HISTORY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 3 



ranee of the shoer and the meanness of his title remained 

 indissoluble. 



The sixteenth century, famed for the revival of learning 

 and the encouragement of art, fostered also the subject of 

 our present discourse : among its patrons may be noted 

 Francis the First, who ordered the Constantine collection 

 to be translated from the original Greek into Latin ; from 

 which it was soon afterwards rendered into Italian, German, 

 and French, and thence became dispersed over Europe, 

 About the same time, the works of Vegetius were translated 

 into the popular European languages ; and from this 

 period we may date the gradual improvement of the art. 



During the seventeenth century, the veterinary art con- 

 tinued to advance, and numerous publications on the 

 subject w^ere contributed by various hands ; among which 

 we may notice Ceesar Fiarchi's Italian treatise on horse- 

 manship, in which is introduced the most rational mode 

 of shoeing then practised. Neither should we omit to 

 mention the Infermita, &; suoi remedii, del Signoi' Carlo 

 Ruini, published in Venice, 1618 ; from which Snape, 

 Gibson, as well as most of the early French authors, have 

 copied their anatomical plates. In 1654, the Grand 

 Mareschal Frangois, a meritorious work, said to be com- 

 posed by many hands, appeared. In the latter end of this 

 century, the art received a very great addition from the 

 elaborate work of Sollysel, whose attention was drawn to 

 the subject from his situation of riding master ; and as the 

 practices of this school were at this time in great repute, 

 it followed that the treatment of the diseases of horses 

 became very much confined to the professors of this art. 

 It will not, therefore, excite our wonder that almost all the 

 treatises on veterinary medicine of this time are found 

 united with systematic equitation ; and although, as regards 

 Sollysel, the cause was not injured, yet generally it may 

 be considered, that to this union of arts, practised by 

 persons not medically educated, may be attributed the 

 small progress made by veterinary medicine. 



The eighteenth century produced numerous writers on 

 the subject, and was destined to w^itness important im- 

 provements in the art. In 1761, France set the notable 

 example of establishing, under royal patronage, a public 



B 2 



