The importance of evidence

 Recently I have attended two events:  the Trust organised symposium on Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine (EBVM)* The sceptical vet: eminence or evidence? and the 50^th anniversary meeting of the Veterinary History Society (VHS)

The EBVM event was the first time in the UK that such a large group of people, from all sectors of the profession, had got together to discuss the topic and to explore ways in which EBVM principles could be implemented.  You can find more information about the day including  speaker presentations here.

In a poll taken at the beginning and end of the day, which asked what challenges EBVM faced, the lack of high quality evidence and difficulties accessing literature rated highly.

As someone whose job is all about making information available this struck a chord and it was still on my mind during the next two days when I was at the VHS meeting. It was interesting, therefore, to hear of similar challenges that were faced by vets in the past.

Close up from portrait of William Hunting in the RCVS Collection

For example  Bruce Vivash Jones talked about William Hunting  (who is one of the lives featured in Bruce’s soon to be published book Twentieth Century veterinary lives) who founded The Veterinary Record  in 1888 in order to make the papers presented at the veterinary societies more widely available.  In the editorial in the first issue Hunting writes:

“Careful observation makes a skilful practitioner but his skill dies with him.  By recording his observations he adds to the knowledge of his profession and assists by his facts in building up the solid edifice of pathological science.”

That seems to me to be a statement of what would now be considered one of the cornerstones of EBVM – that of collecting evidence and contributing it to the knowledge base.

Later in the meeting we heard an account of the Brucellosis eradication scheme of the 1970s and how important the sharing of experience, or evidence, by ‘practitioners in the field’ and integrating it with the research evidence was to it’s success.

In a more light hearted moment VHS members were all chuckling at some of the early images shown in the session on the history of leeching and bloodletting. Whilst these images may have been comical and the thinking behind the practice at the time (which was based on the ancient idea of maintaining bodily fluids or ‘humors’ in balance) is long  discredited there is now evidence of the beneficial use of leeches in human medicine and they are starting to be more widely used in the treatment of animals. 

So perhaps the two events were not poles apart after all and what would now be termed EVBM principles have always been pivotal to  the development of veterinary medicine?

* The Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine  defines EBVM as:

“Evidence-based veterinary medicine is the use of best relevant evidence, in conjunction with clinical expertise, to make the best possible decision about a veterinary patient. In addition, the circumstances of each patient, and the circumstances and values of the owner/carer must also be considered when making an evidence-based decision.

Making history: UK’s first black vet

October is Black History Month so this seems an appropriate time to look at the life and work of Jotello Soga the first black member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

Jotello Festiri Soga  (1865-1906) was born in the Transkei, South Africa, the fifth son of the Reverend Tiyo Soga.  Reverend Soga had been educated in Scotland and it followed that all his surviving sons were sent to the Dollar Academy in Fife.  Soga then went to the Dick Veterinary School in Edinburgh to study, graduating in April 1886.  On graduation he become the first black member of the RCVS and also the first South African-born qualified veterinary surgeon. 

Soga’s entry in the RCVS roll of members

After qualifying he returned to South Africa, and then, in November 1889, he was appointed by Duncan Hutcheon, Chief Veterinary Surgeon of the Cape Colony, as ‘junior veterinary surgeon’ with responsibility for the veterinary services in the Victoria East region.

Here he worked on a programme of inoculation against lung sickness in cattle and developed his interest in bacteriology. Then Rinderpest broke out in 1896, decimating herds across the continent.  The treatment and eradication of this highly infectious disease was to occupy the rest of Soga’s  career with the Colonial  Veterinary Services.  In  1896 he attended the conference that was arranged to discuss how to tackle the outbreak, and then worked in the laboratory set up as a result.  It was at this lab that he met Robert Koch who was visiting to try out his possible cures and serum immunisation method. 

For the most part, though, Soga and Hutcheon worked in the field shooting cattle, often working excessively long hours.

In the Cape of Good Hope Board of Agriculture’s Report of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and the assistant veterinary surgeons for the year 1897 Soga writes about his experience with rinderpest:

“It was noticeable the peculiar direction the plague took, viz, down the course of the rivers and valleys…the ways in which the plague is carried from place to place are varied and extraordinary…it was supposed that the long leaps…[were] due to birds, but these outbreaks in almost every instance could be traceable to man”

Speaking of the efficacy of the inoculation programme he writes:

“The first inoculation was not always sufficient to render immunity complete, hence it was repeated…on recurrence any cases were generally of an exceptionally mild character.”

