198 VETERINARY SCIENCE vated in the cavalry schools of Italy ; and Spain also had an organized system of good practitioners in the 15th century, who have left many books still extant. Ger many was far behind, and literature on the subject did not exist until the end of the 15th century, when in 1492 there was published anonymously at Augsburg a Pferde- arzneibuchlein. In the following century the influence of the Italian writers was becoming manifest, and the works of Fugger and Fayser mark the commencement of a new era. Fayser s treatises, Von der Gestiiterei and Von der Zucht der Kriegs- und Biirger-Pferde (1529-1597), are remarkable for originality and good sense. In Great Britain animal medicine was perhaps in a more advanced condition than in Germany, if we accept the evidence of the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales (London, 1841) ; yet it was largely made up of the grossest superstitions. 1 Among the Celts the healer of horse diseases and the shoer were held in high esteem, as among the more civilized nations of Europe, and the court farrier enjoyed special privileges. 2 The earliest known works in English appeared anonymously towards the commencement of the 16th cen tury, namely, Properties and Medcynes for a Horse and Mascal of Oxen, Horses, Sheepes, Hogges, Dogges. The word " mascal " shows that the latter work was in its origin Italian. There is no doubt that in the 15th century the increasing taste for horses and horsemanship brought Italian riding-masters and farriers into England ; and it is recorded that Henry VIII. brought over two of these men who had been trained by Grisone in the famous Neapolitan school. The knowledge so introduced became popularized, and assumed a concrete form in Blundeville s Foure Chief est Offices belonging to Horsemanship (1566), which contains many references to horse diseases, and, though mainly a compilation, is yet enriched with original observations. In the 15th century the anatomy of the domesticated animals, formerly almost entirely neglected, began to receive attention. A work on comparative anatomy by Volcher Koyter was issued at Nuremberg in 1573 ; about the same time a writer in Germany named Copho or Cophon published a book on the anatomy of the pig, in which were many original remarks on the lymphatic vessels; and Jehan Hervard in France produced in 1594 his rather incomplete Hippo -Osteologie. But by far the most notable work, and one which maintained its popu larity for a century and a half, was that of Carlo Ruini, a senator of Bologna, published in 1598 in that city, and entitled DelV Anatomia e dell Infirmita del Cavallo, e suoi Remedii. Passing through many editions, and trans lated into French and German, this book was for the most part original, and a remarkable one for the time in which it was composed, the anatomical portion being especially praiseworthy. English books of the 17th century exhibit a strong tendency towards the improvement of veterinary medicine and surgery, especially as regards the horse. This is even more notable in the writings of the 18th century, among which may be particularized Gibson s Farrier s New Guide (1719), Method of Dieting Horses (1721), and (best of all) his Neiv Treatise on the Diseases of Horses, besides Braken s, Burden s, Bridge s, and Bartlet s treatises. Veterinary anatomy was greatly ad vanced by the Anatomy of an Horse (1683) of Snape, farrier to Charles II., illustrated with copperplates, and by the still more complete and original work of Stubbs, the Anatomy of the Horse (1766), which decidedly marked a new era in this line of study. Of foreign works it may suffice to mention that of Solleysel, Veritable Parfait Marezchal (1664), which passed through many editions, 1 See Leechdoms, Worlcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1864. 2 See Fleming, Horse-Shoes and Horse- Shoeing, London, 1869. was translated into several languages, and was borrowed from for more than a century by different writers. Sir W. Hope s Compleat Horseman (1696) is a translation from Solleysel by a pupil. Modern Schools and Colleges. The most important era in the history of modern veterinary Veterin- science commenced with the institution of veterinary schools, ary France was the first to take the great initiative step in this schools. direction. Button had recommended the formation of veterinary schools, but his recommendations were not attended to. Bourgelat, In an advocate at Lyons and a talented hippologist, through his iiiflu- France. ence with Bertin, prime minister under Louis XV., was the first to induce the Government to establish a veterinary school and school of equitation at