meets a fair reward. He is looked up to and respected for 
his skill and information; he is recognized as a man of science, 
when he shows by his work his fitness for the practice. Is it any 
wonder that so few of these educated men come to this country? 
England, ever trusting to the opinions of the trained men of the 
land, takes active measures to stamp out those detrimental dis- 
eases, so much more easily handled in the case of animals than in 
the case of men, and, as Mr. Welsh says, the Privy Council is 
guided by their judgment. The time was not very long ago when 
the same ignorance prevailed in England as obtains in some parts 
of our own country. It was from England our farmers brought 
with them the belief in hollow-horn, worm in the tail, sC^eened- 
shoulder, chest-founder, and the belief that the firing-iron must be 
used in a horse's mouth to cure a disease which, in common with 
the others, never had any existence. It was by the foundation of 
such schools as the Royal Veterinary College of London, and 
others like it, that the true nature of the diseases of animals came 
to be studied by able men, and the " cow-doctor " and the u horse- 
doctor" was pushed aside by skilled practitioners in Veterinary 
Medicine and Surgery. 
Inasmuch as it is now proposed by the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, in the liberal spirit which has marked all its actions for 
years past, to establish a Veterinary Department, which shall lay 
the foundation of what is needed in this direction, it will be well 8 
Address on the .Need of 
to look into what England has done, and for this purpose a brief 
account of the organization of the Royal Veterinary College of 
London is given, that it may be clear that the proposed plan of 
organization of the new department is no experiment. It has not 
only proved itself a success where attempted in England, but has 
had years of trial to speak for its good work. 
In 1841, Delabere Blaine, in the introduction to his Outlines of 
the Veterinary Art, said:-"The deplorable state of the art in 
Great Britain has, until lately, been animadverted upon by every 
one who has written on the subject: the principal cause of which 
appears to have been, its total abandonment to persons of prover- 
bial ignorance. The value of the animals in question, particularly 
that of the horse, is a theme that has exercised in every age the 
pen of thousands;. yet the knowledge of the means of preserving 
him in health has long been consigned to the groom, while the 
treatment of his diseases has devolved on the maker of his shoes. 
The whole subject was regarded as beneath the dignity of a man 
of education, and the practice as derogatory to the character of a 
gentleman. But at length mankind, becoming wiser, were dis- 
posed to receive this among the liberal arts, and to regard the 
profession and practice of it as no longer incompatible with the 
pretensions of the scholar or the rank of a gentleman. The estab- 
lishment of a Veterinary College has tended much to this; and 
the subsequent benefits derived from the excellent practitioners 
who have emanated from it, have still further added to the dig- 
nity and acknowledged importance of the art." The quarter of a 
century that has passed since this was written has been full of 
proof of the wisdom of the founders of the London College, which 
has been taken as the model for the organization proposed, as it 
was based on experience gained from other colleges, and at a time 
when the public feeling in Great Britain was in favor of it. 
The Royal Veterinary College, founded in 1791-2, and incor- 
porated in 1875, is situated in Great College street, Camden town, 
London, England. To the buildings used by students in the pros- 
ecution of their studies, an Infirmary has been added with ac- 
commodations for about one hundred horses, besides cattle, sheep, 
dogs, and other animals. It is also fitted up with loose boxes and M Veterinary College in (Pennsylvania. 
9 
stalls, and all the most improved apparatus for various kinds of 
baths. It has an operating-room, covered exercising-ground, re- 
ception-yard for out-door patients,-three rooms being set apart 
for dogs. This college, separate and apart as it is from any other 
school, requires for its conduct all the professions needed in an in- 
stitution of its kind. Thus,-Physics and Chemistry require sep- 
arate teachers, so with Materia Medica,-all of which in the case 
of the University of Pennsylvania can as well be taught in the 
schools now existing. 
