FARRIERY. 



care are often very seriously injured. 



We trust that what we shall state re- 

 lating 1 to the succeding article will con- 

 tribute to remove the deception, and to 

 enable every person to form some judg- 

 ment of the ailings to which horses are 

 subject. The term farrier is derived from 

 the French word ferriere, which relates 

 particularly to the bag- of implements used 

 by the marechal, or person who confines 

 his operations to this branch of smith- 

 ery. 



FARRIERY, as may be seen in the pre- 

 ceding article, originally implied nothing 

 more than the art of applying iron, or 

 other substances, to the feet of horses, 

 whereby to defend them from the injuries 

 to which they are subject in travelling on 

 hard surfaces. It was probably owing to 

 the opportunities afforded to the smiths, 

 while shoeing horses, of observing the 

 various diseases of the foot, and conse- 

 quently of haranguing on the subject, 

 that they, in time, acquired an undue 

 reputation for perfect ability, in not only 

 that particular, but for a general know- 

 ledge of whatever related to the animal 

 at large. It will not surprise us to find 

 persons so ignorant as our forefathers of 

 yore were yielding thus implicitly to the 

 presumptuous claims of the farrier ; in- 

 deed, when we consider how little was 

 known of the art of medicine, and of the 

 very structure of the human frame, it 

 must appear that no other alternative 

 presented itself. But we cannot look 

 back to later dates, without feeling both 

 astonished and ashamed at the indiffer- 

 ence, indeed the inhumanity, with which 

 that most useful animal, the horse, has 

 been so long treated. 



Happily, however, in these days of im- 

 provement, when science has in so many 

 instances removed the mists which cloud- 

 ed the vision of our ancestors, and has 

 proportionally enlarged our ideas, the eye 

 of research has been turned towards the 

 sufferings of the brute creation, and a 

 new profession has sprung up, which not 

 only adds to our stock of medical informa- 

 tion, but, while it removes that imputa- 

 tion of cruelty, which had too long stained 

 the character of an enlightened age, pro- 

 mises to reward our kindness and assidu- 

 ity with the most liberal remuneration. 

 In this we allude to the establishment of 

 a Veterinary College, where, under the 

 auspices of the most distinguished and 

 public-spirited characters, the whole art 

 of medicine and of surgery, so far as they 

 relate to horses, Sec. together with the 

 true principles of shoeing, and of treating 



horses while in a state of disease and of 

 health, are publicly taught by a surgeon, 

 who has made them his study, and who has 

 the designation of Professor of the Veteri- 

 nary Art. 



Such an establishment, which was not 

 novel on the Continent, was truly a deside- 

 ratum ; like most of our important im- 

 provements, it was first proposed and 

 acted upon by a foreigner, Monsieur St. 

 Bel, who, in the year 1788, came over from 

 France, and, observing the lamentable 

 want of veterinary knowledge, published 

 proposals for the establishment of a col- 

 lege. The matter was not, however, no- 

 ticed, until the Agricultural Society of 

 Odiham, in Hants, seeing the vast benefit 

 which must inevitably result from such an 

 institution, agreed to support Monsieur 

 St. Bel. He was accordingly nominated 

 to the professorship, under the patronage 

 of many eminent characters. The Duke 

 of Northumberland was elected president; 

 and the list of vice-presidents was graced 

 with the names of earls Grosvenor, Mor- 

 ton, Oxford, and Rivers, Sir George Ba- 

 ker, Sir T. C. Bunbury, Sir William For- 

 dyce, and the celebrated John Hunter, 

 Esq. 



Vicinity to London being an important 

 object, and a pure air no less indispen- 

 sable, Pancras was fixed upon for the 

 scite of the college. Its success, how- 

 ever, was not, in the first instance, much 

 to be vaunted; indeed, its stability be- 

 came somewhat doubtful, owing to a va- 

 riety of causes. The fact seems to be, 

 that St. Bel, though a perfect enthusiast, 

 and to a certain degree skilled in the ve- 

 terinary art, had not that complete ac- 

 quaintance with the subject which so 

 conspicuous a situation imperiously de- 

 manded; he was also deficient in that 

 peculiar ductility of disposition, and that 

 accommodation to the opinions of others, 

 which in every instance are preposses- 

 sing, and, to a man in his situation, were 

 indispensable. He died in 1793, and 

 Messrs. Coleman and Morecroft were ap- 

 pointed joint professors. Both these 

 gentlemen appear to have been highly 

 qualified for the pre-eminent situations 

 they held ; Mr. Coleman being a surgeon 

 who had distinguished himself by a work 

 of great merit; and Mr. Morecroft being 

 a medical gentleman who had visited the 

 continent, for the purpose of acquiring 

 as complete an insight into veterinary 

 operations as the schools in that quarter 

 could furnish. The latter, however, ul- 

 timately retired, and left Mr. Coleman to 

 fill the professor's chair, which he does 



