the sixteenth century.

the dawn of modern science.—the reformation of medicine.—paracelsus—the sceptics.—the protestantism of science.—influenza.—legal recognition of medicine in england.—the barber-surgeons.—the sweating sickness.—origin of the royal college of physicians of london.—“merry andrew.”—origin of st. bartholomew’s hospital.—caius.—low state of midwifery.—the great continental anatomists.—vesalius.—servetus.—paré.—influence of the reformation.—the rosicrucians.—touching for the evil.—vivisection of human beings.—origin of legal medicine.

the discovery of america in 1492 fitly typifies the still grander mental world about to disclose its wonders to the newly liberated minds of scientific investigators. the revolt against authority in religion was paralleled by a scientific protestantism; the mind of man, long held in bondage to absurd and groundless fancies, struggled to set itself free, to investigate, to test and explore on its account, instead of accepting for granted doctrines elaborated in the philosopher’s brains.

the revolt of medicine against the authority of galen may be compared to the revolt against aristotle in philosophy. the authority of the arabian schools was overthrown, the principles of hippocrates were in the ascendant. the era of the renaissance was not more an era of protestantism than an age of scepticism. faith had become credulity, and credulity had sunk into imbecility. the power of the printing press, the spread of humanism, the beginning of scientific inquiry, the discovery of the splendid treasure of classic literature, long buried beneath the dust of dark and barbarous ages, the widening of the mental horizon as the world doubled itself before the prows of the discoverers’ vessels—all these factors brought about the new birth of science. it was the golden age of the medical sciences. anatomy and surgery awoke, from their long slumber, and europe entered upon a period of scientific investigation such as the world had never known before. medicine formed an alliance with what are called its accessory sciences; chemistry liberated from slavery to the alchemist, botany set free from the delusions of the doctrine of “signatures,” pharmacy elevated into a branch of medical science from the kitchen and the346 confectioner’s store-room, lent their aid, in conjunction with the hydraulics and pneumatics of the natural philosopher, to advance it. all these things meant revolt against the old order, protestantism against the outworn creeds of greek and arabian dogmatists. they meant more than this. ere the ground could be cleared for the new palace of physical science which the glorious sixteenth century was to rear, scepticism must lend its withering and desolating aid; foul undergrowths must be destroyed; evil germs, bred of the stagnant marshes of the dark ages, must perish under the wholesome, if ruthless, disinfectants of reason and unbelief. there was a stern need of this. the demon theory of disease had lasted from primeval ages up to this dawn of the sixteenth century. from glacial times, through savage ages and religions, and often in beautifully poetic faiths, the disease-demon held its own. even in the hallowed and renovating pages of the gospels the disease-demon stalks unchallenged save by the thaumaturgist. now he is to be banished from the mind of civilized man for ever; and to reach this goal atheism was needed. the sixteenth century, so far as medicine and physical science are concerned, opens with the cabalist theosophists, trithemius, cornelius agrippa, cardan, and their followers. giordano bruno, the aggressive atheist and martyr of science, montaigne, the philosophic sceptic, charron, the opponent of all religion, and rabelais, the witty scoffer at the gross corruptions of orthodoxy, helped to clear the ground for the work of the scientists. meanwhile paracelsus, from his chair at basel university, having made an auto-da-fe of ancient and dogmatic medicine, lays the foundation-stone of the medicine of the modern era.

an army of savants begins to work for science as well as literature. linacre has introduced italian humanism to the doctors of england; caius busies himself with the greek and latin texts of the great writers on medicine; gesner, the german pliny, and aldrovandi promote the study of natural history. everywhere men are busy with the beginnings of electricity, chemistry, mineralogy, botany, and the other sciences which are to be the handmaidens of medicine. one clear voice is heard from basel. it is that of paracelsus, exhuming physical science: “you italy, you dalmatia, you sarmatia, athens, greece, arabia, and israel, follow me. come out of the night of the mind!”

the teacher of paracelsus, who exercised the greatest influence upon his mental development, was the celebrated trithemius, the abbot of the spanheim benedictines (about 1500), who was so famous a student of chemistry and the occult philosophy that scholars and mighty nobles went on pilgrimages and princes sent ambassadors, to his monastery to347 gather some fragments of his vast learning. amongst many works, he published several on magical subjects, and was the first who told the wondrous story of dr. faustus, in whose magical doings he was a devout believer.829 his famous library consisted of the rare possession of two thousand volumes. cornelius agrippa was his pupil, and in a letter which he sent to his old master, with the manuscript of his occult philosophy, we find a passage which throws a light on the studies of the worthy abbot: “we conferred much about chemical matters, magic, cabalism, and other things which at the present time lie hidden as secret sciences and arts.”830

theophrastus bombastus paracelsus of hohenheim (1493-1541), “the reformer of medicine,” “luther alter,” effected a revolution in medicine, and is one of the most remarkable characters, not only in the history of the medical profession, but in that of civilization. there was so much in this great man’s conduct to admire, and so much of which to disapprove, that it is not surprising that he has been either wholly praised or entirely condemned, and by very few considered dispassionately. perhaps mr. browning, in his noble poem paracelsus, has given the world the truest conception of a man who did for his profession and for humanity the enormous service of liberating medicine from a slavish adhesion to authority, though it must be admitted that he was guilty of extravagances and excesses we may find it difficult to excuse, even though for the most part they were faults common to his country and his age. paracelsus was born ten years later than luther, at einsiedeln, near zurich. he studied under the abbot trithemius of spanheim, who was a great adept in magic, alchemy, and astrology. under this teacher he acquired a taste for occult studies, and formed a determination to use them for the welfare of mankind. trithemius was a theosophist. as was the custom of the times, paracelsus became an itinerant student after his course at the university of basel. he studied chemistry in the laboratory of the fuggers at schwatz, in the tyrol.

attached to the armies, he travelled widely as a military surgeon in the netherlands, the romagna, naples, venice, denmark. he worked in the mines, that he might acquire a knowledge of metals, working as a common labourer for his bread. in bohemian fashion he wandered over the world, visiting spain, portugal, egypt, tartary, and the east. he picked up his scientific knowledge by any means rather than from books. he said,348 “reading never made a doctor, but practice is what forms a physician. for all reading is a footstool to practice, and a mere feather broom. he who meditates discovers something.” and so he held converse with the common folk, and talked and drank with boors, shepherds, jews, gypsies, and tramps, gaining odd scraps of knowledge wherever he could. he had no books. his only volume was nature, whom he interrogated at first-hand. he would rather learn medicine and surgery from an old country nurse than from an university lecturer. if there was one thing which he detested more than another, it was the principle of authority. he bent his head to no man.

in the year 1525 paracelsus went to basel, where he was fortunate in curing froben, the great printer, by his laudanum, when he had the gout. froben was the friend of erasmus, who was associated with ?colampadius, and soon after, upon the recommendation of ?colampadius, he was appointed by the city magnates a professor of physics, medicine, and surgery, with a considerable salary; at the same time they made him city physician, to the duties of which office he requested might be added inspector of drug shops. this examination made the druggists his bitterest enemies, as he detected their fraudulent practices; they combined to set the other doctors of the city against him, and as these were exceedingly jealous of his skill and success, poor paracelsus found himself in a hornet’s nest. we find him a professor at basel university in 1526. he has become famous as a physician, the medicines which he has discovered he has successfully used in his practice; he was now in the eyes of his patients at least,

“the wondrous paracelsus, life’s dispenser,

fate’s commissary, idol of the schools and courts.”

he began his lectures at basel by lighting some sulphur in a chafing dish, and burning the books of his great predecessors in the medical art, avicenna, galen, and others, saying: “sic vos ardebitis in gehenna.” he boasted that he had read no books for ten years, though he protested that his shoe-buckles were more learned than the authors whose works he had burned.

