Paleopathology : an introduction to the study of ancient evidences of disease / by Roy L. Moodie.

  • Roy Lee Moodie
Date:
1923
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Paleopathology : an introduction to the study of ancient evidences of disease / by Roy L. Moodie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    27/890 (page 21)
    INTRODUCTION Definition and scope of paleopathology. Paleontological evidences. Definition of disease as used in this work. Evidences of disease among fossil plants. Apparent immunity of early Paleozoic animals to infectious diseases. Regeneration. Immunity in modern invertebrates. The origin of disease. Increase of disease in geological time. Table showing geological antiquity of pathological processes. Descriptions of Figures 1-4 and Plates I-VII illustrat¬ ing the introduction. Figures 1-4 and Plates I-VII. DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF PALEOPATHOLOGY The study of the evidences of injury and disease among ancient man and fossil animals is known as Paleopathology. The term was first given in the Standard Dictionary, Volume 2, 1895; where it is defined as “the science of pathological conditions in the organs of extinct or petrified animals.”1 A later edition (1913) states that it is “the study of pathological conditions in fossil or extinct organisms.” The term was first applied to a discussion of definite results by Sir Marc Armand Ruffer,2 who applied the term, apparently unaware of the earlier American definition, to the methods and results he had developed in studying the pathological anatomy of the ancient Egyptian mummies. He defined the term in the following words: Paleopathology is the science of the diseases which can be demonstrated in human and animal remains of ancient times (1913.1).3 Although Ruffer is thus rightly given the credit for the introduction of the term “Paleopathology” into medical literature, yet it was in use for many years prior to Ruffer’s paper, both as a term and as a science in America. It has been studied extensively especially at Albany, New York, where, in the laboratories of the State Museum, John M. Clarke has pursued the only American studies dealing with the question of early associations, parasitism, and other benign patho¬ logical conditions, among the Paleozoic invertebrates. It is an inter- 11 am indebted to Dr. Gilbert Van Ingen for calling my attention to this definition. It precedes all others. * A discussion of the life and works of Ruffer is to be found in the Chapter (XIII) on “Diseases of the Ancient Egyptians.” 8 The numbers throughout the text indicate the references at the end of the book, where there is a bibliography of the works cited, quoted or from which illustrations have been taken. The bibliography has been largely restricted to definite studies on paleopathology, accessory references being given in footnotes.