OHAPTEE XLIII. 



BRIEF HISTORY OP VETERINARY SCIENCE. 

 Necessity the mother of invention — First veterinary school of the world 1761 



— First in England, 1795 — Quack medicines generally well advertised 



— Opinionated grooms — Veterinary quacks. 



AS " necessity is the mother of invention " the veterinary 

 science, like that practiced on man, was first called into 

 existence by necessity. The many diseases to which domestic 

 animals were subject and to which they too frequently fell 

 victims for want of proper professional care, and the great 

 agricultural loss in consequence thereof, led their owners to 

 seek for reliable remedies. 



In the year 1761, the first veterinary school in the world 

 was established at Lyons, France, under the patronage of the 

 French government, whose fostering care this infant school for 

 a time received. 



At the commencement of this great enterprise, as at the 

 commencement of all great enterprises, the people looked on 

 with indifference ; but many of the most scientific and liberal- 

 minded men of that day saw in the enterprise a vast field for 

 research, a broad road to usefulness and distinction. Conse- 

 quently, many such men embarked in it with perseverance, 

 overcoming every obstacle with a view of making known those, 

 laws regulating the vital forces of domestic animals ; and to 

 this day the fruits of their labors are received as a legacy to 

 the profession. The names of the first cultivators of veterinary 

 science are well worthy the inscription on tablets of stone 

 as public benefactors to their country. 



In 1765, a similar school was established at Alfort, France. 

 Eegular system of veterinary medicine was taught at this school, 

 under which students acquired an acquaintance with the vari- 



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