it must have been a wonderful spectacle when this new teacher took his place before his pupils. the benches occupied hitherto by a dozen or two of students were crowded with an eager audience anxious for the new learning. literature had been exhumed many years before, and now it was the turn of science! leaving the morbid seclusion of the cloisters, men had given up dreaming for inquiry, and baseless visions for the acquisition of facts. this was the childhood of our science, and its days were bright with the poetry of youth. it is a sight to arouse349 our enthusiasm to see in the early dawn of our modern science this man standing up alone to pit himself against the whole scientific authority of his day. he rises from the crucibles and fires where his predecessors had been vainly seeking for gold and silver, ever and again pretending to have found them, and always going empty-handed to a deluded world. henceforth, he says, his alchemy shall serve a nobler purpose than gold seeking; it shall aid in the healing of disease. he casts aside the sacred books of medicine which have been handed down the ages by his predecessors; destroying them, he declares, with an earnestness which is less tinged by arrogance than by conviction, that these men had been blind guides, that he alone has the clue of the maze, and he forsakes all to follow truth, though she lead him to death. in his generous impulse to serve mankind he has spoken harshly of his opponents. they would not have helped him, any way. he was above them; they could not understand him, so they hated him, and he scorned them. as too often happens to such heroes, he forgot the love of his neighbour in his love for mankind.

paracelsus found his pupils holding fast by the teachings of the school of salerno, and there seems no ground for supposing that the healing art had made the slightest progress in europe from the foundation of that school in 1150, except perhaps in pharmacy. on the day that paracelsus stood up before his audience at basel university, he cried, “away with ?tius, oribasius, galen, rhasis, serapion, avicenna, averroes, and the other blocks!” he had diplomas sent him from germany, france, and italy, and a letter from erasmus.

in 1528 we find him at colmar, in alsatia. he has been driven by priests and doctors from basel.

he had been called to the bedside of some rich cleric who was ill. he cured him, but so speedily that his fee was refused. though not at all a mercenary man (for he always gave the poor his services gratuitously), he sued the priest; but the judge refused to interfere, and paracelsus used strong language to him, and had to fly to escape punishment. we must not be too hard upon the canon. disease was treated with profound respect in those days, and great patients liked to be cured with deliberation and some ceremonial.

the closing scenes of the life of paracelsus were passed in a cell in the hospital of salzburg, in the year 1541, when he died at the age of forty-eight, a martyr of science. recent investigations in contemporary records have proved that he had been attacked by the servants of certain physicians who were his jealous enemies, and that in consequence of a fall he sustained a fracture of the skull, which proved fatal in a few days.

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within a period of time covering fifteen years he had written some 106 treatises on medicine, alchemy, natural history and philosophy, magic, and other subjects. he despised university learning. “the book of nature,” he declared, “was that which the physician should read, and to do so he must walk over its leaves.” his library consisted of a bible, st. jerome on the gospels, a volume on medicine, and seven manuscripts. his epitaph tells but a part of his honours. “here lies philippus paracelsus, the famous doctor of medicine, who, by his wonderful art, cured bad wounds, lepra, gout, dropsy, and other incurable diseases, and to his own honour divided his possessions among the poor.”

this but feebly expresses what medicine owes to him. he discovered the metal zinc, and hydrogen gas. in place of the elaborate concoctions and filthy messes which were given as medicines in his time, he taught doctors to give tinctures and quintessences of drugs. he invented laudanum, and anticipated our discovery of transfusion of blood. he opposed the barbarous method of reducing dislocations and dealing with fractures, introduced the use of mercury in the treatment of syphilis, and came very near to the discoveries which go under the name of darwinism. he taught that chemistry was to be employed, not in making gold, but for the preparation of medicines; and he introduced into practice mineral remedies, including mineral baths, iron, sulphur, antimony, arsenic, gold, tin, lead, etc. amongst the vegetable remedies employed by him was arnica.

paracelsus used chemical principles, says sprengel, for the explanation of particular diseases. “most or all diseases, according to him, arise from the effervescence of salts, from the combustion of sulphur, or from the coagulation of mercury.”831

his ?tiology attributed diseases to five causes:—1. the ens astrale (a certain power of the stars); this means no more than foul air. 2. the ens veneni (power of poison), arising from errors of assimilation and digestion. 3. the ens naturale (power of nature or of the body); diatheses. 4. ens spirituale (power of the spirit); the disorders which arise from perverted ideas. 5. ens dei (power of god); the injuries or causes of disease predetermined by god.832

when paracelsus came upon the scene of medical history, alchemy had just begun to lose its credit. the true students of science had discovered its deceptions and had abandoned it to the quacks. it has often happened, and happens still, that certain pretended sciences, when cast aside as worthless, are taken from their hiding-places and made to351 do duty in another and perhaps nobler form. paracelsus set himself the task of rehabilitating alchemy. the deeper thinkers, the more ardent truth-seekers in religion and science, imbued with philosophy and penetrated by the scholasticism of the age, were quite ready for a new reign of theosophical medicine to take the place of the arabian polypharmacy.

george agricola (1494-1555) was a physician who practised in bohemia, and was the first to raise mineralogy to the dignity of a science. he did so much for it, in fact, that no great advance was made in it from the point at which he left it, till the eighteenth century.

conrad gesner (1516-1565), surnamed the german pliny, was a famous naturalist of vast erudition, and imbued with an enthusiastic love of science. in 1541 he was professor of physics and natural history at zurich. he wrote several books on ancient medicine and botany. to prepare himself to write his history of animals, he read 250 authors, travelled nearly all over europe, and gathered information from every source, even from hunters and shepherds. his medical works show that he was far above the absurd fancies and prejudices of his time.

andreas c?salpinus (1519-1603), the first systematical botanist, and the founder of the work which linn?us developed, studied, if he did not also teach, anatomy and medicine at pisa. he had a clear idea of the circulation of the blood, at least through the lungs, and he was the first to use the term “circulation.” claims have been made on his behalf as the discoverer of the circulation; but they cannot be substantiated, as he did not know of the direct flow of the blood from the arteries to the veins.

cardan (1501-1576), a physician and astrologer, was also a half-crazy magician. he was a skilful physician, and visited king edward vi. to calculate his nativity, and cardinal beaton to cure him in his sickness.

giordano bruno (1548-1600) was an italian philosopher of the renaissance, who, from a determination to study the universe for himself, threw off the restraints of the christian religion and revolted against the authority of aristotle and tradition. his most popular and characteristic work is the spaccio. he was not an atheist, as has been asserted, but a pantheist. he considered the soul of man as a thinking monad, and as immortal. he was burnt at the stake for his opinions, which, it must be admitted, were in some respects detrimental to morality as well as to faith.

michel de montaigne (1533-1592), the sceptical founder of a new philosophy, and one of the most delightful of essayists, anticipated the352 scientific spirit by his minute and critical observation upon the curious facts connected with human nature.

fran?ois rabelais (c. 1490-1553) entered the faculty of medicine at montpellier.

euricus cordus (1486-1535), who studied medicine at erfurt, is famous for the following admirable epigram:—

“three faces wears the doctor: when first sought,

an angel’s—and a god’s, the cure half wrought;

but, when that cure complete, he seeks his fee,

the devil looks then less terrible than he.”

his son, valerius cordus (1515-1544), was the discoverer of sulphuric ether.

antonio benivieni (c. 1500), a physician of florence, was the morning star of a new era for surgery, when he insisted that the compilations of the ancients and arabians ought to be given up for the observation of nature.833 thus, before the time of ambroise paré (1509-1590), the way for the reception of the true modern surgery was prepared in italy by the efforts of those who strove to induce educated and talented men to devote their attention to this branch of the healing art.

influenza.

a violent and extensive catarrhal fever prevailed in france and europe generally in 1510. hecker considers there is evidence that it had its origin in the remotest parts of the east.834 his description of this influenza is as follows:353 “the catarrhal symptoms, which, on the appearance of disorders of this kind, usually form their commencement, seem to have been quite thrown into the background by those of violent rheumatism and inflammation. the patient was first seized with giddiness and severe headache; then came on a shooting pain through the shoulders and extending to the thighs. the loins, too, were affected with intolerably painful dartings, during which an inflammatory fever set in with delirium and violent excitement. in some the parotid glands became inflamed, and even the digestive organs participated in the deep-rooted malady; for those affected had, together with constant oppression at the stomach, a great loathing for all animal food, and a dislike even of wine. among the poor as well as the rich many died, and some quite suddenly, of this strange disease, in the treatment of which the physicians shortened life not a little by their purgative treatment and phlebotomy, seeking an excuse for their ignorance in the influence of the constellations, and alleging that astral diseases were beyond the reach of human art.”

