Disease of the vision, disease of the head,” etc.
“Painful fever, violent fever,
The fever which never leaves man,
Unremitting fever,
The lingering fever, malignant fever.
Spirit of the heavens, conjure it,” etc., etc.
In the Assyrian version it seems to be hinted that the expectoration of phthisical patients was as dangerous as our modern bacteriologists declare it to be, for we have these words:—
“The poisonous consumption which in the mouth malignantly ascends.”[218]
In the course of Layard’s excavations at Nineveh, a divining chamber was discovered, at the entrance to which figures of the magi were found. One of the orders of these magicians was the “Mecasphim,” translated by Jerome and the Greeks “enchanters,” such as used noxious herbs and drugs, the blood of victims, and the bones of the dead for their superstitious rites. Another class was the “Casdim,” who were a sort of philosophers, who were exempt from all employment except the duty of studying physic, astrology, the foretelling of future events, the interpretation of dreams by augury, etc.[219]
The Assyrians had different demons for different diseases—some injured the head, others attacked the hands and feet.[220]