Daniel elmer salmon biography of williams

American veterinarian (1850–1914)

For the Welsh bowls international, see Daniel Salmon (bowls).

Daniel Elmer Salmon (July 23, 1850 – August 30, 1914) was an American veterinarian. He earned the first D.V.M. degree awarded in the United States, and spent his career studying animal diseases for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bacterial genus Salmonella, which was discovered by his assistant Theobald Smith, was named in his honor.

Early life and education

Salmon was born in Mount Olive Township, New Jersey. His father, Daniel L. Salmon, died in 1851 and his mother, Eleanor Flock Salmon, died in 1859, leaving him an orphan at the age of 8. He was then raised by his second cousin, Aaron Howell Salmon, spending time working both on Aaron's farm and as a clerk at a country store. His early education was at the Mount Olive District School, Chester Institute, and Eastman Business College. He then attended Cornell University and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine in 1872. After an additional four years of study, in veterinary health and science, he was awarded the professional degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell in 1876, the first D.V.M. degree granted in the United States. Toward the end of his career at Cornell, he studied at the Alfort Veterinary School in Paris, France.

Career

Salmon opened a veterinary practice in Newark, New Jersey in 1872, and subsequently moved to Asheville, North Carolina in 1875. In 1877, he gave a series of lectures at the University of Georgia on the topic of veterinary science. He worked for the State of New York, studying diseases in swine and for the United States Department of Agriculture studying animal diseases in the southern states. In 1883, he was asked to establish a veterinary division within the Department of Agriculture. This became the Bureau of Anima

Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914) was a veterinary surgeon. He worked for the State of New York, studying diseases in swine and for the United States Department of Agriculture studying animal diseases in the southern states. In 1883 he was asked to establish a veterinary division within the Department of Agriculture. It became the Bureau of Animal Industry and he served as its chief from 1884 to 1905. Under his leadership, the Bureau eradicated contagious pleural-pneumonia of cattle in the United States, studied and controlled Texas fever (Babesia), put in place the federal meat inspection program, began inspecting exported livestock and the ships carrying them, began inspecting and quarantining imported livestock, and studied the effect of animal diseases on public health. He gave his name to the Salmonella genus of bacteria, which were discovered by his research assistant, Theobald Smith in 1885 and named in his honor. He died of pneumonia in 1914 at the age of 64.

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:

Daniel E. Salmon papers, 1886-2008.

Repository:

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Collection Number:

6585

Abstract:

Two scrapbooks on the Nebraska Hog Cholera controversy of the late 19th century, and an unpublished manuscript on susceptibility and immunity.

Creator:

Salmon, D. E.

Quanitities:

.6 cubic feet.

Language:

Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Two scrapbooks on the Nebraska Hog Cholera controversy of the late 19th century, and an unpublished manuscript on susceptibility and immunity.

The scrapbooks were compiled by Salmon from 1886-1893, and document the commentary and criticism relating to the Hog Cholera epidemic in Nebraska. Many of the articles and editorials were written by Dr. Frank S. Billings and are highly critical of the response of the Bureau of Animal Industry, as well as Salmon's leadership.

The manuscript is 268 pages long and in Spanish. It was probably sent to Dr. Simon Henry Gage for editing

Abstract

Mary Mallon was born in 1869 in Ireland and emigrated to the US in 1884. She had worked in a variety of domestic positions for wealthy families prior to settling into her career as a cook. As a healthy carrier of Salmonella typhi her nickname of “Typhoid Mary” had become synonymous with the spread of disease, as many were infected due to her denial of being ill. She was forced into quarantine on two separate occasions on North Brother Island for a total of 26 years and died alone without friends, having evidently found consolation in her religion to which she gave her faith and loyalty.

Keywords: Typhoid fever, salmonella, Mary Mallon, carrier, New York

Isolating Salmonella

Long before the bacillus responsible for the disease was discovered in 1880, Karl Liebermeister had already assumed that the condition was due to a microorganism. He also tried, with his colleagues, to demonstrate that the spread of epidemic was related to drinking water contaminated by the excrement of patients with typhoid fever [1]. William Budd, a doctor in Bristol who was interested in cholera and in intestinal fevers, demonstrated in 1873, that typhoid fever could be transmitted by a specific toxin present in excrement and that the contamination of water by the feces of patients was responsible for that propagation. According to Budd, every case was related to another anterior case. A great number of doctors and scientists had tried to discover the nature of the microorganism responsible for the disease and had encountered great difficulty in isolating the bacillus. It was Karl Joseph Eberth, doctor and student of Rudolf Virchow, who in 1879 discovered the bacillus in the abdominal lymph nodes and the spleen. He had published his observations in 1880 and 1881. His discovery was then verified and confirmed by German and English bacteriologists, including Robert Koch [2]. The genus “Salmonella” was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon, an American veterinary pathologist,