390 ACCOUNT OF THE FRENCH VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 
the first and most important objects of the institution. The ana¬ 
tomical teacher was charged to include in his lectures the struc¬ 
ture of every domestic animal; and two professors were appointed, 
whose labours were confined entirely to the breed and the dis¬ 
eases of cattle, sheep, &c.; and, finally, when the influence 
of situation prevailed over the most excellent regulations that 
could be adopted, and the patients w ere principally and almost 
exclusively horses, a third school was established in the south of 
France, professedly devoted to the study of the diseases of cat¬ 
tle and sheep. But we are rather anticipating the progress of 
events. 
Bourgelat w as very subject to the gout, and the attacks be¬ 
came more frequent and severe as he advanced in years. In 
December 1778, it appeared at once both in the head and the 
stomach; and in the beginning of January 1779, he died, in 
the sixty-seventh year of his age. He may be considered as the 
founder of the veterinary art in France. He w r as a voluminous 
and a valuable writer. As a professor, his talents, his easiness of 
access, and his readiness to serve his pupils, endeared him to his 
class. At a meeting of the students it was resolved to solicit 
the government for permission to erect a bust of him in the place 
which his genius and his zeal for the public good had created, 
and in that hall in which his pupils had so often listened to him 
with improvement and delight. Leave was immediately granted, 
and a considerable sum appropriated, in addition to the contri¬ 
butions of the students. This bust, in white marble, on a bronze 
pedestal, now adorns the museum at Alfort. On the pedestal is 
engraved, Artis Veterinaria Magister ; and on a tablet of 
white marble, 
cla v dii BOURGELAT equiti . 
OB INSTITUTAM 
ART EM V ET ERIN AR JAM 
DISC IP U LI MEMORES 
ANNUENTE REGE 
POSUERE 
ANNO M.DCC.LXXX. 
At the base two BB. are found, referring to Berlin and 
Bourgelat, and commemorating the friendship which existed 
betw een the minister, always the zealous promoter of the veteri¬ 
nary art, and the professor who founded it. 
There were numerous candidates for the vacant office ; but the 
king, by the advice of his minister, determined that one of the 
pupils of Bourgelat should be selected, as best acquainted with 
the views and purposes, and mode of teaching, of the first profes¬ 
sor ; and, as a just and honourable tribute to his memory, M. 
