Very few persons will challenge the truth of the statement that in the United States and Canada there are not many physicians who possess even a slight knowledge concerning the manner in which the science of medicine has attained its present power as an agency for good, or concerning the men who played the chief parts in bringing about this great result. Up to the present time no blame may justly be attached to any individuals or to any educational institutions for this prevailing lack of knowledge, and for two very good reasons, viz.: first, in a newly settled country, in which the population grows by leaps and bounds through the influx of foreign immigrants, the training of young men for the degree of M.D. must necessarily be almost entirely of a practical character, and consequently the teaching of such a subject as the history of medicine would be quite out of place; and, second, the treatises on this subject which are purchasable by English-speaking physicians are of rather too scientific a character to appeal either to the undergraduate or to the busy practitioner. The first of the reasons named, it may now safely be assumed, is rapidly losing its validity, if indeed it has not already ceased entirely to afford a legitimate excuse for neglecting the study of this branch of medical science. On the other hand, the second reason mentioned is still in force,—so far at least as the present writer knows,—and, if such be the case, it certainly cannot fail to act as a deterrent influence of great potency. Here, then, is my apology for attempting to prepare an account of the history of medicine which shall present the essential facts truthfully and with a sufficient degree of attractiveness to win the continuing interest of the reader; which shall place before him, and especially before those who are just at the threshold of their professional career, word pictures of those physicians of past ages whose lives may safely be taken as models worthy to be copied; and which shall describe, so far as I am able to do this, the methods which they employed to advance the science of medicine, to gain genuine professional success, and to merit the enduring esteem of later generations of physicians. If my efforts prove successful in producing this kind of history it is fair to expect that, in a comparatively short time, those physicians whose interest may have been aroused by the perusal of this less complete and more popular work, will demand something of a more exhaustive character—a book, for example, like the admirable history which Max Neuburger, of Vienna, is now publishing, and of which two volumes have already issued from the press (the first in 1906 and the second in 1911).[1] It is to this work and the excellent history written by the late Dr. Haeser, of Breslau, that I am chiefly indebted for the information supplied in these pages; and I therefore desire to make special mention here of this indebtedness. The other sources from which I have been an occasional borrower are all mentioned in the “List of Authorities Consulted.” Footnotes and cross-references in the text interfere greatly with one’s pleasure in reading a book, and I have therefore not hesitated to introduce them sparingly.

It gives me a special pleasure to call attention here to the far-sighted generosity displayed by the founder of The Williams Memorial Fund in making it practicable henceforth for the Yale University Press to accept for publication medical treatises which deal with the historical and scientific questions of this branch of knowledge, but which for sound business reasons cannot be published on a merely commercial basis.

And I have the further pleasure of expressing my real appreciation of the skill with which the University Press has solved the problems of a suitable size and style of type for this volume, and of the sound advice which it has given with regard to the extent to which the effectiveness of the book may be increased by the introduction of pictorial illustrations.

To my friend, Lawrence F. Abbott, of New York, I am deeply indebted for the valuable assistance which he has rendered me throughout the entire progress of this work. Indeed, without this assistance, I doubt whether I should have had the courage to remain at my post to the very end.

Albert H. Buck.

Cornwall, N. Y., December 29, 1916.

