684 
J. C. MEYER, SR. 
behaved. Such attests were almost certain to bring together a 
reliable class of young men, who would make proper use of 
their time, elevate one another, exert themselves to give satis¬ 
faction to their principal, and consequently turn out to be 
qualified veterinarians. Bourgelat would probably never have 
enforced such strict rules, nor have made veterinary medicine 
the work of his life, had it not been for the following occurrence 
which he met with in his early career as lawyer, which he had 
chosen first. While defending a client, he won a case which he 
knew was unjust, and lost another in which he was convinced 
that his cause was a just one. Such injustice disgusted the 
noble-minded man to such a degree that he abandoned the 
practice of law and directed his attention to medicine. No 
doubt this incident induced him to demand a high standard 
of morals in his pupils. 
Bourgelat was so successful in his veterinary undertaking 
that the government in 1765 established another veterinary 
school in Alfort, of which he was appointed director. Students 
came, not only from France, but from Denmark, Sweden, Prus¬ 
sia, Switzerland and other countries to be instructed in the new 
profession which this genius shaped into a systematic science. 
Upon the death of this great man in 1779, Chambert, a 
disciple of Lafosse, succeeded him as director. Chambert 
dropped natural history and chemistry, which branches Bour¬ 
gelat had added to his curriculum, but in 1813 Napoleon again 
ordered these studies to be adopted as being essential to 
veterinary education. 
The whole civilized world appreciated the merits of Bour¬ 
gelat, by erecting to his memory as benefactor of domestic 
animals two monuments, one at Lyons in 1876, and the other at 
Alfort in 1879. 
Although not of the opinion that we should imitate Eu¬ 
ropeans, because, with the exception of the English schools, all 
are supported by their respective governments, still we must 
regulate our affairs as best as circumstances will admit, elevat¬ 
ing the standard, keeping pace with the progress of the times. 