The Royal School or College is supported by voluntary sub- 
scribers,-its revenue from subscriptions alone seems to be about 
$10,000 per annum. The inducement held out to subscribers is 
the same as is proposed by the University of Pennsylvania, so as 
to make it very advantageous to users and owners of horses and 
cattle to pay for life-membership or an annual fee. In the case of 
the Royal School, subscribers must be elected, and may, on com- 
plaint and careful consideration of the charges against them, be 
dismissed. 
The privileges of subscribers are so great, as to hold out induce- 
ments for membership. Twenty guineas, or say one hundred dol- 
lars, constitutes a life-membership: ten dollars per annum must 
be paid by those who prefer to subscribe thus; while to those who 
have paid up two years, a life-membership is given upon payment 
of sixteen guineas, or eighty-eight dollars. 
Firms or Companies may also become subscribers, provided one 
member of said firm or company be delegated to act for that firm, 
and be known in all transactions with the college. Subscribers 
have the right to send an unlimited number of animals to the In- 
firmary for medical or surgical treatment, if these animals are 
their own property,-admission being limited only by the room,- 
for a charge for their keep only, say horses 75 cents per day, oxen 
$2 50 per week, dogs $1 20 per week, &c. They will also be 
supplied with medicine for their own animals at a fixed charge, 
and can have analyses made of water, or of viscera in cases of sup- 
posed poisoning, at low rates. 
They can also have at all times, free of charge, the medical ad- 
vice of the profession upon animals brought to the college, which 10 
Address on the jNeed of 
subscribers may desire to retain in their own keeping or treat in 
their own stables. 
The subscriber can also have a certain number of horses, his 
own property or intended to be purchased by himself, examined 
as to soundness, and a still further number examined upon certain 
fixed rates or upon an increased annual fee. 
This brief enumeration of some of the inducements held out to 
subscribers is sufficient to show how advantageous the arrange- 
ment is to horsemen, and how it has built it up and given it its 
present support. 
The Royal Veterinary College has for its President the Duke 
of Cambridge, K. G., whilst among its Vice-Presidents, Trustees, 
Governors, &c., are some of the best names in England. As an 
index to the mental training of those who are admitted to the 
studies of the college, it is well to remark that, unless the appli- 
cant can furnish a certificate from some of the well-known institu- 
tions of learning, he is required to pass a matriculation examina- 
tion in Writing, Reading aloud, English Grammar, French, and 
after 1879, in Latin, and English History. Besides these pass 
subjects, any candidate for admission may elect to be examined in 
any one or two (not more) of the following subjects, viz.:-1. Eu- 
clid, books I. and IL; 2. Algebra to Quadratic Equations inclus- 
ive; 3. English History; 4. Geography; 5. Natural History, 
Botany, Geology, and Zoology; 6. Physiology; 7. Chemistry; 8. 
Physics; 9. Latin, Greek, German, or Italian languages. Schol- 
arships and Exhibitions are awarded to candidates who distinguish 
themselves in the Matriculations: Examinations in accordance 
with certain regulations. 
So much for this one of the many Veterinary schools in Great 
Britain. As for what our English friends think of the apathy 
which has existed.in America on this important subject, the April 
number of The Veterinary Journal, of London, edited by Mr. 
George Fleming, F.R.O.V.S., and Veterinary Surgeon to the Life 
Guards, contains an editorial on the Veterinary science in the 
United States, every word of which comes opportunely to this 
address. He says :- 
"It is somewhat strange that the Americans should have so A Veterinary College in (Pennsylvania. 
11 
greatly neglected Veterinary science, and that in this respect they 
should have so closely followed the example set them by this coun- 
try, seeing, as they must have done, the terrible destruction pre- 
ventable animal diseases had brought upon our flocks and herds, 
owing to our own utter indifference, and also the fact that we had 
been instrumental in conveying some of these scourges to nearly 
every part of the world, where their ravages have been even more 
serious than here. America must have seen and known all this; 
nay, she was conscious that at least one of these maladies had been 
carried from us into her own cow-sheds and pastures, and was 
smouldering and slowly spreading there, only waiting the oppor- 
tunity to blaze rapidly over every State. Not only this, but every 
year, other animal plagues-either exotic or native-were becom- 
ing more serious and wide-spread, and one of them alone-Swine 
Plague-threatens to destroy her porcine tribe; while another, 
Trichinosis, is not only assuming alarming proportions, and men- 
acing the health of her own human population, but will eventually 
lead to a considerable diminution in, if not to an entire suppres- 
sion of, her large export trade in swine flesh. 
