Abstract
This article analyzes a phenomenon I call “the invention of animals,” that is, the way in which veterinary medicine and the practices of physiology, microbiology and zootechnics produced new and different ways of thinking about, studying, understanding, regulating, legislating, commercializing, exploiting and experiencing “the animal.” In particular, the text focuses on the evolution of this phenomenon in Mexico during the nineteenth century, since during this period the impact of these disciplines on animal bodies led to significant changes in the fields of human medicine, public health, and livestock production.
veterinary medicine; public health; microbiology; physiology; zootechnics