If a person wears, during the waning of the moon, a wreath of polygonum on his head, he will obtain relief from his headache.... If one drinks of the water from which an ox has just drank, he will be relieved of the pain in his head.... If a loadstone be held upon the head it will draw out the hidden pain, and the same effect may be obtained by rubbing over the forehead a swallow’s nest thoroughly mixed with vinegar.

In Book I, paragraph 2, Priscianus draws a picture of the rude and uncivilized behavior of the practitioners of his day in the sick-room. The following are his words as translated from the German of Meyer-Steineg:—

As the patient lies on his bed prostrated by the severity of the disease, there quickly comes into the room a crowd of us physicians. No feeling of sympathy for the sick man have we, nor do we realize how impotent we all are in the presence of these forces of nature. Instead, we struggle to the utmost of our ability to obtain charge of the case; one depending for success on his powers of persuasion, a second on the strength of the arguments which he is able to bring forward, a third on his readiness to agree with everything that is said, and the fourth on his skill in contradicting the opinion of everybody else. And, as this quarrel goes on, the patient continues to lie there in a state of exhaustion. “For shame!” Nature seems to say, “you men are an ungrateful lot! You do not even permit the patient to die quietly; you simply kill him. And then, moreover, you accuse me of not furnishing sufficient means of effecting a cure. Illness is certainly a painful affair, but I have provided plenty of remedies. Poisons, I admit, are hidden in some of the plants, but the healing agents which may be extracted from them are much more numerous. Away, then, with your angry disputes and your self-glorifying chatter; for in these are not to be found the remedial agents which I have bestowed upon man, but rather in the powerful forces which reside in the seeds, fruits, plants and other objects which I have created in his interests.”

Aëtius.—Aëtius was a native of Amida, in Mesopotamia, and he lived during the early part of the sixth century A. D., under the Emperor Justinian I. He studied medicine at Alexandria and then settled in Constantinople, where he was appointed to the double office of private physician to the emperor and commanding officer of his body-guard (Comes obsequii),—an arrangement which made it practicable for the emperor to have his physician near his person on all possible occasions. Almost nothing is known about the subsequent private life and professional career of Aëtius beyond the facts that he was a Christian and that he wrote a treatise on medicine in sixteen books, which together form a large volume. The work, says Le Clerc, is almost entirely a compilation from the treatises of earlier writers on medicine and surgery; the best parts of the book being those which relate to the pathology and treatment of internal diseases, to materia medica, and to ophthalmology. The Christianity of Aëtius, like that of Alexander of Tralles, and other physicians of a later period, appears to have permitted a belief in magical remedies. For example, Aëtius gives formulae containing the names of the Saviour and the Holy Martyrs for exorcising certain maladies, and he recommends the employment of amulets. The subject of baths is treated by him quite thoroughly, and he lays stress upon the importance of physical exercise as a means of maintaining one’s health. Freind, the author of an English history of medicine which was very popular in its day,[44] quotes the following remedy for gout from the treatise of Aëtius:—

At the end of the French version of “Les Oeuvres de Rufus d’Éphèse” (translated from the Greek by Daremberg and Ruelle) will be found fragments of some of the books of Aëtius; in 1899 J. Hirschberg translated into German Book VII. (eye diseases) of the same author; and, two years later (1901) Max Wegscheider published a German version of Book XVI. (obstetrics and gynaecology). No other translations of the writings of Aëtius into either French, German or English are—so far as I am able to learn—available.

Alexander of Tralles.—Alexander of Tralles, a city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, was born about 525 A. D. His father Stephanus was highly esteemed as a practicing physician, and his four brothers, all of them older than himself, were men of distinction in their several callings; Anthemius, the oldest, being one of the greatest mathematicians and mechanicians of his day and the man to whom the Emperor Justinian intrusted the rebuilding of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople;[45] Metrodorus, a celebrated grammarian and the honored teacher of the youth belonging to the highest circles of that metropolis; Olympius, a leading authority in jurisprudence; and Dioscorus, a prominent physician in his native city. Alexander received his first instruction in medicine from his father, but he obtained his real training from a physician who was the father of his most intimate friend Cosmas, and who, throughout Alexander’s entire subsequent career, proved most helpful in advancing his interests. At first he traveled extensively, visiting in succession—probably in the capacity of a military surgeon—Italy, Northern Africa, Gaul and Spain. Afterward, he settled permanently at Rome and practiced medicine there during the remainder of a long life. Puschmann, the translator of his writings, seems disposed to believe that he was both a teacher and a practitioner of medicine during his residence in that city. When he became too old to bear the heavy burdens of medical practice, he wrote an account of his life,—a life which was rich in professional experience,—and thus built for himself “a monument more striking and more durable than the splendid temple erected by his eldest brother.” (Meyer, quoted by Puschmann.)

Various circumstances justify the conclusion that Alexander of Tralles was a Christian. His style of writing is simple and direct, and he states his views with a degree of modesty which wins for him at once the sympathy and confidence of his readers. He gives full and generous recognition to the great physicians who lived and wrote before his time, and more especially to Hippocrates. On the other hand, he does not hesitate, when he believes that he is right, to put forward views which are in direct antagonism with those of even so great an authority as Galen. In the domain of therapeutics, says Puschmann, Alexander was decidedly superior to Galen. His teachings are based on experience gained in actual practice, whereas Galen was very often disposed to trust to considerations of a theoretical nature; for he was chiefly interested in establishing the pathology of the different diseases and in opening up new territories in medicine in which the human mind might display its activity.

The twelve books of which the treatise of Alexander of Tralles consists, were printed in the original Greek for the first time in 1548, by Robert Étienne, the celebrated printer of Francis I., King of France. The last and most perfect edition of the Greek text is that of the late Dr. Theodore Puschmann, which was published in Vienna in 1878 (two Vols.). It contains, in addition to the Greek version, a careful analysis of the twelve individual books, and an admirable German translation of the entire work. It is from the latter that the following brief extracts (translated into English) are taken:—

Introduction to the writings of Alexander of Tralles.—Upon a certain occasion, my dearest Cosmas, thou didst urge me to publish my rich experiences in the domain of practical medicine, and I am now gladly complying with thy wish, for I feel under deep obligations to both thyself and thy father for the kindness which you have shown to me on every possible occasion in the past. Thy father was always a most helpful patron to me, not only in my practice, but also in all other relations of life. And thou also, even when thou wert living abroad, stood staunchly by me through all the trials which I experienced and the severe blows dealt me by Fate. For these reasons I will now in my old age, when it is no longer possible for me to endure the labor and worries of practice, do as thou desirest, and will write a book in which shall be set forth the experience which I have gained during my long service in the treatment of disease. I hope that many of those who read what is here written, with minds free from jealousy, will experience real pleasure in noting the well-founded and scientific character of the rules which I have laid down and the brevity and preciseness of my descriptions. For I have done my very best always to employ simple words, in order that everybody may find it easy to understand my book.