EXPERIMENTS AND SECRETS OF GALEN, RASIS, AND OTHERS:
I. MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL
Books of “Experiments” or “Secrets”--Rasis on pains in the
joints--_Medical Experiments_ of Galen or Rasis--Value
of such medical experiments--Experimenters of many
lands and cities--Who was the Latin translator?--_The
Secrets of Galen_--Addressed to “friend Monteus”--Was
he William of Saliceto’s “friend Montheus”?--Patients
and prescriptions--_Liber medicinalis de secretis
Galieni_--Rasis _On sixty animals_--Eberus _On
the virtues of animals_--Galen and Honein _On
plants_--_Secrets_ or _Aphorisms_ of Rasis--A literal
translation of its preface--Contents of its six
chapters--_Experimentator_--_Experiments_ of Nicholas of
Poland and Montpellier--His _Antipocras_--Other works of
Nicholas--Appendix I. The manuscripts of the _Medical
Experiments_--Appendix II. The manuscripts of _The Secrets
of Galen_.
[Sidenote: Books of “experiments” or “secrets.”]
In this chapter we continue our examination of the pseudo-literature
current in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by considering and
distinguishing one from another a number of books of “experiments”
or “secrets” which are mainly medicinal in character, although some
are concerned especially with the properties of animals, and most of
which are attributed either to Rasis or Galen or to both of them. Some
were included in the early printed editions of their works, others are
found frequently in medieval Latin manuscripts. Some of them perhaps
really are by Rasis or have some connection with his works. In the next
chapter we shall go on to books of experiments primarily of a chemical
and magical character but some of which also are ascribed to Rasis or
Galen.
[Sidenote: Rasis on pains in the joints.]
It is essential to distinguish these various treatises from one another
rather carefully, because a number of different writings are ascribed
to Galen or Rasis under the common title of “Book of Experiments”
or words to that effect.[2386] Thus Gilbert of England, a medical
writer of the first half of the thirteenth century, cites “the expert
experiments from Galen’s book of experiments” for the statement that
ammonia is a remedy for pains in the joints,[2387] while a fifteenth
century manuscript at Berlin, containing various extracts from medical
works, cites “a certain experimenter of whom Rasis writes in the book
of experiments, ‘He cured many afflictions by simple medicines.’”[2388]
We may first note that the title _Liber experimentorum_ or _Experimenta
Rasi_ is sometimes applied to what is probably a genuine work of
Rasis,[2389] namely, the treatise _On diseases of the Joints_ (_De
egritudinibus juncturarum_), which appears in both early printed
editions of Rasis’ works.[2390] I think that this treatise sometimes is
found alone in the manuscripts,[2391] but more often it is followed by,
or run together with, as if they formed a single work, another treatise
or portion of a treatise which more properly deserves the title, _Book
of Experiments_.
[Sidenote: _Medical Experiments_ of Galen or Rasis.]
This is the book of medicines tested by experiment or of medical
experimentation[2392] or of experiments of the altar. It constantly
talks about experimenters and its contents are arranged as experiments.
The work opens with the statement that the fire which descended upon
the altar burnt the books of the king or kings, and with these numerous
medical works, including some which the author himself had begun
to compose. This faintly suggests the fire of 192 A. D. mentioned
by Galen which destroyed the shrine of Peace and the libraries on
the Palatine hill and the first two books, which had already been
published, of his own work on compound medicines. It might therefore
seem that the present treatise is that of a forger trying to pass
himself off as Galen, and in the printed text of 1481 and many
manuscripts this opening statement is introduced by the words, “Said
Galen.” In other manuscripts there is no such mention of Galen and
the treatise is ascribed to Rasis, like the work on diseases of the
joints which so often precedes it. Between these two works there
often intervenes a brief treatise or chapter on the medical treatment
of children (_Practica puerorum_ or _parvorum_). Where the _Medical
Experimentation_ comes to an end is not easy to determine. It might
seem to be brought to a close by a sentence reading, “Said Galen”--or,
“Says Rasis”--“Now we have said our say in this book which we call the
book of the experimental testing of medicines, which we have proved
and have received from wiser men.” But after some further lines of
text, which scarcely seem the beginning of a new treatise, we meet
in some editions or manuscripts with an “Explicit” or “Expliciunt
experimenta Galenis,” while in others the text proceeds without a
break, although this sentence occurs, “Now moreover, of those medicines
we have mentioned in this treatise many tested by experience, but if we
acquire yet others, we will write them at the end of this treatise.”