Lyons, in 1761. This school he himself directed for only a few years, during which the great benefits that had resulted from it justified an extension of its teaching to other parts of France. Bourgelat, therefore, founded (1766) at Alfort, near Paris, a second veterinary school, which soon became, and has re mained to this day, one of the finest and most advanced veterinary schools in the world. At Lyons he was replaced by the Abbe Rozier, a learned agriculturist, who was killed at the siege of Lyons after a very successful period of school management, during which he had added largely to agricultural and physical knowledge by the publi cation of his Journal de Physique and Cours d Agriculture. Twenty years later the Alfort school added to its teaching staff several dis tinguished professors whose names still adorn the annals of science, such as Daubenton, who taught rural economy ; Vic d Azyr, who lectured on comparative anatomy; Fourcroy, who undertook in struction in chemistry ; and Gilbert, one of its most brilliant pupils, who had veterinary medicine and surgery for his department. The last-named was also a distinguished agriculturist and published many important treatises on agricultural as well as veterinary sub jects. The position he had acquired, added to his profound and varied knowledge, made him most useful to France during the period of the Revolution. It is chiefly to him that it is indebted for the celebrated Rambouillet flock of Merino sheep, for the conservation of the Tuileries and Versailles parks, and for the creation of the fine experimental agricultural establishment organized in the ancient domain of Sceaux. The Alfort school speedily became the nursery of veterinary science, and the source whence all similar institutions obtained their first teachers and their guidance. A third Govern ment school was at a later period founded at Toulouse ; and these three schools have produced thousands of thoroughly educated veterinary surgeons and many professors of high scientific repute, among whom may be named Bouley, Chauveau, Colin, Toussaint, St Cyr, Goubaux, Arloing, and Galtier. Soon after the Alfort school was commenced a national school In Ger- for Austria was established at Vienna by order of Maria Theresa ; many, and this, remodelled and reorganized by Joseph II., is now the &c. largest in the country. Prussia quickly followed suit ; and soon Government veterinary schools were founded in almost every other European country, except Great Britain, mostly on a munificent scale. Probably all, but especially those of France and Germany, were established as much with a view to training veterinary surgeons for the army as for the requirements of civil life. In 1790 St Bel (whose real name was Vial, St Bel being a village In the near Lyons, where was his paternal estate), after studying at the United Lyons school and teaching both at Alfort and Lyons, came to Eng- King- land and published proposals for founding a school in which to in- dom. struct pupils in veterinary medicine and surgery. The Agricultural Society of Odiham, which had been meditating sending two young men to the Alfort school, elected him an honorary member, and delegated a committee to consult with him respecting his scheme. Some time afterwards this committee detached themselves from the Odiham Society and formed an institution st} led the Veterinary College of London, of which St Bel was appointed professor. The school was to be commenced and maintained by private subscrip tion. In March 1792 arrangements were made for building tem porary stabling for fifty horses and a forge for shoeing at St Pancras. The college made rapid progress in public estimation, notwith standing considerable pecuniary embarrassments. As soon as the building was ready for the reception of animal patients, pupils began to be enrolled ; and among the earliest were some who afterwards gained celebrity as veterinarians, as Bloxam, Blaine, R. Lawrence, Field, and Bracy Clark. On the death of St Bel in August 179:5 there appears to have been some difficulty in procuring a suitable successor ; but at length, on the recommendation of John Hunter and Cline, two medical men were appointed, Coleman and Moorcroft, the latter then practising as a veterinary surgeon in London. The first taught anatomy and physiology, and Moorcroft, after visiting the French schools, directed the practical portion of the teaching. Unfortunately, neither of these teachers had much experience among animals, nor were they well acquainted with their diseases ; but Coleman had as a student, in conjunction with a fellow-student
(afterwards Sir Astley Cooper), performed many experiments on