Veterinary Science From a Little French Book

By Richard Hooper

In 1750, a little book was published in Lyon, France— Elemens d’ Hippiatrique. Its author, Claude Bourgelat (1712- 1779), had gained renown for his expertise as a rider and his extreme skill at breaking horses during his service in the army.

This reputation had helped him gain the position of officer in charge of the L’Academie d’ Equitation in Lyon. A man of learning, Bourgelat was also a friend of Voltaire and a contributor to the massive encyclopedia of arts and sciences created by d’Alembert and Diderot. 

What made Bourgelat’s little book noteworthy was its expression of the need for veterinary schools, a hitherto unknown institution. Diseases in farm stock were wreaking havoc, and the horse was still the major animal used for transport and military endeavors. It was an age of science, and Bourgelat believed that veterinary practices should follow suit. 

In agreement with Bourgelat’s vision was another of his friends, the influential Henri Leonard Jean Baptiste Bertin, controller-general of finance for King Louis XV. Bertin persuaded Louis to grant the school and, in 1762, L’Ecole Veterinaire de Lyon opened in Bourgelat’s former riding academy.

A second Bourgelat school soon followed, just outside Paris at Chateau d’Alfort. It is still in operation today. Among the first instructors at d’Alfort was a professor of anatomy, Honoré Fragonard, first cousin to the painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

Fragonard, the anatomist, had developed a secret process for preserving flayed cadavers which included injecting wax into the veins. Numerous examples of his work are on view at the Chateau, the most famous of which is a horse and rider. (It goes by several names, including Le Cavalier de Fragonard. It can be searched on the internet, but be warned, it is a gruesome sight.)

Both Fragonards hailed from Grasse, the perfume capital of France and of the world. Grasse began, however, as a center for tanning; a messy, odorous business at best. Leather goods were also made there, and the unpleasant smell lingered on gloves and other articles until they were perfumed. 

Fragonard, the painter, followed the scent of the perfumes and created masterful scenes of those who wore them. Fragonard, the anatomist, inspired by the skins of tanning and the flayed animals, created his own form of masterpieces. However, one cannot help but feel squeamish when looking at them. Certainly the faculty at d’Alfort felt that, and more, when they dismissed him from the school as a madman.

Another veterinary visionary at the time was Philippe-Etienne LaFosse (1738-1820). He was preeminently qualified to partake in this new adventure. Both his father and grandfather practiced animal medicine

and, as a child and young man, LaFosse would accompany his father, a marshall of the king’s equerry, as he administered to sick and diseased animals. By age 18, LaFosse was teaching equine anatomy to the cavalry at Versailles.

LaFosse passionately wanted to be part of the faculty at this new institution and participate in this vision of the emerging science of veterinary learning. However, he was never allowed to teach at Bourgelat’s schools. Perhaps Bourgelat saw him as a threat. The rejection embittered LaFosse the rest of his life, and a rivalry ensued.

This bitterness, though, did not prevent him from producing one of the most magnificent books on veterinary medicine ever created. A mammoth work with large engraved plates, his Cours d’Hippiatrique appeared in 1772. And he did not stop there; he also opened his own private school of veterinary practice, the third in France.

Bourgelat’s two royal schools and LaFosse’s school attracted students from the rest of Europe as well as from within France, and it was not unusual to attend both masters. Some of the prominent students would return to their own countries and establish schools there as well, thus expanding a scientific approach to animal medicine.

As this new science emerged, the emphasis was still on treating the horse. Overlooking the fact that they were exporting their learning, the French boasted that with their new approach to veterinary medicine leading to healthier, hardier animal so the French Cavalry would soon be unbeatable.

Attention to farm stock would soon catch up and, in any case, scientific methods were being employed and the knowledge gained disseminated. 

Bourgelat did not live to see the French Revolution, but was it possible that LaFosse was still feeling slighted when he stormed the Bastille in 1789? 

(Richard Hooper is an antiquarian book expert in Middleburg. He is also the creator of Chateaux de la Pooch, elegantly appointed furniture for dogs and home. He can be contacted at [email protected].)