No. 144.] 63 



training and instruction, as to amount almost to nothing; and of 

 schools, or. any means of acquiring veterinary knowledge, there 

 is no trace. And yet the import, in every general sense, of this 

 branch of knoAvledge, is great and incontestable; since, to agri- 

 cultural and stock-raising communities, the claims it presents are 

 enhanced by its close and immediate relations to the care, improve- 

 ment, and value of all the domestic animals. 



In 1761, the first French institution of veterinary science was 

 founded, at Lyons. The government became soon afterward so 

 impressed with the value and importance of this school, that in 

 1765 it organized the present leading and eminent college of 

 Alfort, near Paris, on a scale capable of lodging 90 pupils, and 

 having hospital stables for 100 horses, with forges, museum, rid- 

 ing-house, kc. In 1828, the people of France had become 

 thoroughly sensible of the combined services, in relation to agri- 

 culture and stock, rendered by these previous veterinary schools, 

 and considering that the farming and pastoral interests of the 

 departments of the south of France, very ju!^tly claimed corres- 

 ponding advantages, it was determined, in that year, to found a 

 college at Toulouse, and which was accordingly carried intoeflect. 

 In Britain, there are the College, proper, of Veterinary Surgeons; 

 the Royal Veterinary College; the College of Edinburgh; the 

 Veterinary Professorship of the Andersonian University of Glas- 

 gow ; the Lectureship of the London University, &c. 



Of the idea of veterinary departments, to be annexed to agri- 

 cultural schools, it may be said to be excellent and valuable as an 

 accessory. Sessional courses of lectures, however, in a view to 

 attract and guide to general and right apprehensions of anatomy 

 and physiology, and the rationale of treatment for obvious acci- 

 dents and ailments of animals, together with demonstrations of 

 the elements of superior structure and form, and analogously the 

 principles and preservation of health ; this much would appear 

 to combine all the veterinary instruction eligible for such schools. 

 In Britain, agricultural associations arrange for and secure delive- 

 ries of such lectures, in order to promote a general acquaintance 

 with the objects and principles of the veterinary art; but its 

 professed training is entrusted to regular and competent institu- 