This strain of this exhausting work took its toll on both Soga and Hutcheon and they both took sick leave and then eventually resigned.

Soga continued to work as a vet in private practice and to write articles particularly for the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope.  He co-founded the Cape Colony Veterinary Society in 1905and died aged 41 in 1906.  Soga had married Catherine Watson Chalmers, who came from Edinburgh, they had three daughters Catherine, Doris and Margaret.

Soga appears to have been forgotten by history so much so that Arnold Theiler , who is considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa,  named TJ Viljoen as the first South African  veterinarian. In fact Viljoen graduated in 1912 some 26 years after Soga.

Happily he has been ‘rediscovered’ and  is remembered in the naming of the Jotello F Soga Library  at the University of Pretoria,  and with an annual award from the South African Veterinary Association, the Soga Medal, which is given to veterinary students or veterinarians in “recognition of exceptional community service rendered by a veterinarian or a veterinary student”.

Jean-Pierre Megnin – skilled illustrator and pioneering forensic entomologist

The beautiful botanical illustration which you may have seen in an earlier post is  the work of Jean-Pierre Megnin.

It forms part of a collection of material by Megnin, which includes books, manuscripts, drawings and engravings, which the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons acquired in the 1980s.

Jean-Pierre Megnin (1828-1905) graduated from Alfort Veterinary School in 1853 and served in the French army from 1860 until his retirement in 1885. Retiring from the army he founded the journal L’Eleveur (The Breeder).

Throughout his life Megnin wrote articles and books on a wide variety of subjects (his main interests were parasitology and skin conditions in domesticated animals) illustrating most of them himself.  There are many examples of his skilled draughtsmanship in our collections.

In 1872 and 1873 he produced a set of posters, on topics such as ‘the age of domestic animals’, ‘the unsoundness and defects of the horses’ and  ‘the shoeing of the horse, mule and ox’ which were sold mounted on cloth and folded (as the ones in our collection are) or mounted on a roller.  They were published in the UK as Veterinary Diagrams in tabular form with the text translated in to English (probably by George Fleming) but unfortunately Megnin was never acknowledged as the illustrator.

Veterinary diagrams: the shoeing of the horse, mule and ox

Other examples of his illustrations  can be found in our books on parasitology.    The Pulex Canis, shown here  drawn in great detail, is from Megnin’s Atlas: iconographie des insectes parasites de l’homme et des animaux domestiques Paris, 1869

Illustration of the Pulex Canis

And there is this illustration of a species of feather mite - the Megninia Cubitalis,  which Megnin discovered in 1877, in  Les acariens parasites.  Paris: Gauthier-Villars c1892.

Illustration of a feather mite

Amongst a series of ornithological drawings we have this fearsome looking bird – is it a Capercaillie?

As well as his illustrations Megnin is also known for his work and papers on forensic entomology.  The most significant of his papers was later published  as La Faune des Cadavres, Application de l’Entomologie à la Médecine légale.

Whilst we don’t have a copy of this we are fortunate to have Megnin’s handwritten notebook titled Memoire sur l’application de l’entomologie a la medecine legale au point de vue des questions de l’identite des cadavers [Account of the application of entomology to legal medicine from the point of view of the question of the identity of cadavers] which is dated 1884.

A 100 years later in  1986 Kenneth Smith dedicated his book A manual of forensic entomology to Megnin and two others (Marcel LeClercq and Pekka Nuorteva) describing them as  ‘Pioneers in the application of entomology in forensic science’  so the work, as well as the illustrations,  of this pioneering Honorary Associate of the RCVS still lives on.

‘After Hours’ at the Natural History Museum

Thousands of visitors of all ages, gathered for the Natural History Museum’s largest ever ‘Science Uncovered’ event. Science institutions all over Europe threw open their doors and stayed up late to bring the general public a little bit closer to Science. With cocktails and a relaxed atmosphere, After Hours at the Natural History Museum has never been more fun.

For the first time the event has included a Vets Station in its programme. Ensconced in the Mammal Hall, positioned between the flying mammals and the insect eaters, the RCVS Charitable Trust brought budding scientists moving model cats with oesophageal tubes, a bandaging station and a core skills training machine.

