Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Chapter 2 The Now-Opprobrious Title of "Horse Doctor"

Chapter 2 The Now-Opprobrious Title of “Horse Doctor” Veterinarians and Professional Identity in Late Nineteenth-Century America Ann฀N.฀Greene AMERICAN฀veterinary฀history฀has฀enormous฀promise฀as฀a฀research฀field,฀ due฀to฀its฀archival฀resources฀and฀conceptual฀potential.฀However,฀its฀secondary ฀literature฀is฀problematic฀and฀frustrating.฀With฀few฀exceptions,฀it฀portrays ฀veterinarians฀as฀scientific professionals฀of฀the฀modern฀state,฀heroically฀ battling฀animal฀disease฀from฀their฀laboratories฀and฀protecting฀public฀health฀ and฀the฀agricultural฀economy.1 ฀Written฀during฀the฀middle฀decades฀of฀the฀ twentieth฀century฀as฀veterinarians฀struggled฀for฀status฀and฀identity,฀this฀literature ฀positions฀veterinary฀medicine฀in฀the฀master฀narrative฀of฀scientific progress฀by฀modeling฀it฀after฀the฀prestigious฀fields฀of฀human฀medicine฀and฀ bacteriology.฀However,฀paradigms฀from฀those฀fields฀elide฀more฀than฀they฀ reveal฀of฀veterinarians’฀particular฀history.2 ฀This฀chapter฀suggests฀some฀ways฀ that฀we฀might฀begin฀to฀write฀a฀new฀American฀veterinary฀history. ฀ A฀curious฀feature฀of฀traditional฀veterinary฀history฀is฀that฀actual฀animals —material,฀historical฀animals—are฀largely฀absent.฀Instead,฀the฀focus฀ is฀on฀various฀disease฀agents฀or฀the฀broad฀category฀of฀“livestock฀health,”฀ shifting฀ the฀ location฀ of฀ veterinary฀ history฀ away฀ from฀ field฀ practice฀ and฀ into฀the฀more฀prestigious฀setting฀of฀the฀laboratory.฀Laboratories฀are฀sup- The Now-Opprobrious Title of “Horse Doctor”฀฀฀|฀43 posed฀to฀be฀generic฀spaces฀with฀invariable฀tools฀and฀practices฀that฀produce฀ universal฀knowledge,฀in฀contrast฀to฀work฀in฀the฀field.฀As฀historian฀Robert฀ Kohler฀writes,฀“Laboratory฀science฀seems฀always฀to฀be฀granted฀a฀higher฀ standing฀than฀field฀science.฀.฀.฀.฀It฀is฀precisely฀the฀stripped฀down฀simplicity฀ and฀invariability฀of฀labs—their฀placelessness—that฀gives฀them฀their฀credibility .”฀Field฀practice฀is฀“the฀result฀of฀a฀unique฀local฀history,฀never฀quite฀the฀ same฀from฀one฀moment฀to฀the฀next,฀unpredictable,฀unrepeatable,฀beyond฀ human฀control.”3 ฀Veterinary฀medicine฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀which฀professionalized ฀during฀the฀“golden฀age฀of฀bacteriology”฀that฀followed฀the฀introduction ฀of฀germ฀theory฀in฀the฀1870s,฀early฀hitched฀its฀wagon฀to฀the฀rising฀ star฀of฀laboratory฀science,฀leaving฀a฀lacuna฀in฀veterinary฀history฀concerning฀ the฀animals฀and฀human-animal฀relations฀of field฀practice. ฀ Veterinary฀medicine฀by฀necessity฀encompasses฀both฀field฀practice฀and฀ laboratory฀science.฀As฀a฀profession,฀it฀is฀situated฀between฀laboratory฀and฀ field,฀a฀place฀Kohler฀calls฀“a฀zone฀of฀mixed฀practices฀and฀ambiguous฀identities ”฀and฀“a฀place฀of฀mixed฀cultures,฀where฀.฀.฀.฀either฀side฀adopt฀each฀others’฀ practices฀and฀develop฀approaches฀that฀are฀neither฀pure฀lab฀or฀pure฀field.”4 ฀ This฀is฀the฀terrain฀a฀new฀veterinary฀history฀should฀explore.฀Traditional฀histories ฀disparage฀early฀practitioners฀as฀ignorant,฀low-class฀“horse฀doctors.”฀ This฀creates฀a฀historical฀problem,฀since,฀until฀at฀least฀the฀1920s,฀the฀majority฀ of฀veterinarians฀actually฀were฀horse฀doctors.฀As฀long฀as฀urban฀horses฀continued ฀to฀provide฀the฀largest฀market฀for฀veterinarians,฀horse฀doctoring฀defined฀ most฀of฀what฀veterinarians฀did,฀so฀much฀so฀that฀the฀decline฀in฀urban฀horse฀ populations฀after฀1915฀created฀a฀significant crisis฀in฀the฀profession.฀However,฀ veterinarians฀ also฀ treated฀ other฀ species.฀ The฀ equine-human฀ relationship฀ in฀veterinary฀medicine฀was฀different฀from฀the฀bovine-human,฀the฀swinehuman ,฀the฀canine-human,฀the฀elephant-฀(and฀other฀zoo฀animals)฀human,฀ or฀the฀disease฀agent-฀(“germ”)฀human฀relationship.฀A฀new฀history฀of฀veterinary ฀medicine฀must฀examine฀both฀field฀practice฀and฀laboratory฀science฀and฀ place฀the฀historicity฀and฀specificity฀of฀animals฀and฀human-animal฀relations฀ at฀the฀center฀of฀its฀concern.฀It฀must฀start฀describing฀actual฀practice.5 ฀ How฀should฀one฀write฀such฀a฀history?฀The฀way฀to฀explore฀the฀terrain฀ of฀“mixed฀practices฀and฀ambiguous฀identities”฀that฀constitutes฀veterinary฀ history฀is฀by฀using฀the฀concept฀of฀ecology฀as฀a฀method฀of฀historical฀inquiry.฀ Ecology฀considers฀specific communities฀of฀organisms,฀their฀internal฀relationships ,฀and฀their฀interactions฀with฀their฀surroundings.6 ฀Charles฀Elton,฀ one฀of฀the฀founders฀of฀ecology,฀called฀it฀“scientific natural฀history”฀and฀emphasized ฀attention฀to฀the฀various฀niches,฀or฀functions,฀of฀the฀members฀of฀ an฀ecosystem.฀Because฀ecology฀emphasizes฀place฀and฀relationship,฀it฀provides ฀a฀way฀for฀veterinary฀historians฀to฀bring฀field฀sites,฀laboratories,฀and฀ 44฀฀|฀฀฀Ann฀N.฀Greene human-animal฀relations฀together.฀Because฀ecology฀is฀attentive฀to฀change฀ but฀not฀concerned฀with฀progress,฀the฀ecosystem฀concept฀avoids฀the฀problem ฀of฀progress฀inherent฀in฀the฀analytical฀paradigm฀of฀professionalization.฀ An฀ecological฀approach฀considers฀how฀ideas฀take฀form฀in฀specific places—฀ in฀this฀case,฀how฀scientific ideas฀and฀altered฀concepts฀of฀diseases฀and฀therapeutics ฀entered฀nineteenth-century฀society,฀the฀extent฀to฀which฀they฀altered฀ perception฀and฀practice,฀and฀the฀characteristics฀and฀inhabitants฀of฀the฀sites฀ where฀this...