legal recognition of medical practitioners.

the first act of parliament dealing with the medical profession in england was passed in the year 1511, and is entitled “an act for the appointing of physicians and surgeons,” the preamble of which runs as follows:—

“forasmuch as the science and cunning of physick and surgery (to the perfect knowledge of which be requisite both great learning and ripe experience) is daily within this realm exercised by a great multitude of ignorant persons, of whom the greater part have no manner of insight in the same, nor in any other kind of learning; some also can read no letters on the book, so far forth that common artificers, as smiths, weavers, and women, boldly and accustomably take upon them great cures, and things of great difficulty, in the which they partly use sorcery and witchcraft, partly apply such medicines unto the disease as be very noxious, and nothing meet therefore, to the high displeasure of god, great infamy to the faculty, and the grievous hurt, damage, and destruction of many of the king’s liege people; most especially of them that cannot discern the uncunning from the cunning. be it therefore (to the surety and comfort of all manner of people) by the authority of this present parliament enacted:—that no person within the city of london, nor within seven miles of the same, take upon him to exercise and occupy as a physician or surgeon except he be first examined, approved, and admitted by the bishop of london, or by the dean of st. paul’s, for the time being, calling to him or them four doctors of physic, and for surgeons, other expert persons in that faculty; and for the first examination such as they shall think convenient, and afterwards alway four of them that have been so approved.835 ...

“that no person out of the said city and precinct of seven miles of the same, except he have been (as is aforesaid) approved in the same, take upon him to exercise and occupy as a physician or surgeon, in any diocese within this realm; but if he be first examined and approved by the bishop of the same diocese, or, he being out of the diocese, by his vicar-general; either of them calling to them such expert persons in the said faculties, as their discretion shall think convenient....”836

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the barber-surgeons.

the occupation of shaving and trimming beards was anciently considered a profession, and was united to that of surgery. in the reign of louis xiv. of france the hairdressers were formally separated from the barber-surgeons, who were incorporated as a distinct medical body.

a london company of barbers was formed in 1308, and the first year of the reign of edward iv. (1462) the barbers were incorporated by a charter which was confirmed by many succeeding monarchs. in 1540 the company of barbers, and those who practised purely as surgeons, were united as “the commonalty of barbers and surgeons of london.” it was enacted (32 hen. viii.) that “no person using any shaving or barbery in london shall occupy any surgery, letting of blood, or other matter, except only drawing of teeth.” the surgeons’ corporation in london two years later petitioned parliament to be exempted from bearing arms and serving on juries, so that they might be free to attend to their practice.837 their petition was granted, and all medical men are in the enjoyment of these privileges at the present time.

an act of parliament was passed in 1540 allowing the united companies of barbers and surgeons to have yearly four bodies of criminals for purposes of dissection. this is supposed to have been the first legislative enactment passed in any country for promoting the study of anatomy.838

surgery in england in the reign of henry viii. was in a deplorable condition. thomas gale thus describes the surgeons of the time:—

“i remember when i was in the wars at montreuil, in the time of that most famous prince, henry viii., there was a great rabblement there that took upon them to be surgeons. some were sow-gelders, and some horse-gelders, with tinkers and cobblers. this noble sect did such great cures that they got themselves a perpetual name; for like as thessalus’ sect were called thessalonians, so was this noble rabblement, for their notorious cures, called dog-leeches; for in two dressings they did commonly make their cures whole and sound for ever, so that they felt neither heat nor cold, nor no manner of pain after. but when the duke of norfolk, who was then general, understood how the people did die, and that of small wounds, he sent for me and certain other surgeons, commanding us to make search how these men came to their death, whether it were by the grievousness of their355 wounds or by the lack of knowledge of the surgeons; and we, according to our commandment, made search through all the camp, and found many of the same good fellows which took upon them the names of surgeons; not only the names but the wages also. we asking of them whether they were surgeons or no, they said they were; we demanded with whom they were brought up, and they, with shameless faces, would answer, either with one cunning man, or another, which was dead. then we demanded of them what chirurgery stuff they had to cure men withal; and they would show us a pot or a box which they had in a budget, wherein was such trumpery as they did use to grease horses’ heels withal, and laid upon scabbed horses’ backs, with verval and such like. and others that were cobblers and tinkers used shoemaker’s wax, with the rust of old pans, and made therewith ‘a noble salve,’ as they did term it. but in the end this worthy rabblement was committed to the marshalsea, and threatened to be hanged for their worthy deeds, except they would declare the truth—what they were and of what occupations; and in the end they did confess, as i have declared to you before.”

gale says in another place: “i have, myself, in the time of king henry viii., helped to furnish out of london, in one year, which served by sea and land, three score and twelve surgeons, which were good workmen, and well able to serve, and all englishmen. at this present day there are not thirty-four of all the whole company of englishmen, and yet the most part of them be in noblemen’s service, so that if we should have need, i do not know where to find twelve sufficient men. what do i say? sufficient men? nay; i would there were ten amongst all the company worthy to be called surgeons.”

in the year 1518 the barbers and surgeons were united in one company. the barbers were restricted from performing any surgical operations, except drawing teeth, and the surgeons, on their part, had to abandon shaving and trimming beards. physicians were permitted to practise surgery.

in the year 1542 it became necessary to pass an act to further regulate the practice of surgery, the chief points of which are the following:356 “whereas in the parliament holden at westminster, in the third year of the king’s most gracious reign, amongst other things, for the avoiding of sorceries, witchcrafts, and other inconveniences, it was enacted, that no person within the city of london, nor within seven miles of the same, should take upon him to exercise and occupy as physician and surgeon, except he be first examined, admitted, and approved by the bishop of london, etc.... sithence the making of which said act, the company and fellowship of surgeons of london, minding onely their owne lucres, and nothing the profit or ease of the diseased or patient, have sued, troubled, and vexed divers honest persons, as well men as women, whom god hath endueed with the knowledge of the nature, kind and operation of certain herbs, roots and waters, and the using and ministering of them, to such as have been pained with custumable diseases, as women’s breasts being sore, a pin and the web in the eye, uncomes of the hands, scaldings, burnings, sore mouths, the stone, stranguary, saucelin, and morphew, and such other like diseases.... and yet the said persons have not taken anything for their pains or cunning.... in consideration whereof, and for the ease, comfort, succour, help, relief, and health of the king’s poor subjects, inhabitants of this his realm, now pained or diseased, or that hereafter shall be pained or diseased, be it ordained, etc., that at all time from henceforth it shall be lawful to every person being the king’s subject, having knowledge and experience of the nature of herbs, roots and waters, etc., to use and minister according to their cunning, experience, and knowledge ... the aforesaid statute ... or any other act notwithstanding.”

the sweating sickness.

in 1517 england was visited by a third attack of the sweating sickness. public business was suspended, the king moved his court from place to place, and a panic seized the people. erasmus, writing to wolsey’s physician, says: “i am frequently astonished and grieved to think how it is that england has been now for so many years troubled by a continual pestilence, especially by a deadly sweat, which appears in a great measure to be peculiar to your country. i have read how a city was once delivered from a plague by a change in the houses, made at the suggestion of a philosopher. i am inclined to think that this also must be the deliverance for england.” he proceeds to suggest that better ventilation is necessary for dwellings; he remarks that the glass windows admit light, but not air; that such air as does enter comes in as draughts, through holes and corners full of pestilential emanations. the floors laid with clay and covered with rushes, the bottom layer of which was unchanged sometimes for twenty years, harboured expectorations, vomitings, filth, and all sorts of abominations.

he advises that the use of rushes should be given up, that the rooms should be so built as to be exposed to the light and fresh air on two or three sides, and that the windows be so constructed as to be easily opened or closed. he declares that at one time, if he ever entered a room which had not been occupied for some months, he was sure to357 take a fever. he suggests that the people should eat less, especially of salt meats, and that proper officers be appointed to keep the streets and suburbs in better order. erasmus was thus our first sanitary reformer.

aubrey gives839 a selection of the favourite prescriptions in use at this period against the sweating sickness:—

“take endive, sowthistle, marygold, m’oney and nightshade, three handfuls of all, and seethe them in conduit water, from a quart to a pint, then strain it into a fair vessel, then delay it with a little sugar to put away the tartness, and then drink it when the sweat taketh you, and keep you warm; and by the grace of god ye shall be whole.”