Playing the Brainiest Beast

One of the most popular activities was the ‘Brainiest Beast’ game, in our line up the orangutan ranked highly as the biggest boffin. Heated debates started over the intelligence of cats vs. dogs. Children really loved bandaging our ‘poorly’ toy animals – they all wanted to be vets when they grew up! Our excellent student volunteers from Royal Veterinary College (RVC), London really made the event unique by engaging the crowds, young and old, with their reasons for becoming a vet, as well as their veterinary knowledge.

Apart from offering fabulous food and drink, Science Uncovered also showcased the museum’s star specimens. In the Coasts and Oceans Stations I came across the largest nematode to be removed from a blue whale, it was quite gruesome!  Specimens that are normally kept safely in their jars were taken out so guests could see them up close. At the Ocean Station I learned about the impressive light display of the threadfin dragon fish and how female angler fish outsize their male companions quite considerably.

Feeding moving cat models through oesophageal tubes

Other science stations included Forests, Antarctica and Environmental Change. The stations spanned the entire ground floor of the museum, with the central hall being the main hub of the event, hosting the Science Bar and ‘meet the animal’ sessions. One of the most popular activities was Soapbox Science, a sort of ‘speakers’ corner’ for scientists. Some topics up for discussion were “Should science be censored?” and “Equal rights for parasites”. The passionate speakers, all wearing ‘Ask me, I’m a scientist’ badges, drew quite a crowd.

After a fantastic science-packed event the only complaint we had was not having enough time to try The Pollinator, the signature cocktail of the evening!

Scientific discovery and champagne cocktails

The Natural History Museum hosts another Science Uncovered event next Friday, 28 September; this one is bigger and better than before!

For the first time, the RCVS Charitable Trust will have their own veterinary station so we invite you to literally feel your way with the latest in medical simulation. 

We’ll have veterinary students and members of our staff on hand to assist you with our haptic devices.  Haptic devices allow vets and doctors in training to develop essential clinical skills by using advanced computer touch simulators to practise without harming patients.

So come along and see if you can make a safe injection and to hone your palpation skills. You can also try your hand at wound bandaging on our toy animals.

There will also be an opportunity to get to know some of the museum’s star specimens over a glass of wine, to talk to scientists whose work illuminates the story of life and to walk the path of the first Homo sapiens. Not your average Friday night out, by any means!

We’ll be Tweeting live from the event so please follow #NHMVets for all the updates

A library accessible to every member

We have always been fortunate to receive regular donations of books and historical material that enhance our Collection. It is not uncommon for the donor of the work to tell us something about the material – how they have used it or why they are gifting it to us. These personal stories add real interest and help us to bring the material to life. 

I have recently come across an example of this in our archives in a series of letters from George Fleming (1833-1901). Fleming was RCVS President in 1880-84 and 1886 and was responsible for, and funded the costs of, the 1881 Veterinary Surgeons Act. 

On 10^th March 1900 he writes:

“Dear Mr President,

Fleming’s Letter 10th March 1900

I have not forgotten, nor am I ever likely to forget the generous manner in which the members of the veterinary profession acknowledged the feeble services I was permitted to render them some years ago; and I would now like to give evidence of my recollection of their beneficence in asking … [if the RCVS] …would further favour me by accepting, as a gift, my professional library”.

Fleming says that the library comprises at least 600 items, in several languages, with many of them been rare.  The only stipulation of the gift is “that the volumes are to be accessible to every member who desires to refer to them”.

In the next six months, he wrote to the President on three further occasions and appears anxious that the books are transferred to the RCVS sooner rather than later to “ensure their reception during my lifetime”.

In the final letter to the RCVS, dated 24 August 1900, Fleming records that 821 books have just been collected by the shippers and apologises that they “are very dusty” blaming “workmen in the house”. Finally he suggests that a “man should be employed to arrange and catalogue them”.

Catalogue of the Fleming Library

George Fleming died on 13 April 1901 so I am not sure if he knew that a catalogue was made of his library.  We still have it, and together with his books and the journals he had previously donated, it takes pride of place in our Historical Collection.

If you have any material that you think we might be interested in get in touch and tell us your story.

South African War Diaries

In  1900, Frederick Smith was serving as a veterinary officer in the South African War.  The entries in his official war diary for August of that year show that the focus of his attention at that time was on finding a new site for the veterinary hospital which he had responsibility for.

