«The experienced cattle doctor»- a popular science veterinary book of the canton of Grisons from the 19th century

Abstract

The publication of J. J. Wirth's layman's handbook to healthier cattle farming practices in 1842 met with such unexpected demand even beyond the Canton of Grisons, that a second revised and updated edition was published by one of his successors in the charge of -cantonal veterinary officer, J. L. Wallraff, twenty years later. Through the analysis of these two mid-nineteenth century editions, one can observe how farming and herding practices changed in the Grisons, as concerns the developments in veterinary practices by both -professionals and laypersons in the treatment and prevention of injury, illness and disease in livestock. A comparison of the two editions demonstrates what -remarkable advancements in veterinary medicine were made in the mountainous Canton of Grisons in the second half of the 19th century, especially concerning epidemic controls within a short twenty-year span.