“take half an handful of rew, called herbe grace, an handful marygold, half an handful featherfew, a handful sorrel, a handful burnet, and half a handful dragons, the top in summer, the root in winter; wash them in running water, and put them in an earthen pot with a pottle of running water, and let them seethe soberly to nigh the half be consumed, and then draw aback the pot to it be almost cold, and then strain it into a fair glass and keep it close, and use thereof morn and even, and when need is oftener; and if it be bitter, delay it with sugar candy; and if it be taken afore the pimples break forth, there is no doubt but with the grace of jesu it shall amend any man, woman or child.”

“another very true medicine.—for to say every day at seven parts of your body, seven paternosters, and seven ave marias, with one credo at the last. ye shal begyn at the ryght syde, under the ryght ere, saying the ‘paternoster qui es in c?lis, sanctificetur nomen tuum,’ with a cross made there with your thumb, and so say the paternoster full complete, and one ave maria, and then under the left ere, and then under the left armhole, and then under the left the [thigh?] hole, and then the last at the heart, with one paternoster, ave maria, with one credo; and these thus said daily, with the grace of god is there no manner drede hym.”

the royal college of physicians of london established.

the royal college of physicians of london was founded by henry viii. for the repression of irregular and unlearned medical practice. the letters patent constituting the college were dated 23rd september, 1518. the king was moved to this by the example of similar institutions in italy and elsewhere, by the solicitations of thomas linacre, one of his own physicians, and by the advice and recommendation of cardinal wolsey. six physicians are named in the358 letters patent as constituting the college, viz., john chambre, thomas linacre, and ferdinand de victoria, the king’s physicians; and nicholas halsewell, john francis, and robert yaxlery, physicians, “and all men of the same faculty, of and in london, and within seven miles thereof, are incorporated as one body and perpetual community or college.”840

dr. chambre was a priest before he became a physician. he was educated at oxford, studied at padua, where he graduated in physic.

dr. thomas linacre was a distinguished scholar and physician, who was born a.d. 1460. in 1484 he was elected a fellow of all souls’, oxford; the next year he went to bologna, where he studied under pulitian; he then went to florence, where he became acquainted with lorenzo the great; from florence, he went to rome, and thence to venice and padua, which at that time was the most celebrated school of physic in the world, and took the degree of doctor of medicine with the highest applause. linacre founded (1524) two physic lectures at oxford and one at cambridge, but “they were not performed till divers years after linacre’s death, on account of the troubles concerning religion.”841

dr. andrew borde, carthusian monk, physician, wit and buffoon, lived in the reign of henry viii. he took his physician’s degree at montpellier in 1532, and afterwards became one of the court physicians on his return to england. he was a learned, genial, and sensible doctor, but possessed “a rambling head and an inconstant mind,” as anthony à wood says. he wrote voluminously. his chief works, the breviary of health, the dietary of health, and the book of the introduction to knowledge, have been edited by dr. f.?j. furnivall, and published for the early english text society in a volume which is one of the most entertaining works on medicine ever written. borde earned his title of “merry andrew” (a name which has become a household word) from attending fairs and revels, and conducting himself with the buffoonery which ill became so learned a man. doubtless, however, it endeared him to his countrymen of the period. his medical works are full of prescriptions for various complaints, and many of them are exceedingly valuable and fully equal to the best treatment followed now.

thomas vicary was probably born between 1490 and 1500, was not a trained surgeon, but “a meane practiser” at maidstone. in 1525 he was junior of the three wardens of the barbers’ or barber-surgeons’ company in london. in 1528 he was upper or first warden of the359 company, and one of the surgeons to henry viii., at ￡20 a year. in 1530 he was master of the barber-surgeons’ company, and at the head of his profession till his death in 1561 or 1562. as dr. furnivall says, he was “the paget of his great tudor time.” soon after the dissolution of the monasteries, henry viii., at the request of the city of london, handed over the monastic hospitals, bartholomew’s and others, to the corporation of london. he gave to bartholomew’s a small endowment (nominally ￡333 odd) out of old houses which he charged with pensions to parsons. the city raised ￡1000 for repairs and reopened the hospital for one hundred patients, and on 29th september, 1548, appointed chief-surgeon vicary as one of the six new governors of the hospital. the reorganization of the hospital was in a large measure due to this excellent man and intelligent surgeon. in 1548 he published the first english work on anatomy, the anatomie of the body of man, which was reprinted by the surgeons of bartholomew’s in 1577. this text-book held the field for 150 years.842

those who are interested in the origin of our oldest and greatest hospital in london will find much valuable information in the truly christian ordre of the hospital of s. bartholomewes, 1552, published as appendix xvi. in dr. furnivall’s vicary, p. 291.

robert copland in 1547 or 48 published his book called the hy way to the spitt house. this is an important and interesting account of the scamps and rogues who resorted to st. bartholomew’s hospital, london, in the time of henry viii., after the statute 22nd hen. viii. (1530-1), against vagabonds. at that time the hospital gave temporary lodging to almost all the needy, as well as a permanent home to the deserving poor and sick; and sisters attended to them. copland learns from the porter all about the ne’er-do-wells and the rascals who sought to impose on the charity.843

the old herbalists were often very patient and devoted investigators, who experimented upon themselves, and by these means accumulated a great number of facts of great use in the art of medicine. conrad gesner was one of these; he used to eat small portions of wild herbs, and test their effects on his own person, sitting down in the study with the plants around him.844

sir william butts, m.d. (died 1545), was physician to henry viii., and was the friend of wolsey, cranmer, and latimer. he was360 knighted by henry, and is immortalised in shakspeare’s play of henry viii.

george owen, m.d. (died 1558), was physician to henry viii., edward vi., and queen mary. it has been said that edward vi. was brought into the world by dr. owen, who performed the c?sarian operation on his mother.

john caius, m.d. (1510-1573), entered gonville hall, cambridge, 1529. he at first studied divinity, but in 1539 went to padua to study medicine under montanus. whilst at padua, caius lodged in the same house with the anatomist vesalius, devoting no less attention to anatomy than his companion. he took the degree of doctor of medicine at padua. he was public professor of greek in that university; in 1543 he visited all the great libraries of italy, collecting mss., with the view of giving correct editions of the works of galen and celsus. in 1552 he was residing in london, and published an account of the sweating sickness which prevailed in 1551. he was physician to edward vi., mary, and elizabeth. dr. caius enlarged and augmented the resources of the college at cambridge, at which he had been educated; and he rendered eminent service to the college of physicians by defending its rights against the illegal practices of the surgeons, who interfered with the proper functions of the physicians. his munificent foundation at cambridge is a claim on the gratitude of the english nation, and ensures him a high place for ever in the annals of our universities. the visitor to cambridge will not fail to remember that it was he who built the three singular gates at his college, inscribed to humility, to virtue and wisdom, and to honour. but he has another lasting claim to respect on the grounds that he first introduced the study of practical anatomy into this country, and was the first publicly to teach it, which he did in the hall of the barber-surgeons, shortly after his return from italy. dr. caius was a profound classical scholar, and left numerous works on the greek and latin medical authors. as a naturalist, linguist, critic, and antiquary, he was no less distinguished than as a physician.

edward wotton, m.d. (died 1555), seems to have been the first english physician who applied himself specially to the study of natural history. he made himself famous by his work on this subject, entitled de differentiis animalium.

dr. geynes (died 1563) was cited before the college of physicians for impugning the authority of galen; he recanted and humbly acknowledged his heresy, and was duly pardoned. the circumstance is a curious illustration of the sentiments of the times.845

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simon ludford was originally a friar who became an apothecary in london, who was admitted by the university of oxford to the baccalaureate in medicine, although totally ignorant and incompetent. the college reproved the university, and he was compelled to undergo a course of study, when he was ultimately admitted doctor of medicine in oxford, and fellow of the college of physicians in 1563.

