the evolution of modern medicine-第28章

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arts；　from　pyromancy　to　necromancy；　by　which　he　offers　to　predict　his　future。　While　full　of　rare　humor；　this　chapter　throws　an　interesting　light　on　the　extraordinary　number　of　modes　of　divination　that　have　been　employed。　　Small　wonder　that　Panurge　repented　of　his　visit！　I　show　here　the　title…page　of　a　popular　book　by　one　of　the　most　famous　of　the　English　astrological　physicians；　Nicholas　Culpeper。

Never　was　the　opinion　of　sensible　men　on　this　subject　better　expressed　than　by　Sir　Thomas　Browne：＇32＇　〃Nor　do　we　hereby　reject　or　condemn　a　sober　and　regulated　Astrology；　we　hold　there　is　more　truth　therein　than　in　ASTROLOGERS；　in　some　more　than　many　allow；　yet　in　none　so　much　as　some　pretend。　We　deny　not　the　influence　of　the　Starres；　but　often　suspect　the　due　application　thereof；　for　though　we　should　affirm　that　all　things　were　in　all　things；　that　Heaven　were　but　Earth　Celestified；　and　earth　but　Heaven　terrestrified；　or　that　each　part　above　had　an　influence　upon　its　divided　affinity　below；　yet　how　to　single　out　these　relations；　and　duly　to　apply　their　actions；　is　a　work　ofttimes　to　be　effected　by　some　revelation；　and　Cabala　from　above；　rather　than　any　Philosophy；　or　speculation　here　below。〃

＇32＇　Sir　Thomas　Browne：　　Pseudodoxia　Epidemica；　Bk。　IV；　Chap。　XIII。　（Wilkin's　ed。；　Vol。　III；　p。　84。）


As　late　as　1699；　a　thesis　was　discussed　at　the　Paris　Faculty；　〃Whether　comets　were　harbingers　of　disease；〃　and　in　1707　the　Faculty　negatived　the　question　propounded　in　a　thesis；　〃Whether　the　moon　had　any　sway　on　the　human　body。〃

The　eighteenth　and　nineteenth　centuries　saw；　among　intelligent　men；　a　progressive　weakening　of　the　belief　in　the　subject；　but　not　even　the　satire　of　Swift；　with　his　practical　joke　in　predicting　and　announcing　the　death　of　the　famous　almanac　maker；　nor　contemptuous　neglect　of　the　subject　of　late　years　sufficed　to　dispel　the　belief　from　the　minds　of　the　public。　Garth　in　the　Dispensary　（1699）　satirizes　the　astrological　practitioners　of　his　day：

The　Sage　in　Velvet　Chair；　here　lolls　at　Ease　To　promise　future　Health　for　present　Fees　Then　as　from　Tripod　solemn　Sham　reveals　And　what　the　Stars　know　nothing　of　foretell。　（Canto　ii。）

The　almanacs　of　Moore　and　Zadkiel　continue　to　be　published；　and　remain　popular。　　In　London；　sandwich　men　are　to　be　met　with　carrying　advertisements　of　Chaldeans　and　Egyptians　who　offer　to　tell　your　fortune　by　the　stars。　　Even　in　this　country；　astrology　is　still　practiced　to　a　surprising　extent　if　one　may　judge　from　advertisements　in　certain　papers；　and　from　publications　which　must　have　a　considerable　sale。　Many　years　ago；　I　had　as　a　patient　an　estimable　astrologer；　whose　lucrative　income　was　derived　from　giving　people　astral　information　as　to　the　rise　and　fall　of　stocks。　It　is　a　chapter　in　the　vagaries　of　the　human　mind　that　is　worth　careful　study。＇33＇　Let　me　commend　to　your　reading　the　sympathetic　story　called　〃A　Doctor　of　Medicine〃　in　the　〃Rewards　and　Fairies〃　of　Kipling。　　The　hero　is　Nicholas　Culpeper；　Gent。；　whose　picture　is　here　given。　　One　stanza　of　the　poem　at　the　end　of　the　story；　〃Our　Fathers　of　Old；〃　may　be　quoted：

　Wonderful　tales　had　our　fathers　of　old　　　　　　Wonderful　tales　of　the　herbs　and　the　stars　The　Sun　was　Lord　of　the　Marigold；　　　　　Basil　and　Rocket　belonged　to　Mars。　Pat　as　a　sum　in　division　it　goes　　　　　　（Every　plant　had　a　star　bespoke）　　Who　but　Venus　should　govern　the　Rose？　　　　　Who　but　Jupiter　own　the　Oak？　　　　　　　　　　　Simply　and　gravely　the　facts　are　told　　　　　　　　　　　In　the　wonderful　books　of　our　fathers　of　old。

＇33＇　It　is　not　generally　known　that　Stonewall　Jackson　practiced　astrology。　Col。　J。　W。　Revere　in　〃Keel　and　Saddle〃　（Boston；　1872）　tells　of　meeting　Jackson　in　1852　on　a　Mississippi　steamer　and　talking　with　him　on　the　subject。　Some　months　later；　Revere　received　a　letter　from　Jackson　enclosing　his　（Revere's）　horoscope。　　There　was　a　〃culmination　of　the　malign　aspect　during　the　first　days　of　May；　1863both　will　be　exposed　to　a　common　danger　at　the　time　indicated。〃　　At　the　battle　of　Chancellorsville；　May　9；　1863；　Revere　saw　Jackson　mortally　wounded！


