William
Youatt, who lived from 1776 to 1847 was an influential veterinarian in England in the
first half of the eighteenth century. Although he was originally not a
veterinarian – he was educated for a ministry – he joined a veterinary hospital
and became a veterinary surgeon by practical training. He started to give
lectures and demonstrations for veterinary students in 1828 and initiated the
journal The Veterinarian to which he
contributed a large number of publications about all kinds of veterinary subjects.
A nice anecdote is described in the Dictionary
of National Biography:
“In 1844
Youatt standing at the head of his profession, was not a registered member of
it; he objected to the constitution of the examining body of the Royal College
of Veterinary Surgeons, which consisted chiefly of physicians and surgeons.
When, however, in 1844 this body was remodelled, and composed chiefly of
veterinarians, Youatt, then being nearly seventy years old, presented himself
for examination. The difficulty by his
refusal to answer a professional question rather impertinently put to him was
overruled by the tact of the chairman, who handed him his diploma on the spot.”
(1)
Youatt
wrote many veterinary books, monographs on horses, pigs, rabies, dogs, sheep,
bruteness against animals, and cows. The
latter is the book to which I will give more attention, because it contains
many data and insights which are of interest for veterinarian historians and
veterinarians in general (2) who are interested in bovine diseases and cattle
breeding.
The book
was written for improving the British veterinary education in the 1830’s. As
Youatt himself states in the introduction:
“ …. owing to the absence of efficient instruction
concerning the diseases of cattle in the principal veterinary school, and the
incomprehensible supineness of agricultural societies, and agriculturists
generally, cattle have been too much left to the tender mercies of those who
are utterly ignorant of their structures, the true nature of their diseases,
the scientific treatment of them, and even the very first principles of
medicine.”
Youatt
apparently had not much practical experience with cattle, but he solved it by
using a huge network of correspondents; his book is full of reports of visits
he brought to breeders and farmers and quotations of letters he received from
people in the country about their experience with diseases of cattle. Also
worthwhile is his report of the cattle market in London and the way milk is handled as a
commodity.
Some of
these reports will fill more of my blogs on Youatts book. For those who
are interested: the book is freely available on the internet via Google books.
1. E.Clarke,
‘Youatt, William’. Dictionary of National
Biography, 1885-1900, vol 63, p 354-355. See: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Youatt,_William_%28DNB00%29
2. William
Youatt, Cattle, their Breeds, Management
and Diseases, London:
Baldwin and Craddock, 1834, p.2.
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