The hospital was full to capacity with horses suffering from glanders and sore back.   On 13 August, Smith notes in his diary that in the previous week they had admitted 666 horses and mules of which 6 had died, 150 had been destroyed and 64 had been sent for duty.  When added to the existing animals in the hospital this gave a total of  1011.

There were also some staffing difficulties to contend with, speaking of one of the hospital staff he writes:

 “Clarke did not know a single case in the place, says he cannot remember them!  I have given him one more chance.” [16 August]

However, in true British style, the main thing that was concerning Smith seems to have been the weather as it “rained the whole day” and “rained all night.” This was causing problems for the animals “the horses are over their fetlocks in clay.  Walking can only be done by painfully putting each foot alternately in progression”.  There was also an ever present  threat of the imminent flooding of the hospital if the river rose much more.

On 30 August Smith took his Commanding Officer to see the two places he had identified as possible new locations for the hospital but these were ruled out because of “military considerations … the defences of the town are to be … contracted” which would have left them exposed to attack.

The CO identified another site which Smith didn’t like at all “owing to the difficulty of watering, the banks being nearly vertical & quite 50 feet above the river.”  Fortunately the CO later changed his mind and rejected the site because it would have taken too long to prepare.

Smith’s sketch of the new hospital

Finally on 1 September a new site was suggested on the north bank of the river.   This met with Smith’s approval as it was surrounded by the river giving “complete protection in the event of an attack”, it had “sandy ground” and the low banks of the river “allowed water to be pumped up easily.”   He rapidly planned the hospital drawing a sketch of what it would look like.  It was to “have six kraals each holding 100 horses, and lines for another 400… the kraals will be well built, mangers will be supplied.”

Work started on 2^nd September when Smith writes “Tomorrow and the whole of next week will be occupied getting the place right.”   I hope it was compeleted before the weather got any worse!

These official war diaries, which cover the period 1899-1902,  form a small part of the Frederick Smith Collection which also  includes notes relating to his research and publications, reprints of his published articles, handwritten notes for his autobiography, photographs and notes relating to the Army Veterinary Service and letters written between 1877-1929.

Parrots with the power of speech

Parakeets are often on my mind because the squawking of the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri), which is now naturalised in the UK,  accompanies my journey to work most mornings when walking down the road to the station or passing through St James Park. 

Illustration of Alexandrine parakeet

This beautiful illustration is of  the Alexandrine parakeet (Psittacula eupatria), a close relative of the Ring-necked parakeet, which is native to India and South East Asia.   The image comes from Dr Karl Russ’s book The Speaking parrots a scientific manual published in 1884.  The author states in the preface that the book is intended to be a source of advice on the purchase, care and training of parrots for all lovers of the species.  In the first chapter he explains why the book concentrates on parrots and in particular those with the power of speech.

 “There are many advantages which the parrot enjoys over all other creatures…its fellows in the animal kingdom are behind it…especially in the power of imitating human words…it must decidedly belong to higher ranks of creation…[which gives mankind]…a lively and widespread love…for creatures which can speak, that is to say for birds, gifted with the power of speech” 

Our copy of this book is one of a number of beautifully illustrated ornithological books that were donated to the library by relatives of Henry Gray (1865-1939). Henry Gray was a prominent London practitioner whose obituary in the Veterinary Record states “The study of birds was his first and enduring delight; in later years nothing gave him greater satisfaction than a fireside talk about birds …In this country he was the veterinary pioneer of the scientific study of birds in health and disease”. (1)

If you would like to look at more of these beautiful illustrations why not pay us a visit?

References

1 Veterinary Record  25^th February 1939 pp260-261

Honouring our ‘professional brethren on the Continent’

Nominations are currently been sought for RCVS Honorary Fellowship or Honorary Associateship.  

These prestigious honours have a long history.  The  RCVS has had the power to bestow them since the Supplemental Charter of 1876, with the first Honorary Associateships made  in 1880. 

The minutes of the Council meeting of 29 July record President George Fleming’s opening remarks in which he gives an account of his attendance at an International Veterinary Conference in Brussels.  He had been invited to attend in a private capacity and remarked that “the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons was not known on the Continent, and was not in any way recognised”. He thought that the “time had come when they should elect some of their professional brethren on the Continent as Honorary Fellows of the Royal College.”