James　J。　Walsh　of　New　York　has　written　a　book　of　extraordinary　interest　called　〃The　Thirteenth；　Greatest　of　Centuries。〃　　I　have　not　the　necessary　knowledge　to　say　whether　he　has　made　out　his　case　or　not　for　art　and　for　literature。　　There　was　certainly　a　great　awakening　and；　inspired　by　high　ideals；　men　turned　with　a　true　instinct　to　the　belief　that　there　was　more　in　life　than　could　be　got　out　of　barren　scholastic　studies。　With　many　of　the　strong　men　of　the　period　one　feels　the　keenest　mental　sympathy。　Grosseteste；　the　great　Clerk　of　Lincoln；　as　a　scholar；　a　teacher　and　a　reformer；　represents　a　type　of　mind　that　could　grow　only　in　fruitful　soil。　　Roger　Bacon　may　be　called　the　first　of　the　modernscertainly　the　first　to　appreciate　the　extraordinary　possibilities　which　lay　in　a　free　and　untrammelled　study　of　nature。　A　century　which　could　produce　men　capable　of　building　the　Gothic　cathedrals　may　well　be　called　one　of　the　great　epochs　in　history；　and　the　age　that　produced　Dante　is　a　golden　one　in　literature。　Humanity　has　been　the　richer　for　St。　Francis；　and　Abelard；　Albertus　and　Aquinas　form　a　trio　not　easy　to　match；　in　their　special　departments；　either　before　or　after。　　But　in　science；　and　particularly　in　medicine；　and　in　the　advance　of　an　outlook　upon　nature；　the　thirteenth　century　did　not　help　man　very　much。　　Roger　Bacon　was　〃a　voice　crying　in　the　wilderness；〃　and　not　one　of　the　men　I　have　picked　out　as　specially　typical　of　the　period　instituted　any　new　departure　either　in　practice　or　in　science。　　They　were　servile　followers；　when　not　of　the　Greeks；　of　the　Arabians。　　This　is　attested　by　the　barrenness　of　the　century　and　a　half　that　followed。　　One　would　have　thought　that　the　stimulus　given　by　Mundinus　to　the　study　of　anatomy　would　have　borne　fruit；　but　little　was　done　in　science　during　the　two　and　a　half　centuries　that　followed　the　delivery　of　his　lectures　and　still　less　in　the　art。　While　William　of　Wykeham　was　building　Winchester　Cathedral　and　Chaucer　was　writing　the　Canterbury　Tales；　John　of　Gaddesden　in　practice　was　blindly　following　blind　leaders　whose　authority　no　one　dared　question。

The　truth　is；　from　the　modern　standpoint　the　thirteenth　was　not　the　true　dawn　brightening　more　and　more　unto　the　perfect　day；　but　a　glorious　aurora　which　flickered　down　again　into　the　arctic　night　of　mediaevalism。

To　sum　upin　medicine　the　Middle　Ages　represent　a　restatement　from　century　to　century　of　the　facts　and　theories　of　the　Greeks　modified　here　and　there　by　Arabian　practice。　　There　was；　in　Francis　Bacon's　phrase；　much　iteration；　small　addition。　The　schools　bowed　in　humble；　slavish　submission　to　Galen　and　Hippocrates；　taking　everything　from　them　but　their　spirit　and　there　was　no　advance　in　our　knowledge　of　the　structure　or　function　of　the　body。　The　Arabians　lit　a　brilliant　torch　from　Grecian　lamps　and　from　the　eighth　to　the　eleventh　centuries　the　profession　reached　among　them　a　position　of　dignity　and　importance　to　which　it　is　hard　to　find　a　parallel　in　history。



CHAPTER　IV

THE　RENAISSANCE　AND　THE　RISE　OF　ANATOMY　AND　PHYSIOLOGY

THE　〃reconquest　of　the　classic　world　of　thought　was　by　far　the　most　important　achievement　of　the　fifteenth　and　sixteenth　centuries。　It　absorbed　nearly　the　whole　mental　energy　of　the　Italians。。。。　The　revelation　of　what　men　were　and　what　they　wrought　under　the　influence　of　other　faiths　and　other　impulses；　in　distant　ages　with　a　different　ideal　for　their　aim；　not　only　widened　the　narrow　horizon　of　the　Middle　Ages；　but　it　also　restored　self…confidence　to　the　reason　of　humanity。〃＇1＇

＇1＇　J。　A。　Symonds：　　The　Renaissance　in　Italy；　the　Revival　of　Learning；　1877；　p。　52。


Everywhere　throughout　the　Middle　Ages　learning　was　the　handmaid　of　theology。　Even　Roger　Bacon　with　his　strong　appeal　for　a　new　method　accepted　the　dominant　mediaeval　convictionthat　all　the　sciences　did　but　minister　to　their　queen；　Theology。　　A　new　spirit　entered　man's　heart　as　he　came　to　look　upon　learning　as　a　guide　to　the　conduct　of　life。　A　revolution　was　slowly　effected　in　the　intellectual　world。　It　is　a　mistake　to　think　of　the　Renaissance　as　a　brief　period　of　sudden　fruitfulness　in　the　North　Italian　cities。　　So　far　as　science　is　c