874 
GLASGOW VETERINARY COLLEGE). 
came to consist almost entirely of heavy cavalry, in which man and horse 
were completely covered with defensive armour, so that the medium 
weight to be carried by the knightly charger was no less than thirty 
stones. A peculiar kind of horse called a “ destrier,” and now lost, was 
required for this purpose—combining great strength with still greater 
energy—not, indeed, for speed, but for rapid evolution, so that the 
knight might wield his heavy lance and battle-axe with advantage in 
close combat. These horses were procured at vast expense in Spain 
and Italy; and, when procured, were subjected to an elaborate training 
of years, until they obeyed the slightest movement of wrist or heel, and 
played nearly as important a part in the melee as did their riders. This 
severe training, and the exertions they had to make on service, sub¬ 
jected them to continual strains and diseases; but as their value was 
great, every means of prevention or cure was eagerly sought after. The 
practice of covering the horse in every part with defensive armour also 
drew after it important consequences. Ilis ears were cropped out close 
to the head to permit the covering of mail to fit closely ; and for the same 
reason his tail was not docked but dug out close to the croup. Moreover, 
this heavy panoply of iron exposed the horse to alternate sweats and 
chills that proved highly destructive. Such things necessitated some 
knowledge of surgery and medicine. And here came in the important 
part played by the riding-masters or mareschals of the day. It was the 
profession of these gentlemen to procure and train such horses, and 
afterwards to direct their treatment. Hence they carefully studied the 
nature and constitution of the horse, and generally possessed the highest 
degree of veterinary skill known at the time. In Spain, Italy, France, 
and Germany riding schools, called academies, were established. Some 
of them obtained a world-wide celebrity. Numerous works on the 
manege, that is, military riding, emanated from them, and to each was 
always attached a treatise on the veterinary art. In so high estimation 
was this combination of riding-master and veterinary surgeon held, that 
it was exercised by the highest of the military nobles. It is a very 
significant fact that the French word c( mareschal,” which denotes the 
highest military officer in France, originally meant a veterinary surgeon, 
and is still used as the name for a farrier. With the introduction of 
gunpowder chivalry was extinguished, heavy cavalry fell into disuse, 
and the armies of Europe came to consist mainly of infantry. This revo¬ 
lution brought about the decline of the old mareschals with all their science 
and traditions, and that art which kings and nobles had loved to teach, 
fell into the hands of obscure practitioners with little more science than 
that possessed by a huntsman or trainer for the turf. The Marquis of 
Newcastle, whose celebrated work appeared about 1680, was the last of 
the great military riding-masters; and though after his time his humbler 
brethren made a gallant struggle to maintain their ancient renown, they 
steadily declined, and the science of the riding school gave way to that 
of the turf. The result of this was that the veterinary art was fast 
passing into the hands of blacksmiths, now no longer armourers, and was 
in danger of tumbling from a profession to a trade. Coincidentally, 
however, with the decline of the professors of military equitation, arose 
the first pioneers of the science of veterinary surgery, properly so-called. 
In Italy, as early as 1618, appeared the work of Carlo Ruini, on the 
diseases of the horse, profusely illustrated with superb engravings. This 
was followed in France by the c Grand Mareschal Franpois,’ a work of 
great erudition. Soon after appeared ‘Le parfait Mareschal,’ by 
Sollysel, and this was translated into English or rather Scotch by Sir 
William Hope. From that time numerous treatises appear all over 
