IT is a curious fact that several of the most important events. in the foundation and development of veterinary medicine have been due to the interest and activity of soldiers, statesmen, and lawyers. Xenophon was the first to write of the care of the horse, especially its feet, of which he makes an important chapter in his Anabasis. Carlo Ruini, Senator of Bologna, who was one of the most advanced political leaders of Italy the latter half of the fifteenth century, wrote the first great book on the anatomy of the horse,' started the veterinary museum and library at the University of Bologna, now the largest and most complete in the world, and originated teaching on veterinary subjects.

Bourgelat, a French advocate, conceived the idea of and founded the first regular veterinary school-that at Lyons, in France-in 1762, and so interested the king and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, in his work that he was called to Paris, given the old chateau with the menagerie near Vincennes, and founded the second school-that at Alfort-in 1765.

Here, within five years, came military officers sent by their governments in Austria, Prussia, and Denmark, to acquire the knowledge which was gaining such a reputation for its service to the army.

1 Extract from the Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Annual Meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Detroit, Mich., September, 1900.

First edition, 1592, in folio, profusely illustrated with full-page wood engravings, richly ornamented. This work describes the valves of the heart and clearly indicated the circulation of the blood, thirty years before the time Harvey obtains credit for the discovery.