1831. 8vo; pp. [iv], 15, [1] blank, 15-473, 475 488, [9]; penned in a single hand throughout; dampstain affecting fore-edge from pp. 9-160 though never touching text, some occasional light foxed and soiling, a few corners a little creased, otherwise generally clean and bright; contemporary sheep-backed marbled boards, spine tooled and lettered in gilt, head of spine worn exposing headband, with loss at both upper joints, with further cracking and loss at tail of upper joint, covers scuffed and faded, extremities rubbed and somewhat worn. An extensive and neatly transcribed early 19th century manuscript course on zoology, the work of Jean Borros, whom we believe was a student at the recently opened Toulouse Veterinary School, thus providing an insight into part of the required curriculum in the early days of the establishment. Densely penned in a tight, neat hand, Borros has signed his name on the first leaf, below which is inscribed ‘eleve veterinaire’, and the manuscript is dated October 16th 1831 at its conclusion on p. 438. Purely zoological, the manuscript opens with a general introduction, before a section ‘Division du regne animal’ (pp. 42-143). The remaining portion of the manuscript comprises a ‘Tableau méthodique des mammifiéres’, subdivided into 8 orders (two-legged, four-legged, carnivores, rodents, toothless, pachyderms, ruminans and cetaceans) each order then further divided into subclasses and genre. Both domestic and exotic animals are covered, with details about characteristics and habitats described, with mammals such as kangaroos (p. 218) and buffalo and bison (p. 370-371), pangolins (260) and elephants (263) included.
France was at the forefront of establishing veterinary medicine as a profession and Toulouse was the third dedicated veterinary school to open in France in 1825, following those of Lyon (1762) and Alfort near Paris in 1766, both founded by Claude Bourgelat (1712-1779). Up until 1761, veterinary ‘art’ was practised mostly by farriers and farmers, who were either self-taught or had moved through unregulated apprenticeships. Increasing livestock plagues at the beginning of the 18th century, however, were becoming so devastating that leading figures such as Pope Clement XI, commissioned reports into ways to address the situation. France was not immune to similar outbreaks and King Louis XV and his government was equally keen to bring an end to such epidemics, as well as seeking wider agricultural reforms. Bourgelat, Director of the Lyon Academy of Horsemanship, in his 1750 work Élémens d'hippiatrique ou nouveaux principes sur la connoissance et sur la médecine des chevaux, had already argued for the need of a veterinary school, and this hope became reality in 1762, having been giving a small grant by King Louis XV to established the Lyon school. The more rigourous, standardised scientific training, soon bore fruit, and within a short time diseases such as rinderpest were stayed. As a result Louis XV officially gave Lyon the title of Royal Veterinary School in 1764, with the Alfort school opening in the following year. These schools were the first real attempts to standardise veterinary practices and science, and Bourgelat is considered to be the father of modern veterinary science.
Jean Borros is found in the Recueil de Médicine Vétérinaire pratique Journal in a list of veterinary graduates in 1834 (p. 440), and went on to practice in the Dordogne. This suggests that it was a four year course, and that this general introduction to zoology may well have been part of the first year curriculum.