Epilogue: Veterinary Medicine In The Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This chapter examines the reasons that are given as being the catalyst for the development of the London College. The medical marketplace for humans and animals at the beginning of the eighteenth century was identical to that of a hundred years before. The late eighteenth century is also credited with the beginning of a 'real' interest in animal health triggered by reoccurring episodes of 'cattle plague'. Attempts to prevent and treat the eighteenth century 'cattle plague' came from concerned individuals, some of who were medical practitioners. There were ranges of traditional remedies aimed at purging the disease from the animal's bodies. The later part of the nineteenth century is often referred to as the 'great age of public health' in Britain. There is no evidence to suggest that any new or innovative research was being carried out in veterinary medicine that might have lent weight to the idea of 'modernisation'.Keywords: Britain; cattle plague; eighteenth century; London College; medical marketplace; veterinary medicine