william gilbert, m.d. (born 1540), engaged in experiments relative to the magnet, achieving results which galileo declared to be “great to a degree which might be envied,” and which induced galileo to turn his mind to magnetism.846

thomas penny, m.d. (practised in london, 1570-1). gerard styles him “a second dioscorides, for his singular knowledge of plants.” he was also one of the first englishmen who studied insects.

peter turner, m.d. (died 1614), was physician to st. bartholomew’s hospital, and one of the greatest botanists of his age.

thomas muffet, m.d., the learned friend of distinguished physicians and naturalists, was esteemed in his day the famous ornament of the body of physicians (died 1604).

berenger of capri (died 1527) flourished at bologna (1518). he was a zealous anatomist, and declared that he had “dissected more than one hundred human bodies.” he was the first who recognised the larger proportional size of the male chest than the female, and the converse concerning the pelvis. he discovered the two arytenoid cartilages in the larynx, first accurately described the thymus, and gave a good description of the brain and the internal ear, in which he noticed the malleus and incus. he rectified some of the mistakes of mondino, but was, like all other anatomists before harvey, deeply perplexed about the heart and the circulation. he investigated the structure of the valves of the heart.

the art of midwifery, up to the middle of the sixteenth century, was in the lowest possible condition. in 1521, a doctor named veites was condemned to the flames in hamburg, for engaging in the business of midwifery. in the year 1500, the wife of one jacob nufer, of thurgau, a swiss sow-gelder, being in peril of her life in pregnancy, though thirteen midwives and several surgeons had attempted to deliver her in the ordinary way, it occurred to her husband to ask permission of the authorities, and the help of god, to deliver her “as he would a sow.” he was completely successful, and thus performed the first c?sarian operation on the living patient, who lived to bear362 several other children in the natural way, and died at the age of seventy-seven. another sow-gelder performed the operation of ovariotomy on his own daughter, in the sixteenth century.

fran?ois rousset (about 1581), physician to the duke of savoy, was the first to write upon the c?sarian operation. the improvement in printing and engraving caused the works of the greek, roman, and arabian writers to be more widely known, and manuals were published for the instruction of midwives. the first book of this kind was by eucharius roslein, at worms, called the rose garden for midwives (1513). vesalius (1543) rendered great services to the obstetric art by his anatomical teaching; and when rousset published his treatise, the operation became popular, and was constantly performed on the living subject, sometimes even when it was not absolutely necessary. pineau, a surgeon of paris, in 1589, first suggested division of the pubes to facilitate difficult labour.

in the year 1535 (27 henry viii.), wood says847 that at oxford “divers scholars, upon a foresight of the ruin of the clergy, had and did now betake themselves to physick, who as yet raw and inexpert would adventure to practise, to the utter undoing of many. the said visitors ordered, therefore, that none should practise or exercise that faculty unless he had been examined by the physick professor concerning his knowledge therein. which order, being of great moment, was the year following confirmed by the king, and power by him granted to the professor and successors to examine those that were to practise according to the visitor’s order.”

pierre franco (c. 1560) was a swiss or french surgeon, and a famous lithotomist, who performed the high operation for the first time in 1560, with success, on a child aged two years. recognising the dangers of this method, he introduced a new method in the operation known as perineal lithotomy, which was called the lateral method. he preceded paré in improvements in dealing with strangulated hernia by the operation known as herniotomy. he was one of the first to re-introduce into midwifery practice the operation known as “turning,” in difficult labour. the operation was a familiar one amongst the hindus, and had been known to the later gr?co-roman school, but had fallen into disuse until paré, franco, and guillemeau devoted themselves to the improvement of this neglected branch of the healing art with great success.

andrew libavius (1546-1616), physician at coburg, is said by363 sprengel to have been the person who began to cultivate chemistry; as distinct from all theosophical fancies of his predecessors.

conrad gesner, the miracle of learning, whom we have already mentioned, devoted great attention to gyn?cology, and wrote learnedly and without prejudice upon medicine.

dr. henry alkins (born 1558) was one of the principal physicians of james i. while president of the royal college, the first london pharmacop?ia was published in 1618.

john bannister was a voluminous writer on surgery who practised in london, and wrote a treatise on surgery in 1575.

thomas gale (1507-1586), the “english paré,” was a military surgeon, under henry viii. and elizabeth, who taught that gun-shot wounds were not poisoned as was commonly supposed, but were to be treated as ordinary wounds.

william bulleyn (died 1576) was a famous physician and botanist in the reigns of the later tudors. he wrote the government of health (1548), book of simples, and other works.

frescatorius (1483-1553) was the first to publish a description of typhus fever. dr. mead says848 that he knew that “consumption is contagious, and is contracted by living with a phthisical person, by the gliding of the corrupted and putrified juices [of the sick] into the lungs of the sound man.” he inferred the microbes which we see.

g. baillou (1536-1614) was the first to describe clearly the diseases whooping cough and croup.

alexander benedetti (died 1525) was an anatomist, who made important observations on gall-stones.

felix platter (1536-1614), a professor at basle, must ever be gratefully remembered for his humane and wise opposition to the cruel treatment of the insane by coercive measures, which unhappily were in fashion up to recent times. he suggested the division of diseases into three classes: (1) mental disorders; (2) pains, fevers, etc.; (3) deformities and defects of secretion.

a book which contains directions for identifying simples and preparing compound medicines is called a pharmacop?ia. the first work of this character, which was published under government authority, was that of nuremberg, in 1512. a student, valerius cordus, passing through the city, exhibited a recipe book, which he had compiled from the writings of the most eminent physicians of the town. he was urged to print it for the benefit of the apothecaries. the college of medicine at florence issued the antidotarium florentinum, somewhat earlier,364 but merely on its own authority. dr. a. foes used the term pharmacop?ia first as a distinct title for his work published at basle, in 1561.849

costanzo varolius of bologna (1545-1575), one of the greatest of the italian anatomists, described the optic nerves and many important points in the anatomy of the brain.

volcher coiter, of groningen (1534-1600), was a pupil of fallopius and eustachius, who was distinguished for his important researches on the cartilages, bones, nerves, and the anatomy of the f?tal skeleton.

fabricius, of acquapendente (1537-1619), a pupil of fallopius, and a distinguished anatomist, made important researches on the structure of animals in general. his famous discovery of the valves of the veins and his investigations concerning their use led harvey to make the discovery of the circulation of the blood.

casserius (1561-1616) investigated the anatomy of the vocal organs, discovered the muscles of the ossicles of the ear, and practised bronchotomy, which he had learned from fabricius. he was professor at padua, and a teacher of harvey.

spigel (1578-1625) made researches on the liver, a lobulus of which bears his name.

olaus worm (1588-1654) first described the small bones of the skull, now called “wormian” bones.

it was not till the sixteenth century that france contributed her quota to the list of great anatomists. nothing shows more clearly the difficulty with which learning was spread in the times of which we write than the fact that the works of the early italian anatomists were altogether unknown in france until a hundred years after they were written.

jacques dubois (1478-1555) taught anatomy at paris, and was professor of surgery to the royal college. he was an irrational admirer of galen. the carcases of dogs and other animals were the materials from which he taught; it does not appear that it was possible to obtain human subjects for dissection without robbing the cemeteries.

charles etienne (1503-64) was the first to detect valves in the orifices of the hepatic veins. he knew nothing of the researches of achillini concerning the brain, although they were made sixty years before; yet his investigations of the structure of the nervous system were most important, and his demonstration of the existence of a canal running through the whole length of the spinal cord, which had not previously been suspected, entitles him to a high place in the history of anatomy.

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a new era in the history of anatomy was inaugurated by the appearance of andrew vesalius (1514-1564), a fleming, who pursued the study with the greatest assiduity at venice, and demonstrated it at padua before he was twenty-two. he remained there seven years, then went to bologna and thence to pisa. he is known as the first author of a systematic and comprehensive view of human anatomy. he recognised the necessity of divesting the science of the current misrepresentations of ignorance and fancy.

vesalius especially contributed to our knowledge of the circulatory organs; it was he who, by his study of the structure of the heart and the mechanism of its valves, stimulated his pupils and fellow-students to pursue a course of research which ended at last in harvey’s immortal discovery. besides these researches on the vascular system, he first accurately described the sphenoid bone and the sternum. he described the omentum, the pylorus, the mediastinum and pleura, and gave the fullest description of the brain which, up to that time, had appeared. splendid as were his researches, and valuable as were his writings, it was perhaps by the way in which he stimulated inquiry in others that he rendered the greatest services to anatomical science.

dr. molony, writing in the british medical journal, december 31, 1892, says: “i recently secured possession of his works, entitled andre? vesalii invictissimi caroli v. imperatoris medici opera omnia. it is a curious work in two immense folio volumes, written in fairly good latin. it has several plates representing the surgical instruments of the period, dissections, and, it must be added, quadrupeds of all sorts tied up evidently awaiting vivisection.

