THE EARLY HISTORY OE VETERINARY MEDICINE. 351 
we find some valuable matter, which the Greek veterinarians 
had omitted. His remarks on the vermin which infect the skin, 
and on vesicular calculi, are instances of this. Under the old 
name of malleus (from the animaks being immediately knocked 
down, as it were, by a hammer), Vegetius describes more dis¬ 
eases than the Greeks had ranged under the title of mails, which 
renders it exceedingly difficult for the reader to understand what 
particular affections are meant. That part of his work in which 
he treats of the disorders of the eyes, is more valuable than any 
that the Greeks have given us on this subject; and his treatise 
on the maladies of cattle is more complete than that of Colu¬ 
mella, and may be considered as a summary of all the know¬ 
ledge which the Greeks possessed on this branch of the veteri¬ 
nary art. 
The Greek and Roman veterinarians have not passed over in 
silence the diseases of sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs, yet they 
have not bestowed much care on them. It appears that it 
was not until modern times that poultry began to be domesti¬ 
cated to any considerable extent. Among the directions for the 
treatment of sheep, there are some important ones with regard 
to parturition. In false presentations of the fetus, it is recom¬ 
mended to cut it in pieces, in order to save the life of the mother. 
Many passages prove that the scab, and other cutaneous affec¬ 
tions, described indeed very slovenly, committed sad ravages 
among the flocks of sheep. In dropsy in the goat. Columella 
recommends to make an incision in a favourable place, in order 
to evacuate the water. Few details are given of any of the dis¬ 
eases of pigs. The most common of them at that time was 
inflammation of the glands of the neck. Didymus describes 
this very correctly : he also makes mention of cutaneous af¬ 
fections in camels, the maladies of which animals had doubtless, 
at that time, very much engaged the attention of veterinarians. 
Beside the art of breeding and breaking-in dogs, they pos¬ 
sessed a knowledge of every thing essential to rural economy 
and the chace ; but it was not until much later times that they 
seem to have had any conception of the nature and treatment 
of the diseases of these animals. Columella, satisfactorily 
