Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/141

* VETERINARY MEDICINE. 107 VETERINARY MEDICINE. stitions regarding these matters, but certain men aiiniircil considoralile reputation from their jjraitieal skill in the treatment of diseases hy the applieation of empirieal therapeuties. Some of the earliest veterinary literature is found in the ancient writings of India. Amon^ the Greeks consideraljle literature was produced on the anatomy and diseases of animals. Hippocrates found hydatids in the lungs of aninuils, and de- scrilied arlicuhir dislocations, dropsy, epilepsy, and gid. Xenoplion in his work on the horse men- lions a number of diseases of that animal. Aris- totle described with accuracy the chief symptoms of angina, tetanus, glanders, and various other iliseases. Among the Romans there were many writers on veterinary topics. Special mention may be made of Censorinus, Varro, t'elsus, t'ldumella, Pliny, Galenus, Apsyrtus, Pelagonius, and Vege- tius Renatus. The last-named writer called at- tention to the great similarity in certain animal and human diseases, and suggested the possi- bility of intertransmission. He described glan- ders as occurring under seven forms, and recom- mended that healthy horses be prevented from coming in contact with diseased ones, and that the carcasses of horses dead of glanders be deejdy buried. The symptoms and course of many other diseases were carefully descrilied by this writer. The anatomical knowledge of the Greeks and Romans was largely based on the dissection of domesticated animals. Animal dissection was extensively practiced by physicians and veteri- narians alike. The organs and parts of the ani- mal body were well understood and accurately described by such writers as Aristotle, Herophy- lus, Erasistratus, and Galen. Concerning the nature and occurrence of animal plagues in ancient times we have many records, ilention of destructive epizootics among domestic animals is made in Deuteronomy and by Ovid, Homer, Thucydides, Vergil, Columella, and many other Greek and Roman writers. In ancient times the practice of veterinary medicine was largely in the hands of physicians or the attendants of domestic animals. There were veterinarians attached to the Roman armies, but Vegetius slates that their work was not skill- ful and that the profession was not held in high esteem. During the Middle Ages the Arabs made some progress in the treatment of diseases of the horse. In general, however, little real ad- vance was made in veterinary medicine from A.u. 500 to 1500. Empiric 'horse doctors' were found in considerable numbers among the Germanic and Celtic peoples. Quite elaborate treatises on horse-shoeing were also published, particularly the works of Jordanus Riifl'us. Bonifacius. and Laurentius Rusius. The extensive movements of various peoples, especially the nomadic races, during the Midille Ages were res]")onsible for the enormous distribution and destruetiveness of ani- mal plagues at this period. Xot less than .32 epizootics spread over the greater part of Europe during the Middle Ages and affected not only all domeslle animals, but also man. During the flr.st pa?-t of the Middle Ages the study of human anatomy was greatly neglected. With the re- vival of this study in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, veterinary science was crowded into the background. The Anatomia del Cavrillo, by Carlo Ruini, however, marked a distinct advance in the study of animal anatomy. Vol. XX.— s. While much information regarding animal dis- eases was thus accumulated in ancient times and during the Middle Ages, this knowledge was mere empiricism, a collection of experiences with- out any formulation of underlying ijrinciplcs. Mod- ern veterinary medicine, liowevcr, has been placed upon the same basis as human medicine and by similar methods of investigation. The veterinary investigator has found a most fruit- ful lield in the pathology of organic, constitu- tional, functional, and infections diseases of ani- mals, as well as in bacteriology, methods of vac- cination and inuuunization, and animal hygiene and methods of disinfection. Sy.stematic inve.sti- gations have been made in veterinary pharnia- eology and toxicologv' (including mineral and plant poisons). The field of veterinary medicine now includes meat and milk inspection, the establishment of quarantine, regulating traffic in live stock, an<l stamping out animal plagues, as well as general practice on miscellaneous diseases. While in the past there was most demand for the prac- titioner's .services in connection with the hor.se, the raising of more improved stock and the in- creased value of live stock in general liave caused greater attention to be given to their ailments and to providing proper conditions of hygiene and ventilation for them. In large cities there is demand for specialists in the diseases of dogs, eats, and other pets. The establishment of veter- inary schools has done much to promote the study of animal diseases and to place the science on a firm basis. The first veterinary school was established at Lyons, France, in 1702. The names of some of the later and more important schools, with dates of establishment, follow: Alfort (1700). Copenhagen (177.3), Vienna (1777), Marburg (1780). Berlin (1790), London (1792), Madrid (179.3), Saint Petersburg (1808), Stock- holm (1820), Edinburgh (1825), Xew York (1857), and Montreal (1866). In the United States the best veterinary schools are connected with State universities or other institutions of learning. Among the more important of these are the Universities of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Harvard. In connection with a number of the agricultural colleges courses in veterinary science are given and veterinary degrees granted. Until recently the entrance requirements and standard of instruction in veterinary schools have not been as high as they should be. In some schools no pi'evious academic training was required of entering stiulents and the entire course of study consisted merely of two six- month sessions. With such low entrance require- ments and defective instruction the graduates were little if any better prepared to diagnose and treat animal diseases than the. empirical 'horse doctors' found ever^'where in both cities and rural districts. The veterinary profession was accordingly considered distinctly lower than that of human medicine. The persistent efforts of the more progressive veterinarians, however, have brought about the gradual elevation of en- trance requirements in the better class of veter- inary schools, the extension of the course so as to include three or four years of regular academic length, and a decided improvement in the social and scientific standard of the veterinary profes- sion. The American Veterinary Medical Associa- tion wields a stronc influence in the same direc-