VETERINARY MEDICINE (Lat. ref (Tina rills, relating to beasts of burden, from vet rrina reicri no at, beast of burden, old. experienced. from ret us, oh]) ln the earliest historical times men depended closely on domest icated animals for food and transportation. Much attention was there fore devoted to a study of the nature and means of combating animal plagues. From the first the causes of animal diseases were grossly misunder stood, on account of the prevalence of super stitions regarding these matters, but certain men acquired considerable reputation from t heir practical skill in the treatment of diseases by the application of empirical therapeutics. Sonic of the earliest veterinary literature is found in the ancient writings of ludic. the Greeks considerable literature was pniirticed on the anatomy and diseases of animals. Ilippoerates found hydatids in the lungs of animals, and de se•ibed articular dislocations, epilepsy, and gid. Xenophon in his work on the horse men tions a number of diseases of that animal. Aris totle described with accuracy the chief symptoms of angina, tetanus, glanders, and various other diseases. Among the Romans there were many writers on veterinary topics. Special mention nlay be made of Censorinus, Celsus, Coltunella, Pliny, Calenus, Apsyrtus, Pelagonius, and Vtge tins 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. Ile described glan ders as occurring under seven forms, and recom mended that healthy horses be prevented from coining in contact with diseased ones, and that the carcasses of horses dead of glanders be deeply buried. The symptoms and course of many other diseases were carefully described 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 Ins, and Galen. Concerning the nature and occurrence of animal plagues in ancient times we have many records. Mention of destructive epizoiitics among domestic animals is made in Deuteronomy and by Ovid, homer, Thucydides, Vergil, Columella, and ninny 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 states that their work was not skill ful and that the profession was not held in high esteem. During the Middle Ages the Arabs made sonic progress in the treatment of diseases of the horse. In general, however, little real ad Vance was made in veterinary medicine from A.D. 500 to 1500. Empiric 'horse doctors' were found in considerable numbers among the Germanic and Celtic peoples. Quite elaborate treatises on ho•se-shoeing were also published, particularly the works of Jo•danus Ruffus. Bonifneins. and Laurentius Rnsins. The extensive movements of various peoples. especially the nomadic races, during the Middle Ages were responsible for the enormous distribution and destructiveness of ani mal plagues at this period. Not less than 32 epizoidies spread over the greater part of Europe during the Middle Ages and affected not only all domestic animals. but also man. During the first 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 Ana tomia del Cov(111o, by Carlo Ruini, however, marked a distinct advance in the study of animal anatomy.
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 principles. Mod ern veterinary medicine, however, 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 field in the pathology of organic, constitu tional, functional, and infectious diseases of ani mals. as well as in bacteriology, methods of vac cination and immunization, and animal hygiene and methods of disinfection. Systematic investi gations have been made in veterinary pharma cology and toxicology (including mineral and plant poisons).