“the preface consists of a lengthy and appreciative life of vesalius, from which it seems that he was born in 1514, at brussels, where his father was court physician. as a boy he seems to have shown a taste for comparative anatomy, ‘puer animalium penetralia nudare atque viscera inspicere soleret.’ his anatomical studies were at all times pursued under difficulties. he obtained the bodies of criminals by bribing the judges, ‘corpora nactus eorum, in cubicula vexit, suosque in usus per tres et ultra septimanas asservavit. horretne legenti animus? o juvenilis ardor, repagula eluctatur ferrea! tali opus erat ingenio, artibus bis, at nobile conderet opus.’ he does not seem to have been married, if we may judge from the following extract: ‘aetate vero integra, uxore, liberis, rei familiaris omni cura liber, totum se immersit in anatomicis.’

“vesalius was an enthusiastic surgeon, and apparently looked down upon the physicians of the period: ‘jocatus medicos reliquos syrupis pr?scribendis unice occupari.’ his success aroused the jealousy of his366 contemporaries. among others he came into collision with sylvius of paris, eustachius of rome, and fallopius of padua. mention is also made of ‘joannis caji medici celebris britanni.’ it would be interesting to ascertain who this was. [no doubt it was caius.]

“the end of vesalius was tragic enough. ‘hispanum curabat nobilem petiit ab amicis defuncti corpus aperire ut mortis scrutaretur causam. quo concesso, visum cor in aperto jam pectore adhuc palpitans.’ the punishment ordered for this was a pilgrimage to jerusalem. on his return voyage he was wrecked on the island of zacinthus. ‘inops, in loco solitario, omnique carens subsidio miserabiliter vitam finivit 1564.’”

“vesalius,” says portal, “appears to me one of the greatest men who ever existed. let the astronomers vaunt their copernicus, the natural philosophers their galileo and torricelli, the mathematicians their pascal, the geographers their columbus, i shall always place vesalius above all their heroes. the first study for man is man. vesalius has this noble object in view, and has admirably attained it; he has made on himself and his fellows such discoveries as columbus could only make by travelling to the extremity of the world. the discoveries of vesalius are of direct importance to man; by acquiring fresh knowledge of his own structure, man seems to enlarge his existence; while discoveries in geography or astronomy affect him but in a very indirect manner.”

the zeal of vesalius and his fellow-students of anatomy often led them to weird adventures. hallam says:850 “they prowled by night in charnel-houses, they dug up the dead from the graves, they climbed the gibbet, in fear and silence, to steal the mouldering carcase of the murderer; the risk of ignominious punishment, and the secret stings of superstitious remorse, exalting no doubt the delight of these useful but not very enviable pursuits.” vesalius, as has been said above, was once absurdly accused of dissecting a spanish gentleman before he was dead. he only escaped the punishment of death by undertaking a pilgrimage to jerusalem, during which he was shipwrecked, and died of famine in one of the greek islands.851

gabriel fallopius (1523-1562) was a prominent pupil of vesalius who studied the anastomoses (the blending together) of the blood-vessels. his researches in the anatomy of the bones and the internal ear greatly advanced anatomical knowledge. he discovered the tubes connected with the womb, called after him the “fallopian tubes.” fallopius is described as a savant distinguished by his sense of justice, his modesty367 and gentleness; yet dr. baas says,852 “the fact that even fallopio did not shrink from accepting the gift of some convicts, and then poisoning them—indeed, when the first experiment proved a failure, he tried it again with better success—is characteristic of the zeal of the age in the investigation of the human body, and of the barbarous idea that might makes right towards those guilty before the law!”

eustachius was a contemporary of vesalius. he divides with him the honour of having created the science of human anatomy. his name is perpetuated by the tube in the internal ear, called the “eustachian tube.” his researches on the anatomy of the internal part of the organ of hearing, his studies in the anatomy of the teeth, in which he was the pioneer, his famous anatomical engravings, and his labours in connection with the intimate structure of the organs of the body, taken in connection with their relative anatomy, prove that he laboured for the advancement of the knowledge of the structure of the human frame with the utmost assiduity and success.

j. c. aranzi (1530-1589), of bologna, gave the first correct account of the anatomy of the f?tus, and his description of that of the brain is exceedingly minute and lucid. he named the hippocampus, described the choroid plexus, and the fourth ventricle under the name of the cistern of the cerebellum.

columbus (died 1559) was a pupil of vesalius, whom he succeeded in the chair of anatomy at padua. he had a glimpse of how the blood passes from the right to the left side of the heart, but he had no true knowledge of the circulation.

michael servetus (1511-1553) was either a pupil or fellow-student of vesalius, who, in 1553, described accurately the pulmonary circulation. he recognised that the change from venous into arterial blood took place in the lungs, and not in the left ventricle. he was a pioneer in physiological science by his great discovery of the respiratory changes in the lungs.

levasseur (about 1540), says hallam,853 appears to have known the circulation of the blood through the lungs, the valves of the veins, and their direction and purpose.

gaspare tagliacozzi (1546-1599) was a professor at bologna, whose name is famous in the history of surgery from his skill in performing “plastic operations.” rhinoplastic operation is a term in surgery sometimes synonymous with the taliacotian operation, which is a process for forming an artificial nose. it consists in bringing down a piece of flesh from the forehead, and while preserving its attachment to the living368 structures, causing it to adhere to the anterior part of the remains of the nose. tagliacozzi, himself, to replace the lost substance employed the skin of the upper part of the arm, as branca did previously. patients flocked to him from all parts of europe. the world was, as usual, ungrateful; the great surgeon was considered to have presumptuously interfered with the authority of providence. noses and lips which the divinity had destroyed as a punishment for the sins of men had been restored by this daring man. after his death some nuns heard voices in their convent crying for several weeks: “tagliacozzi is damned!” by the direction of the clergy of bologna his corpse was taken from the grave and re-interred in unconsecrated ground.854 we are not in a position to sneer at this, for the preachers of the nineteenth century said something very similar of the use of chloroform in midwifery only a few years ago. in 1742 the faculty of paris declared tagliacozzi’s operation impossible; but the english journals, in 1794, discovered that such a method of surgical procedure had been in use in india from ancient times, and then the scientific world tried the experiment and succeeded perfectly.

ambroise paré, “the father of french surgery” (1509-1590), availed himself of the opportunities offered him in military surgery during the campaign of francis i. in piedmont. it was the practice of the time to treat gunshot wounds with hot oil—a treatment which paré revolutionized by using merely a simple bandage.

in 1545 he attended the lectures of sylvius at paris, and became prosector to that great anatomist. his book on anatomy was published five years later. by his employment of the ligature for large arteries, he was able so completely to control h?morrhage that he was able to practise amputation on a larger scale than had before been attempted. paré is considered as the first who regularly employed the ligature after amputation. he declares in his apologie that the invention was due to the ancients, and he explains their use of it, although he ascribes to inspiration of the deity his own first adoption of the practice.

the philosopher ramus in 1562 urged charles ix. of france to establish schools for clinical teaching, such as already existed at padua.

robert fludd, m.d., or in the latin style he affected, robertus de fluctibus, was born in 1574; he was an ardent supporter of the rosicrucian philosophy. he had a strong leaning towards chemistry, but had little faith in orthodox medicine. his medical ideas consisted of a mysterious mixture of divinity, chemistry, natural philosophy, and metaphysics.

in 1573, harrison, in his unpublished chronologie, remarks that369 “these daies the taking in of the smoke of the indian herb called tabaco, by an instrument like a little ladell, is gretly taken up and used in england against rewmes.”

