AT THE VETERINARY COLLEGE. 
807 
with the other arts and sciences, that which was connected with 
the medical treatment of horses and cattle disappeared. A thousand 
years passed on, and every record that was interesting or valuable 
relating to this subject seemed to have perished. 
It was not until the sixteenth century that knowledge began to 
revive in Europe ; but while considerable progress was made in 
several other branches of science and literature, the medical art, 
both human and veterinary, seemed to be utterly neglected. The 
seventeenth century had dawned ere the practice of human medi- 
cine was placed on its proper footing ; and it is impossible to say 
how long our branch of the healing art would have continued in 
the degraded state to which it had sunk, if an epidemic, com- 
mencing among cattle and extending to the horse, had not laid 
waste every country of Europe. 
It was bidding defiance to all the means that were employed to 
arrest its progress, when at length it was proposed that, in order 
to be enabled more successfully to combat the evil, a school should 
be established, under the guidance of those who seemed to know 
most about the matter, for the instruction of educated young men 
in the study of the anatomy and diseases of the different species of 
domesticated animals. A seminary of this kind was established 
at Lyons, in 1761, under the direction of the celebrated Bourgelat. 
The veterinary science and zeal of the Professor were well known; 
and his works, and particularly those on the anatomy of the horse, 
cattle, and sheep, were in high repute. Four years afterwards, 
another school, and intended to be the principal one in France, was 
instituted at Alfort, near Paris. 
At the conclusion of the late war, in 1815, he visited these 
schools ; he was kindly received by them, and derived much inter- 
esting information on the particular subjects which were the objects 
of his inquiries. He was presented with some valuable works by 
the professors, and some patterns of shoes for healthy and diseased 
feet. 
Another school has since that period been opened at Toulouse. 
The horse was not neglected there, but the chief .attention of the 
student was directed to cattle, which were most numerous and 
more employed in that part of the country. The professor of that 