CONTENTS

PART I. ANCIENT MEDICINE
PAGE
Preface[ix]
Chapter I.Development of the Science and Art of Medicine[3]
Chapter II.Oriental Medicine[11]
Chapter III.Oriental Medicine (continued)[25]
Chapter IV.Greek Medicine at the Dawn of History[46]
Chapter V.The Significance of the Serpent in the Statues and Votive Offerings Exposed to View inthe Aesculapian Temples[62]
Chapter VI.The Beginnings of a Rational System of Medicine in Greece[67]
Chapter VII.Hippocrates the Great[81]
Chapter VIII.Brief Extracts from Some of the Hippocratic Writings[89]
Chapter IX.The State of Greek Medicine after the Events of the Peloponnesian War; the Founding ofAlexandria in Egypt, at the Mouth of the Nile; and the Development of Different Sects in Medicine[96]
Chapter X.Erasistratus and Herophilus, the Two GreatLeaders in Medicine at Alexandria; the Foundingof New Sects[104]
Chapter XI.Asclepiades, the Introducer of Greek Medicine into Rome[116]
Chapter XII.The State of Medicine at Rome after theDeath of Asclepiades; the Founding of the Schoolof the Methodists[129]
Chapter XIII.The Further History of Methodism atRome, and the Development of Two New Sects, viz.,the Pneumatists and the Eclectics.—A General Surveyof the Subject of Sects in Medicine[138]
Chapter XIV.Well-known Medical Authors of the Early Centuries of the Christian Era[151]
Chapter XV.Claudius Galen[160]
Chapter XVI.The Influence of Christianity upon theEvolution of Medicine[179]
PART II. MEDIAEVAL MEDICINE
Chapter XVII.The Condition of Medicine at Byzantiumduring the Early Part of the Middle Ages[191]
Chapter XVIII.Beginning of the Arab Renaissance underthe Caliphs of Bagdad[203]
Chapter XIX.Further Advance of the Arab Renaissanceduring the Ninth and Succeeding Centuries of theChristian Era[212]
Chapter XX.Hospitals and Monasteries in the Middle Ages[235]
Chapter XXI.Medical Instruction at Salerno, Italy, in the Middle Ages[243]
Chapter XXII.Early Evidences of the Influence of theRenaissance upon the Progress of Medicine in WesternEurope[259]
Chapter XXIII.Further Progress of Medicine and Surgeryin Western Europe during the Thirteenth,Fourteenth and a Part of the Fifteenth Centuries[269]
Chapter XXIV.During the Latter Half of the MiddleAges Surgery Assumes the Most Prominent Placein the Advance of Medical Science[292]
Chapter XXV.Brief History of the Allied Sciences—Pharmacy,Chemistry and Balneotherapeutics[315]
PART III. MEDICINE DURING THE RENAISSANCE
Chapter XXVI.Important Events that Preceded theRenaissance—Early Attempts to Dissect the Human Body[327]
Chapter XXVII.The Founders of Human Anatomy and Physiology[340]
Chapter XXVIII.Further Details Concerning the Advancein Our Knowledge of Anatomy.—DissectingMade a Part of the Regular Training of a MedicalStudent.—Iatrochemists and Iatrophysicists.—TheEmployment of Latin in Lecturing and Writing onMedical Topics[355]
Chapter XXIX.The Contributions Made by DifferentMen during the Renaissance, and More particularlyby William Harvey of England, to Our Knowledgeof the Circulation of the Blood, Lymph and Chyle[371]
Chapter XXX.Advances Made in Internal Medicine andin the Collateral Branches of Botany, Pharmacology,Chemistry and Pathological Anatomy[387]
Chapter XXXI.Chemistry and Experimental Pharmacology[398]
Chapter XXXII.Some of the Leaders in Medicine inItaly, France and England during the Sixteenth andSeventeenth Centuries[411]
Chapter XXXIII.The Three Leading Physicians of Germanyduring the Latter Half of the Seventeenth Century:Franz de le Boë Sylvius, Friedrich Hoffmannand Georg Ernst Stahl[426]
Chapter XXXIV.Hermann Boerhaave of Leyden, Holland,one of the Most Distinguished Physicians ofthe Seventeenth Century[438]
Chapter XXXV.General Remarks on the Development ofSurgery in Europe during the Fifteenth and SixteenthCenturies[446]
Chapter XXXVI.Surgery in Germany and Switzerlandduring the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries[454]
Chapter XXXVII.The Development of Surgery in Italyduring the Renaissance[472]
Chapter XXXVIII.The Development of Surgery inSpain and Portugal during the Renaissance[484]
Chapter XXXIX.The Development of Surgery in Franceduring the Renaissance.—Pierre Franco[490]
Chapter XL.The Development of Surgery in France (continued).—Ambroise Paré[499]
Chapter XLI.Surgery in Great Britain during the Sixteenthand Seventeenth Centuries[516]
Chapter XLII.Reforms Instituted by the Italian SurgeonMagati in the Treatment of Wounds.—Final Endingof the Feud between the Surgeons and the Physiciansof Paris.—Revival of Interest in the Science ofObstetrics[529]
Chapter XLIII.The First Appearance of Syphilis inEurope as an Epidemic Disease.—Medical Journalism.—TheBeginnings of a Modern Pharmacopoeia.—ItinerantLithotomists[542]
List of the More Important Authorities Consulted[557]
General Index[563]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1.View of the Temple of Aesculapius on the Island of Cosfacing page[52]
Fig. 2.Bird’s-eye View of the Temple of Aesculapius and Associated Buildings on the Island of Cosfacing page[54]
Fig. 3.Ground Plan of the Asclepieion on the Island of Cosfacing page[55]
Fig. 4.Ancient Statue of the God Aesculapius in the Berlin Museumfacing page[62]
Fig. 5.Head of the Marble Statue of the God Aesculapius in the Naples Museumfacing page[62]
Fig. 6.Bas-relief of Aesculapius, Accompanied by Women and Children, in the Presence of an Enormous Serpentfacing page[68]
Fig. 7.Female Bust Showing Cancer of One Breastfacing page[68]
Fig. 8.Paralysis of the Left Facial Nervefacing page[70]
Fig. 9.The Oldest Known Pictorial Representation of a Formal Dissection of the Human Bodyfacing page[280]
Fig. 10.The Manner of Giving Public Instruction in Medicine during the Middle Ages[281]
Fig. 11.Henri de Mondevillefacing page[288]
Fig. 12.One of the Wards in the Hôtel-Dieu of Parisfacing page[304]
Fig. 13.The Physician, the Surgeon and the Pharmacistfacing page[306]
Fig. 14.Andreas Vesaliusfacing page[344]
Fig. 15.William Harveyfacing page[380]
Fig. 16.“The Lovesick Maiden”facing page[412]
Fig. 17.Thomas Sydenhamfacing page[418]
Fig. 18.Consultation by Three Physicians upon a Case of Wound in the Chest[457]
Fig. 19.Barber Surgeon (Wundarzt) Extracting an Arrow from a Wounded Soldier’s Chest while the Battle is Still in Progress[461]
Fig. 20.Amputation of the Leg[463]
Fig. 21.The Manner in Which the So-called Tagliacotian Operation for Repairing a Defective Nose Should be Carried Out[480]
Fig. 22.Pierre Franco’s Forceps for Crushing Calculi in the Urinary Bladder[497]
Figs. 23–24.Forceps Devised in 1552 by Ambroise Paré for Drawing Out the Cut Ends of Arteries after the Amputation of a Limb, and Holding Them while the Ligature is Being Applied[512]
Fig. 25.Ambroise Paré the Famous French Surgeon of the Sixteenth Centuryfacing page[514]
Fig. 26.Frère Jacques de Beaulieufacing page[550]
Fig. 27.Jean Baseilhac, commonly Known in France as Frère Cômefacing page[552]
Fig. 28.Concealed Lithotome Invented by Frère Côme in 1748[553]