it was not till 1576 that croup was well understood. la?nnec thinks it was quite unknown to the greek and arabian physicians; but forbes says that it was known to hippocrates and aret?us, although its pathology was not understood. ballonius was the first who accurately described the false membrane, which is a characteristic of the disease.855

at the reformation in england under elizabeth, some of the catholic priests who refused to conform to the new religion sought in other professions the means of living. in a curious old book, tom of all trades, or the plaine pathway to preferment, by thomas powell (printed 1631), there is a story which no doubt was founded in fact. “and heere i remember me of an old tale following, viz., at the beginning of the happy raigne of our late good queene elizabeth, divers commissioners of great place, being authorized to enquire of, and to displace, all such of the clergie as would not conforme to the reformed church, one amongst others was conuented before them, who being asked whether he would subscribe or no, denied it, and so consequently was adiudged to lose his benefice and to be deprived his function; wherevpon, in his impatience, he said, ‘that if they (meaning the commissioners) held this course it would cost many a man’s life.’ for which the commissioners called him backe againe, and charged him that he had spoke treasonable and seditious words, tending to the raysing of a rebellion or some tumult in the land; for which he should receive the reward of a traytor. and being asked whether hee spake those words or no, he acknowledged it, and tooke vpon him the iustification thereof; ‘for, said he, ‘yee have taken from me my liuing and profession of the ministrie; schollership is all my portion, and i have no other meanes now left for my maintenance but to turn phisition; and before i shalbe absolute master of that misterie (god he knowes) how many mens lives it will cost. for few phisitions vse to try experiments vpon their owne bodies.’

“with vs, it is a profession can maintaine but a few. and diuers of those more indebted to opinion than learning, and (for the most part) better qualified in discoursing their travailes than in discerning their patients malladies. for it is growne to be a very huswiues trade, where fortune prevailes more than skill.”

a writer in hood’s every-day book, on the date february 25, says that the monks knew of more than three hundred species of medicinal plants which were used in general for medicines by the370 religious orders before the reformation. the protestants, the more efficiently to root out popery, changed the catholic names of many of these. thus the virgin’s bower of the monastic physician was changed into flammula jovis; the hedge hyssop into gratiola; st. john’s wort became hypericum; fleur de st. louis was called iris; palma christi became ricinus; our master wort was christened imperatona; sweet bay they called laurus; our lady’s smock was changed into cardamine; solomon’s seal into convallaria; our lady’s hair into trichomanes; balm into melissa; marjoram into origanum; herb trinity into viola tricolor; knee holy into rascus; rosemary into rosmarinus; marygold into calendula; and a hundred others. but the old catholic names cling to the plants of the cottage garden, and star of bethlehem has not quite given place to ornithogalum; star of jerusalem to goat’s beard; nor lent lily to daffodil.

the gullibility of mankind has never been exhibited in a clearer light than johann valentin andre? (1586-1654) succeeded in showing in his elaborate joke of the society of the rosy-cross. in 1614 a famous but entirely fabulous secret society set the scholars of europe discussing the pretensions of the rosicrucians, who were said to have derived their origin from one christian rosenkreuz, two hundred years previously. this philosopher, it was said, had made a pilgrimage to the east, to learn its hidden wisdom, of which the art of making gold was a portion. the character of the society was christian, but anti-catholic, and its ostensible objects were the study of philosophy and the gratuitous healing of the sick. its device was a cross, with four red roses. andre? was a learned man, but jocular withal; for no sooner had the public eagerly swallowed his story, than he confessed the whole was pure invention, and that he had originated the idea with the view of ridiculing the alchemists and theosophists, whose opinions were dominating european society. the public, however, liked the idea so well that it developed and flourished, and a society was established called fraternitas ros? crucis. the most celebrated followers of the rosicrucians were valentine wiegel, jacob boehm, egidius gutman, michael mayer, oswald crollius, and robert fludd.856

de quincey has traced the connection between the rosicrucians and freemasons. “rosicrucianism,” he says, “it is true, is not freemasonry, but the latter borrowed its form from the first.”857

scrofula was anciently treated in a superstitious manner by the sovereigns of england and france by imposition of hands. this ceremony is said to have been first performed by edward the confessor371 (1042-1066). a special “service of healing” was used in the english church in the reign of henry viii. (1484-1509).

the ceremonies of blessing cramp-rings on good friday, called the hallowing of the cramp-rings, is described by bishop percy in his northumberland household book,858 where we have the following account:—

“and then the usher to lay a carpett for the kinge to creepe to the crosse upon. and that done, there shal be a forme sett upon the carpett, before the crucifix, and a cushion laid upon it for the king to kneale upon. and the master of the jewell howse ther to be ready with the booke concerninge the hallowing of the crampe rings, and amner (almoner) muste kneele on the right hand of the kinge, holdinge the sayde booke. when that is done the king shall rise and goe to the alter, wheare a gent. usher shall be redie with a cushion for the kinge to kneele upon; and then the greatest lords that shall be ther to take the bason with the rings and beare them after the kinge to offer.”

in the harleian manuscripts there is a letter from lord chancellor hatton to sir thomas smith, dated sept, 11th, 158-, about a prevailing epidemic, and enclosing a ring for queen elizabeth to wear between her breasts, the said ring having “the virtue to expell infectious airs.”859

andrew boorde, in his introduction to knowledge (1547-48), says: “the kynges of england by the power that god hath gyuen to them, dothe make sicke men whole of a sickeness called the kynges euyll. the kynges of england doth halowe euery yere crampe rynges, the whyche rynges, worne on ones fynger, dothe helpe them the whyche hath the crampe.”860

concerning the king’s evil, which boorde explains is an “euyl sickenes or impediment,” he advises: “for this matter let euery man make frendes to the kynges maiestie, for it doth pertayne to a kynge to helpe this infirmitie by the grace the whiche is geuen to a kynge anoynted.”861

in robert laneham’s letter862 about queen elizabeth’s visit to kenilworth castle, it is told how on july 18th, 1575, her majesty touched for the evil, and that it was “a day of grace.”372 “by her highnes accustumed mercy and charitee, nyne cured of the peynfull and daungerous diseaz, called the kings euill; for that kings and queenz of this realm withoout oother medsin (saue only by handling and prayerz) only doo cure it.”

sir john fortescue, in his defence of the house of lancaster against that of york, argued that the crown could not descend to a female because the queen is not qualified by the form of anointing her to cure the disease called the king’s evil. on this account, and more especially after the excommunication of elizabeth by the pope in 1570, it must have been eminently comforting to all concerned to find that the power to cure disease by the royal touch had not been affected by the change of religion or any other cause. the practice was at its height in the reign of charles ii.863

lord braybrooke says,864 “in the first four years after his restoration he ‘touched’ nearly 24,000 people.” we find that dr. johnson was touched by queen anne. “the office for the healing” continued to be printed in the book of common prayer after the accession of the house of hanover.

the custom evidently arose from the fact that edward the confessor was a saint as well as a king. william of malmesbury gives the origin of the royal touch in his account of the miracles of edward: “a young woman had married a husband of her own age, but having no issue by the union, the humours collecting abundantly about her neck, she had contracted a sore disorder, the glands swelling in a dreadful manner. admonished in a dream to have the part affected washed by the king, she entered the palace, and the king himself fulfilled this labour of love, by rubbing the woman’s neck with his fingers dipped in water. joyous health followed his healing hand; the lurid skin opened, so that worms flowed out with the purulent matter, and the tumour subsided. but as the orifice of the ulcers was large and unsightly, he commanded her to be supported at the royal expense till she should be perfectly cured. however, before a week was expired, a fair new skin returned, and hid the scars so completely, that nothing of the original wound could be discovered; and within a year becoming the mother of twins, she increased the admiration of edward’s holiness. those who knew him more intimately, affirm that he often cured this complaint in normandy; whence appears how false is their notion, who in our times assert, that the cure of this disease does not proceed from personal sanctity, but from hereditary virtue in the royal line.”865

many other miracles of healing were attributed to st. edward. jeremy collier866 maintains that the scrofula miracle is hereditary upon373 all his successors. the curious fact, however, is that the hereditary right of succession was repeatedly interrupted, yet the power remained. in connection with this royal touching, pieces of gold were given by the sovereigns to be worn by the patients as amulets. they were called “touching pieces,” and though not absolutely requisite for the cure, some persons declared that the disease returned if they lost the coins. we can only account for the great efficacy which in some cases seemed to have attended the royal treatment, by the confidence and exalted expectation awakened in the sufferers by the ceremony, which acted as a tonic to the system, and roused the patients’ imagination to contribute to their own cure.867

chips and handkerchiefs dipped in the blood of king charles i. are said to have been efficacious in curing sick persons in hundreds of cases.