11 The existence of such diseases as Glanders among her horses 
will also doubtless tend to injure her trade in these animals-very 
many of which are sent to Europe every year; and as they are 
received chiefly because they are cheaper than the ordinary run 
of horses in this country, they are the more likely, as these horses 
are, to be infected. If the reports are true as to the condition of 
her cow-sheds, even in the chief cities of the States, and if Tuber- 
culosis be as rife among the cows as is represented, not only must 
her own population be exposed to great peril, but so must those 
who consume the products of these animals on this side of the At- 
lantic,-peril which will soon be recognized, and must lead to a 
refusal of these products. 
" Already, and for the first time, America has began to expe- 
rience in an unmistakable manner what it is to neglect the teach- 
ings of Veterinary Sanitary Science; and though it took this 
country thirty years to learn the lesson,-chiefly because there 
was no one to point it out to her,-yet we can scarcely doubt that 
the United States Government will not be so slow to learn, now 12 
.Address on the .Need of 
that a most important branch of trade is so seriously checked by 
unpardonable indifference to the recognition of a science, the util- 
ity of which has long been justly estimated on the Continent, and 
is beginning to be felt among ourselves-almost the last to ac- 
knowledge it. 
"We have frequently stated that the Anglo-Saxon race has 
been slow to recognize this science, and the proofs in favor of our 
assertion are numerous. It has. no home among us even now, not- 
withstanding the terrible disasters our indifference to it has in- 
flicted upon us, and will still entail; and in the meanest and small- 
est of the European States it holds a higher position than it does 
in Britain. We need not allude to the causes for this,-they are 
not far to seek. 
" In America we should certainly have expected something bet- 
ter than at present holds. She had the painful experience and the 
bitter lessons of this country before her, and she has shown that 
in other matters she could profit by such example. Not only this, 
but from among the small number of excellent Veterinarians she 
possesses, warning voices have been earnestly raised on her behalf, 
and the danger she was incurring has been indicated in prophetic 
words which have already been proved to be only too true. To 
select one instance out of many, we may note what Veterinary- 
Surgeon Cressy has written in his Fourth Annual Report on the 
Diseases of Domestic Animals in Connecticut, published in 1875, 
and which now lies before us :-' The increase and sudden inva- 
sions of disease among our stock of late years should awaken new 
zeal in every farmer, and also admonish the whole people of the 
necessity of having a vigilant commission in every State, and au- 
thorized to act in every emergency. There should be no curtail- 
ing of its power. Its action should be final in every case and un- 
der all existing circumstances. The public must first be served. 
Its demands are absolute, and in the well-being of the greatest 
number the rights of individuals should never interfere. The 
want of such an organized force has cost this country thousands 
of dollars on every occasion. In 1860, Massachusetts suffered in 
an extreme degree for want of competent authority at the com- 
mencement of the attack the year previous, to decide the nature A Veterinary College in (Pennsylvania. 
13 
of that contagious pestilence which afterwards proved to be the 
dreaded Pleuro-pneumonia late from its native haunts in Holland. 
This fresh and unexpected outbreak of the Lung Plague forcibly 
illustrates the great liability of its recurrence in almost any por- 
tion of the United States, from the importation of foreign stock at 
the present time. And so long as our coast is allowed to remain 
exposed to the commerce of the world without a Veterinary Sur- 
geon at every port, it is purely a matter of chance whether or not 
we suffer from the malignant diseases of other lands.' In this ex- 
cellent report we have also a good description of an outbreak of 
Lung Plague, the contagion of which was imported from New 
York to Connecticut the previous summer. 
