An historical sketch of medicine and surgery, from their origin to the present time; and of the principal authors, discoveries, improvements, imperfections and errors / by W. Black.
- Date:
- 1782
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An historical sketch of medicine and surgery, from their origin to the present time; and of the principal authors, discoveries, improvements, imperfections and errors / by W. Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![f i»5 ] The phyficians of Arabia firft made ufe of thd milder purges. Manna, Caffia, Senna and Myrobo- lans. They are the firft on record, who fpeak of fugar and fugar-candy, extradled from the fugar- cane, and who ufiiered fyrups, juleps, con- feflions and conferves into medicine 5 compofitions in which fugar is often one of the principal ingre- dients. Before the Arabians, honey was com- monly employed by the Greeks and Romans, to wrap up naufeous medicines. To Materia medica, and to Botany, the Arabians added feveral plants and oriental aromaticks j amongft the latter are mulk, nutmeg, mace, and cloves. To magnify oftentation, and encreafe their profits, gold, filver leaf, bezoar, and precious ftones were taken into the medical Ihops, and furprifing virtues invented, to tempt credulous purchafers. The Arabians firft mention a chymical proccfs, called diftillation, which it is probable they learned from the Egyp- tians : Rofe water and fome oils were,however, the only produdion of their chymical laboratories. In deferibing the eflential figns of difeafes, the Arabians were negligent and incorred: then follow a formulae of preferiptions, and compound medicines. Their Theory and Pradife of Phyfici was entirely borrowed from the Greeks, and blend- ed with a heap of fuperftitious noftrums: they made no additions to Anatomy, but took all from Galen. Cantharides were applied externally in the form of bliftering plafters by the Arabians : Ar- chigeneSjAretseus and Alexander Trallianus had,on fome](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21909660_0139.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
