58 
concerning such diseases was the greatest 
task of the veterinary colleges : the progress 
made was necessarily slow; but the founda- 
tion of veterinary surgery as a science dates 
from the establishment of the colleges named. 
l‘or many years the new school of veteri- 
narians were groping in the dark; but if they 
made no striking advance they did valuable 
work in collecting facts and correct views 
concerning animal diseases, which were of 
great value to a later generation. 
The Royal Veterinary College was founded 
by a Frenchman named Charles Vial de 
St. Bel, or Sainbel. Sainbel was born at 
Lyons in 1753. His talents developed early 
in life, and after a brief but brilliantly suc- 
cessful career in France he came over to 
England in 1788. He published proposals 
for founding a Veterinary School in this 
country, but his suggestions were not favour- 
ably received, and he returned home. Per- 
haps the fact that he had married an 
Englishwoman during his short residence on 
this side of the Channel influenced Sainbel 
in his choice of refuge when the Revolution 
threatened ; but however that may be, it 
was to London that he repaired when 
political unrest in Paris bade him seek a new 
sphere of activity. 