Closing the meeting, Fleming gives notice of a motion that he will bring to the next meeting: “he will bring forward the names of certain gentlemen… and move that they will be elected Honorary Fellows”.  This he duly did at the Council meeting on 13 October of that year.  Interestingly, the motion he actually laid proposed that the gentlemen be elected as Honorary Associates of the College and not Honorary Fellows.

So who was on the list of names?  Well there was 67 of them – a fact that gave cause to some discussion in Council, with one member saying the President would “do better… to select some of the names” to which Fleming replied that they were all eminent and to select a few would have “appeared invidious.”    Fleming might have had a point as the list includes the Professors or Directors of most of the European veterinary schools as well as several principal veterinary surgeons in the armies of Europe.  I wonder if the attendance list of the Conference in Brussels was the basis for Fleming’s selection? 

Section of the list of Honorary Associates 1880

Following discussion about the cost of producing and posting out the certificates (which was to mirror the certificate for the RCVS Fellowship, including a Latin inscription)  the motion was finally passed.

The full list of names was published in the Veterinary Journal and appeared in the RCVS Register of 1881 where they are named as Honorary Foreign Associates (the distinction between Honorary Associates (for UK-based individuals) and Honorary Foreign Associates was maintained until the late 1920s).

Illustration by Jean-Pierre Megnin one of the original Honorary Foreign Associates

From a library perspective it is good to note that the ‘only’ privilege of being an Honorary Associate was free use of the library and museum (the privileges were modelled on those offered by the Royal College of Surgeons to their honorary members).  

I’d like to think they appreciated this benefit – they certainly added to the collections as we have copies of books written by these gentleman in the Historical Collection – signed ‘with the compliments of the author’.    I have often wondered what the connection was – now I know.

On exercise

Without exercise, the body’s ‘juices will thicken, the joints will stiffen, the nerves will relax… and a crazy old age must ensue’.

This less than comforting thought is presented by George Cheyne in his Essay of Health and Long Life, published in 1724.  Although the science in Cheyne’s musings might be considered a little off, I can agree with the sentiment.  Exercise and outdoor pursuits keep our energy and our spirits up.  Even watching other more athletic types exert themselves gives us enjoyment; the Olympic Games never fail to enthral legions of sport-phobes and sport fans alike.

Despite being a veterinary library we do have some volumes that aren’t, at first glance, entirely animal related – one example is The Annals of Sporting and Fancy Gazette, a magazine which ‘contains every Thing worthy of Remark on hunting shooting, coursing, racing, fishing…wrestling, crickets, billiards, rowing etc’.  Donated by a veterinary surgeon and included in our collection because of the animal orientated sport it covers.

Not unexpectedly a lot of the activities mentioned in The Annals of Sporting and Fancy Gazette are, what we would now call, blood sports.  A reader can expect to learn about the ‘Adventures of a hunter; by himself’ or inform themselves on ‘The observations of the present system of hunting’.

The precociously titled ‘Confession of a Young Sportsman’ (The Annals of Sporting and Fancy Gazette, Vol. 5, pp. 41-47, 1824) gives the experiences of a naïve young man who visits his friend, Bullstrode, in Yorkshire to shoot ‘grouse on the wing’. After a day of unsuccessful shooting he finally manages to hit some game:

‘I pointed a gun in a careless manner, not expecting to bring anything down, but was never so delighted in my life as when I saw it bounce upon the ground’.

Successfully shooting down a grouse was obviously the object of the day’s hunting but the young man also revelled in the companionship, the challenge and especially the hunting party’s supply of alcohol.  His hunting companion ‘produced a bottle of rum… Bullstrode’s eyes sparkled with joy as he beheld the unexpected and copious supply’.

The Sportsman’s Vocal Cabinet by Charles Arminger (1830) is an entire volume dedicated to songs in praise of sport and rural pursuits.  Many of the songs are about hunting and talk of the thrill of the chase or  celebrate  a successful hunt but I prefer the sillier extract below:

“Oh! day of joy! long wish’d for day!”
The sportsman cries, and bends his way:
The air is fresh, the morning clear,
The fields in spangled green appear’

Another song (with sixteen verses) relates the joys of crown green bowling and starts:

‘I am a jolly bowler,
Of the free thinking club;
and all my notes are fly, fly, fly,
Rub, rub a thousand, rub.
And a bowling we will go, and a bowling we will go’

Unfortunately bowling isn’t an olympic sport so we don’t have an excuse to sing this one at the moment.

Image: ‘Octobers own’ from The New Sporting Magazine 1846