310 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 



this end he demanded not only macroscopic but microscopic anat- 

 omy, a physio-pathologic, therapeutic method of exact investigation, 

 and recognized the necessity of a well-ordered chemical labora- 

 tory. He laid emphasis upon the necessity of several teachers for 

 such schools. He recommended paying especial attention to the 

 study of the animal plagues, and laid great stress upon the value 

 of exact observation and experiment. He says : ' In the study- 

 room one can make no such observations. The teacher must, at 

 the time such pests prevail, go out into the country, and hold his 

 dietetic, pathologic, and therapeutic discussion in the afflicted sta- 

 bles ; he must observe the situation and character of the stables, 

 and cause better ventilation, cleanliness, and care of the animals ; 

 he must visit the fields, meadows, and drinking-places, in order to 

 ascertain if in them are not to be sought either immediate or mediate 

 causes of infection, and what in every case is necessary to propose 

 for the better protection of the animals. He must gather all forms 

 of dew, and make therewith chemical and physiological experi- 

 ments, and must also have recourse to the microscope in order to see 

 if he can not discover some poisonous insects, which, either of them- 

 selves or with their semen, so pollute the vegetation as to cause the 

 generation of the pest or other infectious disease.' (In reading this 

 one almost forgets he is passing over words written more than one 

 hundred years since.) ' The teacher shall study the animal in all 

 its parts, its mode of life, procreation ; and, when necessary, shall 

 have recourse to the crucible and distillation to increase his knowl- 

 edge. He must separate things into their minute parts, unite and 

 make new bodies, and seek to attain a sort of despotic power over 

 nature.' " 



This is what was thought in the last century by the founder of 

 veterinary medicine in Germany. The schools must be useful nurs- 

 eries of science, and not produce mere empirics. 



Let us see if the schools have fulfilled their task, and, if not, seek 

 to discover what has prevented them from doing so. 



It is all the more our duty to do this, as the popular judgment 

 with regard to the results at the schools seems to be at present un- 

 favorable. Not only the organs of the state and agriculture, the 

 interests of which are to be served by the educated veterinarian 

 from an economical point of view, but also the graduates of the 

 schools, concur, more or less, in this opinion, as was sufficiently 

 demonstrated at the Frankfort congress of German veterinarians in 

 1872. 



It is especially the duty of the teachers at the schools to acknowl- 



