Samuel Kenneth Henry McClean.

An excellent veterinary surgeon and a great colleague; his sharply observed humour and deep empathy were much appreciated by staff and pet owners. He enjoyed playing music and singing, and was a serious runner.

Martin William Moore Prentice.

Initially a practitioner, he later joined the Meat Hygiene Service inspecting and approving slaughterhouses. After retirement he was ordained in the Church of Scotland and served remote island communities.

Are Carcasses Political? German Veterinarians and the Modernization of Rendering Technology, 1864-1940.

The regulations dealing with animal death have undergirded the autarkic aspirations of governments as diverse as revolutionary France, Nazi Germany, and the German Democratic Republic. Three recent works on "fascist," "communist," and "capitalist" pigs reveal parallels between the industrialized slaughter of animals in Germany's twentieth-century authoritarian regimes and the capitalist slaughter system in nineteenth-century America's "red meat republic." In their focus on political ideology, however, these works overlook the politics of professionalization. A late nineteenth-century relationship between state, economy, and national welfare in Germany allowed veterinarians to create a unique "slaughter culture" based on the technological, hygienic disposal of animal carcasses. This article traces the development of that professional culture through one veterinarian, Robert von Ostertag (1864-1940). He and his well-placed protégés weaponized the idea of carcasses as untapped reservoirs of raw materials to impact legislation and veterinary education, making German veterinarians the arbiters of animal remains.

Alveitares e alveitaria no Portugal Medieval / Alveitares and alveitaria in medieval Portugal

O estudo da alveitaria medieval em Portugal tem sido feito sobretudo através dos manuscritos em galego-português relacionados com essa arte, que sobreviveram até hoje. Esse estudo, maioritariamente de natureza textual e filológica, tem excluído a análise dos perfis socioeconómicos e da prática da alveitaria propriamente dita. Os desafios levantados pelo baixo número de indivíduos explicitamente referidos como alveitares pelas fontes, explicável através de uma eventual pluriatividade e pela plasticidade dos conceitos são consideráveis, mas a análise dos perfis de um conjunto de indivíduos proveniente de diversos credos e atuantes tanto em Portugal, como nos territórios portugueses do Norte de África e na Índia, permite traçar, pela primeira vez, o retrato possível do alveitar medieval português e da sua prática.

The study of medieval alveitaria in Portugal focused mainly on the manuscripts containing treatises on the topic, written in Galician-Portuguese. That study deals especially with textual and philological aspects, relegating the socioeconomic dimension of the practice and the individuals to a secondary role. The challenges raised by the low number of practicians explicitly identified as alveitares by the sources (explainable by an eventual pluriactivity) and the plasticity of the concepts are considerable, but the analysis of the profiles of a group of Portuguese practicians, from different religious backgrounds and active not only in Portugal, but also in the Portuguese territories of North Africa and India, allows us to draw, for the first time, a portrait of the Portuguese medieval alveitar and his practice.

Brian Theodore Wicks.

As a vet working in mixed practice, he relished the camaraderie of working with colleagues, farmers and clients, and developed a special interest in cattle fertility. He was considered to be a ray of sunshine.

Personalities that shaped the profession.

As part of the RCVS' 175th anniversary celebrations, the college's charity partner and custodian of its historical collections, RCVS Knowledge, takes a look at the influential roles four individuals played in the early formation of the profession.

Veterinarians at the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, 1931-72.

This study traces the changing mission of the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories regarding the health of animals. We argue that the early work of Connaught's veterinarians in the 1930s and 1940s focused on the care for experimental animals as well as lending veterinary knowledge to problems in human medicine and public health. This gave way to a more direct focus on veterinary products after the Second World War. Connaught was motivated to enter the veterinary field in part to capitalize upon the growing market for veterinary medicines. It met with mixed success in this endeavour. Work was initially focused on livestock medicines and later expanded into products for companion animals, reflecting broader shifts in the veterinary profession and the economic value of animals during the 20th century.

[The 1935 veterinary agreements of the League of the Nations: A vision of a united veterinary Europe]. / Die Veterinärabkommen des Völkerbundes von 1935: Eine Vision des Veterinärraumes Europa.

INTRODUCTION: A group of leading veterinary experts engaged by the league of the Nations created three new Veterinary Conventions focusing at consequently controlling the import, export and transit of animals and animal products. The aim was on one hand to facilitate trade and on the other hand to make sure that livestock epidemic laws were respected. The outbreak of war prevented the laws from coming into effect. Nevertheless they became the basis for veterinary regulations of the World Trade Organisation and of the European Union.

[Leonhard Riedmüller: Swiss public enemy or pawn sacrifice?] / Leonhard Riedmüller: Schweizer Staatsfeind oder Bauernopfer?

INTRODUCTION: On June 9, 1945 the Zurich cantonal government issued the lifetime deportation from Switzerland for Prof. Dr. med. vet. Leonhard Riedmüller (1898-1976) and his spouse Helena, née Eltze (1910-1990), both German citizens on grounds of Riedmüllers' membership in the NSDAP, "Landesgruppe Schweiz". Riedmüllers' several attempts to appeal at court were not successful. Riedmüllers biography shows that he served in the German Army at the Western front during WW I. Following the war he studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Munich where he received the degree of Dr. med. vet. Moving to Zurich in 1926, Riedmüller took a position as veterinary bacteriologist at the University of Zurich. In 1941 he was promoted and became head of the Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology. He left Europe in 1947 for Brazil and took a position as a veterinary bacteriologist at a government laboratory. After retiring from his position in Brazil he returned to Germany where he passed away in 1976. Based on available documents from several Swiss archives the question is discussed whether Riedmüllers' deportation as public enemy in 1945 was appropriate or if Swiss authorities might have been tempted to sacrifice Riedmüller as a pawn in consideration of Switzerlands international political position immediately after the end of WW II.

Richard Watson.

An inspirational equine veterinary surgeon with a keen interest in racing, to whom horses were a way of life. He took much pride in the success of his homebred racehorses.

From One Medicine to Two: The Evolving Relationship between Human and Veterinary Medicine in England, 1791-1835.

This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rather was continuous with it. It then shows how this social, cultural, and epistemological continuity fractured over the period 1815 to 1835. Under the impetus of a movement for medical reform, veterinarians began to advance an alternative vision of their field as an autonomous, independent domain. They developed their own societies and journals and a uniquely veterinary epistemology that was rooted in the experiences of veterinary practice. In this way, "one medicine" became "two," and the professions began to assume their modern forms and relations.