ACCOUNT OF THE FRENCH VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 389 
and spring they studied anatomy and the materia medica, both 
external and internal. In the summer and autumn, they were 
occupied with the exterior of animals, the choice and examina¬ 
tion of the horse, botany, pharmacy, chemistry, the knowledge 
of disease external and internal, the application of restraints and 
bandages, and the theory and practice of operations. The treat¬ 
ment of disease, and the management of the forge, w ere con¬ 
stant subjects of strict attention. 
The pupils were compelled to reside w ithin the school, and 
a very severe discipline was established among them. The 
hours of rising and going to bed, of breakfast, dinner, and sup¬ 
per, of their attendance on the professors, and the discharge of 
the hospital duties, were announced by the tolling of the bell. 
Their attention and their orderly conduct were rigorously ex¬ 
acted, and a surgeon’s certificate of ill health w^as alone ad¬ 
mitted in excuse. The pupils and the professors were distin¬ 
guished by a uniform. In addition to the diploma at the end of 
the fourth year, and that only obtained after a strict and public 
examination, prizes were distributed at the close of every ses¬ 
sion, consisting of instruments and medals. Every student who 
pleased was permitted to present himself for examination at this 
annual concours. The professors, the veterinary surgeons of 
Paris, and some of the ministers of government, presided. On 
the first day the competitors were examined on all the diseases 
of all domestic animals, their causes, symptoms, and treatment; 
the anatomy and physiology of every domestic animal; materia 
medica, chemistry, and medical jurisprudence. On the second 
day, they practised every operation on the living animal, bleed¬ 
ing, rowelling, setoning, tracheotomy, castration, docking, firing, 
shoeing, and every operation on the foot. They were com¬ 
pelled to give a reason for every step of every operation, and for 
every variation in the form of it which circumstances might 
require. . , . 
M. Bourgelat continued to preside over the school at Alfort, and 
M. Flandrinover that of Lyons, for many years; and the reputation 
of both the schools progressively advanced, with this exception, 
that Alfort being situated so near to Paris, and there being in that 
metropolis numerous horses and but few cattle, the original inten¬ 
tion of the school, as embracing the anatomy and diseases of all 
domestic animals, w as, to a considerable degree, forgotten, and it 
became an institution almost exclusively for the diffusion of horse- 
knowledge. This, at length, became so lamentably evident that 
the government interfered, and endeavoured to arrange the ap¬ 
pointment and the duties of the professors, so as to accomplish 
