Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/351

 VETCH The rivers are insignificant. The capital, Veszprem, is situated near the N. extremity of Lake Balaton, 60 m. S. W. of Buda ; pop. in 1870, 12,002. It has a fine cathedral and episcopal palace, a Piarist college, a gymna- sium, and considerable trade. VETCH, or Tares, the name of plants of the genus vicia, which is the ancient Latin name. The genus, which belongs to the leguminosce, is closely related to the pea and lentil, from the first of which it differs mainly in the more numerous leaflets and the character of the style, and from the other in the shape of the seeds. There are several native and introduced species in this country. The vetch of agriculture is V. sativa, which has been so widely dissemi- nated by cultivation that its native country is not known, but is supposed to be southern Europe. In cultivation it is annual or bien- nial, according to the time of sowing ; the stems are 1 to 2 ft. long; the leaves have 8 to 14 leaflets, varying in shape from linear to obovate, notched and furnished with a point at apex, the terminal leaflet replaced by a tendril ; the purple flowers are sessile, solitary, or in pairs, and succeeded by a narrow pod 1 to 2 in. long, with 10 to 12 globular seeds. The vetch is much cultivated in Europe as a fodder plant, the fondness of animals for its herbage being sustained by its analysis, which shows it to be Vetch (Vicia sativa). quite the equal of clover in nutritive principles. The seeds are a favorite food with poultry and pigeons, and are sometimes used as human food ; but they are very indigestible. Winter and spring tares are merely strains produced by the time of sowing; if sown in late summer or early autumn, the crop is harvested the next year ; if in spring, it is cut the same year. The vetch has never become popular with Ameri- can farmers, and it is but rarely cultivated. VETERINARY SCIENCE (Lat. veterinarius, per- taining to domestic animals). Veterinary med- icine was studied among the ancient Egyp- VETERINARY SCIENCE 331 tians, Arabs, Parsees, and Hindoos, and it at- tracted considerable attention among the an- cient Greeks. Hippocrates and Aristotle de- scribe maladies of the domestic animals, and 600 years later we find systematic Greek works on veterinary medicine. The science was vir- tually lost in the destruction of the eastern empire, and only began to revive in the end of the 16th century, when Carlo Ruini published his work on the anatomy of the horse. But little real progress was made till 1762, when the prevailing epizootics among farm animals led to the establishment of the Lyons veterinary college, speedily followed by the founding of similar institutions in every country of Europe. In the 19th century especially the earnest study of comparative anatomy and physiology, and the careful investigation of animal diseases, and of the contagions and parasites which are in- tercommunicable among the lower animals and between them and man, have opened up anew path of usefulness for veterinary medicine, ad- vanced the science of comparative pathology, and added a most valuable chapter to the doc- trine of prophylaxis. As at present existing, veterinary science embraces the anatomy, phy- siology, hygiene, dietetics, and general care of domestic animals, together with their diseases, therapeutics, and prophylaxis, the philosophy of breeding, shoeing, sanitary principles of build- ing, drainage, and ventilation, the influence of soils and seasons on the food, water, and air, the effects of climate on the animal economy, the laws of contagion, the development and metamorphoses of parasites, &c. I. EPIZO- OTIC INFLUENZA. This is a specific typhous fever, occurring epizootically and complicated with inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the air passages, or less frequently of the lungs, pleura?, pericardium, liver, bowels, muscles, or joints. It is described as seen in horses, A. D, 330, by the Greek veterinarian Absyrtus, and in the course of the last two centuries has occurred simultaneously in man and horse no less than 20 times. Less fre- quently it has attacked other animals as well, particularly dogs and cats, while in the great majority of cases it has confined its ravages to a single genus. It was formerly thought to fall on a whole continent or country instan- taneously, but a careful study of its outbreaks generally discloses a steady advance over a continent for a period of months or even a year. The American epizootic of 1872 ad- vanced from place to place with a rapidity varying according to the celerity of communi- cation, extending along the lines of railroad, and attacking first the large cities, later the smaller ones, and finally the villages and iso- lated farms, and frequently pursuing a retro- grade course from the cities and railroads into the adjacent country. The whole country finally suffered, excepting such places as were protected against the introduction of strange horses. Thus La Paz was saved by the gulf of California, Vancouver island by a rigid ex-