Volume 1

The Cyclopaedia of practical medicine : comprising treatises on the nature and treatment of diseases, materia medica and therapeutics, medical jurisprudence, etc., etc. / edited by John Forbes ... Alexander Tweedie ... John Conolly.

Date:
1833-1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Cyclopaedia of practical medicine : comprising treatises on the nature and treatment of diseases, materia medica and therapeutics, medical jurisprudence, etc., etc. / edited by John Forbes ... Alexander Tweedie ... John Conolly. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    although none of them were e.xclnsively devoted to the study of medicine, yet they gradually and indirectly contributed to its advancement, so as to prepare the way for one of those great and commanding geniuses who occasionally make their appearance, and by their intellectual ascendancy produce such important revolutions in the world of science; it is unnecessarv to state that we here allude to Hippocrates. During the interval from Pythagoras to IIi])pocrates tliere are few names that require any particular notice as improvers of medicine. Democritus* and lleraclitus| w'ere among the most illustrious followers of Pythagora.s, hut they became famous rather from the ingenuity with which they suj)ported their peculiar hypotheses than from the additiotis which (hey made to actual knowledge. I hey applied respectively their favourite doctrines of atoms and elements to e.xplain the phenomena of disease, and even the operation of remedies; but, it is unnecessary to say, with little real advantage. The former of the.se philosophers, however, deserves honourable mention from the attention which he paid to the study of comparative anatomy; and it has been conjectured that he so far rose superior to the prejudices of his age as to venture upon the dissection of the human subject. The name of Acron is mentioned by PlinyJ as among the first who attempted, upon any general principles, to apply philosophical reasoning to the science of medicine, hut we have scarcely any knowledge of his history or character, nor have we any memorials left of the principles wdiich he adopted.§ We may also select the name of llerodicus as having been considered the inventor of what was styled gymnastic medicine,II which was regarded by the Greeks as a very important branch of the art. Schools for the practice of the gymnastic exercises were established in various parts of Greece, and were placed under the direction and superintendence of persons especially trained for the purpose, wdio took charge of the health of their pupils, and who appear to have undertaken the treatment both of the accidents which occasionally occurred in their establishments, and also, when neces.sary, of internal diseases. These gym- nasiarchs, as they w’ere styled, must in this way have acquired a certain degree of information respecting the nature of disease, and seem to have been considered as among the most skilful practitioners of the age in which they lived.If CHAP. II. An account of the opinions and practice of Hippocrates and his contemporaries—Jtemarks on the history and education of Hippocrates—High estimation in which he teas held—itemarks on his character and aapiirements—On his works—Account of his principles and doctrines, his physiology, pathology, anatomy, and practice. We now enter upon the history of an individual of very distinguished character and acquirements, who was destined to effect a complete revolution in his profession, and to introduce a system which may be considered as having laid a foundation for all its future improvements. The contemporaries and immediate successors of Hippocrates were so sensible of his merit that he acquired from them the title, which he has since retained, of Father of Medicine; and it may be confidently affirmed that the science is more indebted to his genius and ability than to that of any single individual. It is a little remarkable that, notwithstanding the great celebrity which he attained, we iiave no very correct knowledge of his history, of the mode of his education, or of the means by wdiich he acquired his wonderful pre-eminence. All that we are able to learn on these points with any degree of certainty is, that he was brought up among the Asclepiacies, who w^ere attached to the temple of Cos, that he studied medicine under llerodicus, and that he embraced the philosophical hypothesis of Heraclitus; he is also reputed to have been a lineal descendant, in the eighteenth degree, from yEsculapius, and may therefore be supposed to have been devoted to the profession • Clerc, p. 9G-101. 201-f). Enfield, vol. i. p. 422 et seq. Barchusen, diss. No. 1- Spretigel, t. i. p. + Clerc, p. 9.5, G. Sprengel, t. i. p. 2GG-9. Enfield, vol. i. p. 43G et seq. t Lib. xxix. cap. 1. $ Clerc, part i. liv. ii. ch. 7. II Clerc, part i. liv. ii. ch. 8. Mercuriaits, De Arte Gymnastica. Schulz, p. 192 et seq. Barbier, in Diet. Scien. ,\!cd. art. ‘‘ ( ymnastiiiue.” Ackermann, per. 2, cap. G. il Plato, De Repub. passim, et De Le;;. lib. vii. Schulz has judiciously summed up in a series o( Reneral propositions the history and progress of medicine up to the period at which we arc now arrived; p. 201, 2.