" With all this experience and all this evidence, the United 
States will surely now give some attention to Veterinary science. 
At present the States are the very paradise of quacks and impos- 
tors of every kind, and nothing is done by the Government to en- 
courage the study of animal medicine by competent, well-educated 
men. Such neglect is not only something of a national disgrace, 
it must lead-as it has so often led in this country-to national 
disaster, not once, but many times. 
" With her enterprise, her well-known advanced views as to 
education and general science, and the high position human med- 
icine is already assuming in the States, it would indeed be a mat- 
ter for serious regret and censure if the American Government 
longer delayed establishing well-organized Veterinary schools, and 
fostering a science which none but governments utterly blind to 
their own material interests now ignore. With her immense and 
rapidly increasing animal wealth, so necessary for her present and 
future progress, it is quite unaccountable that America should 
quite neglect the science that alone can protect and enhance that 
wealth. Besides, the claims of animals to protection from, disease, 
pain, and mismanagement should surely weigh for something with 
a people so distinguished for their humanity ! These claims come 
well within the purview of Veterinary science." 
My attention was called to the above extract by Mr. J. W. 
Gadsden, himself a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College. 
The Press of America has not been silent on this matter: at no 14 
Address on the .Need of 
time in the history of our country has the claims for more light 
on this so important subject been so earnestly pressed upon the 
attention of our people through the daily press in all parts of our 
State. The Public Ledger, of Philadelphia, in its issue of April 
14, 1879, in commenting on the proposition of Mr. Hunton, of 
Virginia, and Mr. Reagan, of Texas, to have Congress appropriate 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for " eradicating conta- 
gious diseases among domestic animals," says :- 
"The Committee can inquire what Congress has the power to 
do, and also what is practicable for United States agencies to do, 
if it shall be decided that the subject lies within the scope of the 
Federal authority. But in the meantime- there can be no doubt 
that State Governments have power to . deal with the ' cattle dis- 
ease' and other contagious diseases among domestic animals, and 
behind this power is that of the people, the owners of cattle, to 
adopt intelligent and methodical means for their own protection 
and for the care of so important an interest. This can be done 
for the future by the establishment of better-that is, more scien- 
tific-schools for the study and treatment of diseases of domestic 
animals than we have ever had in this country, and by providing 
a larger number of such schools than has heretofore entered into 
the contemplation of our people. While it is not to be denied 
that we have some very good Veterinary Surgeons here and else- 
where in the United States, graduates of foreign colleges, it is 
equally beyond denial that a large proportion of those who prac- 
tice upon diseased horses, cattle, and other domestic animals, are 
either self-taught after a very crude fashion, or are out-and-out 
quacks. And even among those who may be classed among the 
'skilled' it must be admitted that the treatment is very largely 
empirical, with a very limited amount of science, either in the 
study or treatment. It is surprising that this should be allowed 
to remain so, when it is considered that the live stock on farms 
alone in the United States was valued in the year 1870 at the enor- 
mous sum of $1,525,276,457,-over fifteen hundred and twenty- 
five millions of dollars. There were at that time 8,690,219 horses, 
28,074,582 neat cattle, 28,477,951 sheep, and 25,134,569 swine. 
And these were not all, for no adequate means were provided for A Veterinary College in (Pennsylvania. 
15 
taking the census of the large number of draught and carriage 
horses employed in the large towns and cities. But taking the 
valuation given in the census, a loss of one per cent, of our live 
stock from preventable or curable contagious disease means a dim- 
inution of the national wealth to the extent of fifteen millions of 
dollars; and a loss of seven per cent., which might happen from 
the general spread of a disease like pleuro-pneumonia among neat 
cattle, or like the epizooty among horses, would mean the annihil- 
ation of more than a hundred millions of dollars of the wealth of 
the nation. Surely, then, this is a subject which demands some 
better attention than the treatment it has heretofore received. It 
should be left no longer to crude, self-taught practice, or to the 
domain of empiricism in any form. Whilst it is true, as has been 
mentioned, there are some skillful Veterinary Surgeons, it is well- 
known that the practitioners in that art are too often spoken of 
as mere " cow-doctors " or " horse-doctors," as if their art were of 
some very inferior degree of consequence, when, in fact, learning 
in the diseases of animals and skill.in. their prevention and cure 
are of high value and importance." 
