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Chapter 2 The Now-Opprobrious Title of "Horse Doctor"
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Chapter 2 The Now-Opprobrious Title of “Horse Doctor” Veterinarians and Professional Identity in Late Nineteenth-Century America AnnN.Greene AMERICANveterinaryhistoryhasenormouspromiseasaresearchfield, duetoitsarchivalresourcesandconceptualpotential.However,itssecondary literatureisproblematicandfrustrating.Withfewexceptions,itportrays veterinariansasscientific professionalsofthemodernstate,heroically battlinganimaldiseasefromtheirlaboratoriesandprotectingpublichealth andtheagriculturaleconomy.1 Writtenduringthemiddledecadesofthe twentiethcenturyasveterinariansstruggledforstatusandidentity,thisliterature positionsveterinarymedicineinthemasternarrativeofscientific progressbymodelingitaftertheprestigiousfieldsofhumanmedicineand bacteriology.However,paradigmsfromthosefieldselidemorethanthey revealofveterinarians’particularhistory.2 Thischaptersuggestssomeways thatwemightbegintowriteanewAmericanveterinaryhistory. Acuriousfeatureoftraditionalveterinaryhistoryisthatactualanimals —material,historicalanimals—arelargelyabsent.Instead,thefocus isonvariousdiseaseagentsorthebroadcategoryof“livestockhealth,” shifting the location of veterinary history away from field practice and intothemoreprestigioussettingofthelaboratory.Laboratoriesaresup- The Now-Opprobrious Title of “Horse Doctor”|43 posedtobegenericspaceswithinvariabletoolsandpracticesthatproduce universalknowledge,incontrasttoworkinthefield.AshistorianRobert Kohlerwrites,“Laboratoryscienceseemsalwaystobegrantedahigher standingthanfieldscience....Itispreciselythestrippeddownsimplicity andinvariabilityoflabs—theirplacelessness—thatgivesthemtheircredibility .”Fieldpracticeis“theresultofauniquelocalhistory,neverquitethe samefromonemomenttothenext,unpredictable,unrepeatable,beyond humancontrol.”3 VeterinarymedicineintheUnitedStates,whichprofessionalized duringthe“goldenageofbacteriology”thatfollowedtheintroduction ofgermtheoryinthe1870s,earlyhitcheditswagontotherising staroflaboratoryscience,leavingalacunainveterinaryhistoryconcerning theanimalsandhuman-animalrelationsof fieldpractice. Veterinarymedicinebynecessityencompassesbothfieldpracticeand laboratoryscience.Asaprofession,itissituatedbetweenlaboratoryand field,aplaceKohlercalls“azoneofmixedpracticesandambiguousidentities ”and“aplaceofmixedcultures,where...eithersideadopteachothers’ practicesanddevelopapproachesthatareneitherpurelaborpurefield.”4 Thisistheterrainanewveterinaryhistoryshouldexplore.Traditionalhistories disparageearlypractitionersasignorant,low-class“horsedoctors.” Thiscreatesahistoricalproblem,since,untilatleastthe1920s,themajority ofveterinariansactuallywerehorsedoctors.Aslongasurbanhorsescontinued toprovidethelargestmarketforveterinarians,horsedoctoringdefined mostofwhatveterinariansdid,somuchsothatthedeclineinurbanhorse populationsafter1915createdasignificant crisisintheprofession.However, veterinarians also treated other species. The equine-human relationship inveterinarymedicinewasdifferentfromthebovine-human,theswinehuman ,thecanine-human,theelephant-(andotherzooanimals)human, orthediseaseagent-(“germ”)humanrelationship.Anewhistoryofveterinary medicinemustexaminebothfieldpracticeandlaboratoryscienceand placethehistoricityandspecificityofanimalsandhuman-animalrelations atthecenterofitsconcern.Itmuststartdescribingactualpractice.5 Howshouldonewritesuchahistory?Thewaytoexploretheterrain of“mixedpracticesandambiguousidentities”thatconstitutesveterinary historyisbyusingtheconceptofecologyasamethodofhistoricalinquiry. Ecologyconsidersspecific communitiesoforganisms,theirinternalrelationships ,andtheirinteractionswiththeirsurroundings.6 CharlesElton, oneofthefoundersofecology,calledit“scientific naturalhistory”andemphasized attentiontothevariousniches,orfunctions,ofthemembersof anecosystem.Becauseecologyemphasizesplaceandrelationship,itprovides awayforveterinaryhistorianstobringfieldsites,laboratories,and [44.222.196.236] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 05:40 GMT) 44|AnnN.Greene human-animalrelationstogether.Becauseecologyisattentivetochange butnotconcernedwithprogress,theecosystemconceptavoidstheproblem ofprogressinherentintheanalyticalparadigmofprofessionalization. Anecologicalapproachconsidershowideastakeforminspecific places— inthiscase,howscientific ideasandalteredconceptsofdiseasesandtherapeutics enterednineteenth-centurysociety,theextenttowhichtheyaltered perceptionandpractice,andthecharacteristicsandinhabitantsofthesites wherethis...