Celsus : a bibliographical demonstration in the library of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 3rd March, 1892 / by James Finlayson.

  • Finlayson, James, 1840-1906.
Date:
1892
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Celsus : a bibliographical demonstration in the library of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 3rd March, 1892 / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    is alleged to have termed him the Deus Medicorum *—after which one need surely quote no further praise ! Celsus on Medical Sects. In order that you may know something of the style of discourse which has evoked so much praise, I will now read to you a few passages from Greive's admirable translation; I quote from the Edinburgh edition of 1814. Although this translation serves perfectly for our present purpose, you must remember that for any critical estimation of the exact meaning of a disputed passage you must have recourse to the revised Latin text edited and collated by Daremberg (Leipzig, 1859). Here are one or two extracts from his account of the con- tending sects which then divided the medical world:— The chief dispute is, that some alledge, an acquaintance with experiments to be only requisite, while others affirm experience alone to be insufficient, without a thorough knowledge of the constitution of bodies, and what naturally happens to them : it will be proper to recite the principal arguments on both sides, that we may the more easily deliver our own opinion upon the question. [Eationalists].—Those, then, who declare for a theory in medicine, look upon the following things as necessary:—The knowledge of the occult and constituent causes of distempers; next, of the evident ones ; then of the natural actions; and, lastly, of the internal parts. They call these causes occult, in which we inquire of what principles our bodies are composed, and what constitutes health, and what sickness. For they hold it impossible * Kecentiorum Testimonia.—Casaubonus Ep. 29, ' Medicorum Deus '— (Celsus) ; see Milligan's edition of Celsus ; also, various editions of Alme- loveen's Celsus, and likewise Krause's edition, Lipsiie, 1766, p. xlii. On looking up this 29th Epistle (to Joseph Scaliger) it is quite clear that Casaubon's Deus Medicorum is not Celsus; probably he referred to Hippocrates, whose confession as to being deceived is eulogised by Celsus in his last book ; it will be quoted in this paper later on. The sentence is :— Appendicera vero tuam ad Cyclometrica, legit nemo eruditorum, quin statim veniat ei in mentem, quod de medicorum Deo Celsus scribit libro ultimo, id in te dici nunc posse.