PROPHYLAXIS. PROPHYLACTICS. PREVENTION.
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.