the college of physicians of edinburgh was created by the king’s letters patent in 1581, one year after the foundation of edinburgh university by james vi.

in the reign of elizabeth, when physicians rode on horseback, they were seated sideways; many of them carried muffs, to keep their fingers warm when they had to feel their patient’s pulse. twice a year everybody was bled—a system which must have caused many disorders.

fifteen centuries after the age of celsus, with the revival of learning and science came the revival of human vivisection. vesalius, as above mentioned, is known to have vivisected men; and in the storia universale of cesare cantù there is an account of the duke of florence giving a man for vivisection to fallopius. this incident has been disputed; but the following series of cases, extracted by professor andreozzi from the criminal archives of florence, and published by him in his book leggi penali degli antichi e cinesi, are beyond question. cosmo de medici seems to have taken the anatomists of pisa under his special favour, and to have sent them the miserable convicts from the prisons at his option. the following examples are a selection from the cases extracted by signor andreozzi from the archivio criminale:—

“1. january 15th, 1545.—santa di mariotto tarchi di mugello, wife of bastiano lucchese, was condemned to be beheaded for infanticide. under the sentence is written, ‘dicta santa, de mente excellmi ducis, fuit missa pisis, de ea per doctores fieret notomia.’[no notice to be found of any execution of the woman, such as would have appeared had she been put to death before she was sent to pisa.]

“2. december 14th, 1547.—giulio mancini sanese was condemned374 for robbery and other offences. sent to pisa to be anatomised. ‘ducatur pisis, pro faciendo de eo notomia.’

“3. in the record of prisoners sent away, dated september 1st, 1551, occurs this entry:—‘letter to the commissioner of castrocaro, that maddalena, who is imprisoned for killing her son, should be sent here, if she be likely to recover, as it pleases s.?e. that she should be reserved for anatomy. of this nothing is to be said, but she is to be kept in hopes. if she is not likely to recover, the executioner is to be sent for to decapitate her.’ the end of the horrible extract is,—‘went to pisa, to be made an anatomy.’

“4. december 12th, 1552.—a man named zuccheria, accused of piracy, was reserved from hanging, with his comrade, and sent to pisa, ‘per la notomia.’

“5. december 22nd, 1552.—a certain ulivo di paolo was condemned by the council of eight to be hanged for poisoning his wife. sentence changed—to be sent for anatomy. was sent to pisa on january 13th.

“6. november 14th, 1553.—marguerita, wife of biajio d’antinoro, condemned to be beheaded for infanticide.... december 20th, ‘she was released from the fetters and consigned to a familiar, who took her to pisa to the commissario, who gave her, as usual, to the anatomist, to make anatomy of her; which was done’ (‘che la consegni, secondo il solito, al notomista, per farne notomia, come fu fatto’).”

“several other cases, from 1554 to 1570, are recorded, with equally unmistakable exactitude. in one instance the condemned man’s destiny was mitigated, and after having been ordered to be sent to pisa for the commissario to consign to the anatomist, ‘when he should ask for him, and at his pleasure,’ he was mercifully sentenced to be hanged at once at vico, ‘by direction of sua excellenza illustrissima.’ two unfortunate thieves, paoli di giovanni and vestrino d’agnolo, were sent together by the council of eight to be anatomised; the duke having written to say ‘that they wanted in pisa a subject for anatomy.’”

after the date 1570 no more cases occur in the archives.

francis i. invited the italian anatomist vidus vidius to his royal college at paris.

several new medicines were introduced about this period.

lemon juice was first spoken of as a remedy for scurvy in 1564. its use was discovered by some dutch sailors whose ship was laden with lemons and oranges from spain.868

the virtues of sassafras as a medicine for scurvy were discovered, according to cartier, in 1536, on a voyage to explore the coast of375 newfoundland and the st. lawrence. the natives advised the sailors afflicted with the malady to use the wood of the tree ameda, which was thought to have been sassafras.869

sarsaparilla was first brought to europe by the spaniards, in the middle of the sixteenth century, from peru and brazil.

guaiacum was introduced into europe in 1509, and in 1519 its use became common.

holinshed complained870 that estimation and credit given to compound medicines made with foreign drugs in his time was one great cause of the prevailing ignorance of the virtues and uses of “our own simples,” which he held to be fully as useful as the “salsa parilla, mochoacan, etc.,” so much in request. “we tread those herbs under our feet, whose forces, if we knew and could apply them to our necessities, we would honour and have in reverence.—alas! what have we to do with such arabian and grecian stuff as is daily brought from those parts which lie in another clime?—the bodies of such as dwell there are of another constitution than ours are here at home. certes, they grow not for us, but for the arabians and grecians.—among the indians, who have the most present cures for every disease of their own nation, there is small regard of compound medicines, and less of foreign drugs, because they neither know them nor can use them, but work wonders even with their own simples.”

carlo ruini, of bologna, published in 1598 a work on the anatomy of the horse, in which ercolani has found evidence that he, to some extent, anticipated harvey’s discovery.871

nicholas houel (1520-1585) was born at paris, 1520. he was a famous and learned pharmacien, who devoted the fortune which he acquired by his industry and skill to philanthropic and scientific purposes. he founded a great orphanage in paris, and the school of pharmacy of that city owes its origin to him. he wrote a treatise on the plague, and one on the theriacum of mithridates, both published in 1573. it is to his enlightened and charitable suggestion that dispensaries arose in paris. his “garden of simples” inspired the creation of the jardin des plantes.872

even at the close of the sixteenth century careful and sober men, as mr. henry morley says,873 believed in the miraculous properties of plants and animals and parts of animals. when the century commenced, the learned and unlearned alike believed in the influences of the stars and the interferences of demons with diseases, and in the mysteries of magic.376 the reason why students of such sciences as existed were punished and persecuted was the dread which men had that the knowledge of the occult powers of nature would afford the learner undue and mysterious power over them.

legal medicine.

that most important branch of medical science known as medical jurisprudence, or forensic medicine, first took its rise in germany, and, later, was recognised as a necessary branch of study in england. briefly this science may be described as “that branch of state medicine which treats of the application of medical knowledge to the purposes of the law.” it embraces all questions affecting the civil or social rights of individuals, and of injuries to the person. although we find traces of the first principles of this science in ancient times, especially in connection with legitimacy, feigned diseases, etc., it is by no means certain that even in rome the law required any medical inspection of dead bodies. the science dates only from the sixteenth century. the bishop of bamberg, in 1507, introduced a penal code requiring the production of medical evidence in certain cases. in 1532, charles v. induced the diet of ratison to adopt a code in which magistrates were ordered to call medical evidence in cases of personal injuries, infanticide, pretended pregnancy, simulated diseases, and poisoning. the actual birth of forensic medicine, however, did not take place until the publication, in germany, in 1553, of the constitutio criminalis carolina.874 the difficulties which the infant science had to contend against may be estimated from the fact that a few years later a physician named weiker, who declared that witches and demoniacs were simply persons afflicted with hypochondriasis and hysteria, and should not be punished, was with difficulty saved from the stake by his patron, william, duke of cleves.

ambrose paré wrote on monsters, simulated diseases, and the art of drawing up medico-legal reports.

in 1621-35 paulo zacchia, of rome, published a work entitled qu?stiones medico-legales, which inaugurated a new era in the history of forensic medicine. he exhibited immense research in this classical work, the materials for which he collected from 460 authors. considering that chemistry and physiology were then so imperfectly understood, such a work is a proof of the learning and sagacity of the author.

in 1663 the danish physician bartholin proposed the hydrostatic test for the determination of live-birth, the method used to-day in examining the lungs of an infant to discover whether the child was born alive or not, by observing whether they float or sink in water.