The authorities of the University of Pennsylvania express them- 
selves as desirous of founding such a department that will result 
in the greatest amount of good, and be in keeping with their pres- 
ent Medical Department. They need money to build lecture- 
rooms, offices, stables and sheds for the hospital treatment of all 
domestic animals, and to endow the chairs of the lecturers. Aid 
them in this work, and one more channel will be opened to our 
young students in a profession which can be made as honorable as 
any other of the learned professions, and one which will certainly 
prove remunerative to those who excel in it. The Pennsylvania 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is daily brought 
in contact with poor diseased animals, suffering from the cruel 
neglect of ignorant owners. Its agents see glandered horses in 
crowded stables side by side with those not yet infected, and the 
owners either ignorant of the danger run or strangely oblivious 
to what should be their interest. Complaints come of instance 
after instance of gross malpractice on noble animals by self-in- 
structed "horse-doctors," and this winter our Legislature has been 16 
jin Appeal on the .Need, &c. 
asked to pass laws preventing any one practicing as Veterinary 
doctor unless qualified by some college; and yet in our whole 
State we have no school for those who want to learn. Citizens, 
let not this condition longer continue. Aid the University, in its 
praiseworthy desire to found a good Veterinary school in our 
midst; and when it is founded you will find in it a relief for what 
has been a sore trouble to many of you, when your animals grew 
sick. There you can get advice; there you can have them tended 
carefully. Pass not this by as something to be attended to after 
a time,-send in your names and subscriptions at once, and so the 
sooner reap your reward. THE 
PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY 
FOR THE 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 
Office,-1216 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
INCORPORATED AFRIT. Ith, 1SGS. 
The objects of the above Society are to provide effective means for the 
prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the State of Pennsylvania, and 
for the enforcement of all laws, heretofore or hereafter enacted, for the pro- 
tection of dumb animals. 
The Society solicits the active co-operation of our citizens in carrying out 
its laudable and humane purposes, and desires the formation of Branch so- 
cieties in all the cities and towns of the State. Plans of operation and the 
necessary forms for organization will be furnished on application at the 
Office, 1216 Chestnut street. 
Prompt attention bestowed on properly authenticated complaints sent from 
any section of the State. Section 5 of An Act for the Punishment of Cruelty to 
Animals in this Commonwealth, states that any policeman or constable of any 
city or county, or any Agent of the Pennsylvania Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals, shall, upon his own view of any such misde- 
meanor, or upon the complaint of any other person who may declare his 
or her name and abode to such policeman, constable, or agent, make ar- 
rests and bring before any aiderman or magistrate thereof, offenders found 
violating the provisions of this Act. 
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 
FRESIDENT. 
COLEMAN SELLERS. 
VICE- FR ES11) ENTS. 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT, 
GEORGE W. CHILDS, 
ALEXANDER BROWN, 
ANTHONY J. DREXEL, 
M. RICHARDS MUCKLE. 
SAMUEL J. LEVICK. 
SECRETARY. 
TREASURER. 
LEVI KNOWLES. 
COVYSELLORS. 
GUSTAVUS REMAK, RICHARD P. WHITE, 
WENDELL P. BOWMAN. 
ROBERT C. DAVIS, 
ROBERT R. CORSON, 
J. LEWIS CREW, 
J. SERGEANT PRICE, 
CRAIG D. RITCHIE, 
EDMUND WEBSTER, 
BOARD OF MANAGERS. 
EMLEN HUTCHINSON, 
WILLIAM WATSON, 
MRS. RICHARD P. WHITE, 
" ROBERT H. HARE, 
" CHARLES WILLING, 
" COLEMAN SELLERS, 
MISS ADELE BIDDLE.