This would seem to indicate that the work is not yet finished. The
text then often continues, as we have said, discussing such matters
as “How to take medicine without nausea; marvelous pills according
to Rasis,” “Medicines which beautify the face,” “The composition of
many oils,” soporifics invented by Rasis to cure his own insomnia
brought on by too intense application to the medical art, and other
remedies for varied complaints. In the 1497 edition of Rasis’ works,
which does not contain the _Medical Experimentation_ proper, most
of this supplementary material was combined in four chapters under
the separate title, _The Antidotarium of Rasis_,[2393] although that
title apparently belongs to another work, while a passage on the stone
was also printed as a distinct _Tractatus Rasis de preservatione ab
egritudine lapidis_. But in the 1481 edition and such manuscripts as
I have examined these chapters or paragraphs are not separated from
the _Medical Experimentation_, and the whole finally ends, “Expliciunt
experimenta rasis.” Possibly, therefore, everything that we have noted
so far, beginning with the _Diseases of the Joints_, should be regarded
as part of a composite treatise by Rasis, whose name occurs most often
and prominently. If so, it is a very omnibus work and loosely hung
together, nor when its parts are found together are they always in the
same sequence.
[Sidenote: Value of such medical experiments.]
If we consider that portion which may be described as the _Medical
Experimentation_ proper, we find that the Pseudo-Galen, or whoever
he is, goes on to say that he does not grieve so much over the
loss of other books in the fire as he does concerning some medical
experiments which were there and which he had acquired from certain
good experimenters (_a quibusdam bonis viris experimentatoribus_). For
a single one of those experiments he may have had to give in exchange
several good experiments of his own or perhaps a considerable sum of
money. Sometimes a man may make a fortune and get a name for great
learning by knowing just one experiment which will cure a single
disease. Such men are very reluctant to impart their secret to others
and sometimes it dies with them. Having thus secured the reader’s
sympathy, attention, and interest, the author discloses the fact that,
despite his losses in the fire which descended upon the altar, he
still has some experiments left. He affirms that he has composed the
present work of medicines tested by his own experience or received from
good medical men, and that he does not fill up his book with familiar
remedies like tyriac and opiates, but introduces medicines whose
existence is generally unknown.
[Sidenote: Experimenters of many lands and cities.]
Our author then proceeds to list one medical compound after another,
giving its ingredients and method of preparation, its effects on
various parts and processes of the human body, and the diseases which
it cures. Sometimes he explains the properties and operation of each
constituent. He usually gives the name and city of the experimenter
from whom he received the prescription, but these proper names are
difficult to decipher, as they vary in the printed editions and
manuscripts[2394] and are often abbreviated and probably misspelled in
both. Thus “the experiments of Yrini pigami romani” are perhaps the
same as “the experiments of Urcanus Romanus” which Gilbert of England
cites for some pills for sciatica.[2395] However, we seem to read of
Sacon or Socion, “the greatest of Greek medical men,” whose experiments
our author gets from his disciples; of Gargeus or Agarges, who was the
lord of all the wise men of his time; of Cateline, physician to King
Lithos; and of other physicians and medicines from Egypt, Macedonia,
and Sicily. Often a number of experiments are taken from a single
authority; eleven from Gereon the Greek which our author has put to
the test and found to be truly marvelous; thirty by Athaharan, an
experimenter of the city of Abthor, some of which our author apologizes
for as well known; three compound and thirty simple medicines by
Achaason, an experimenter of the city of Athens; twenty from Zeno of
Athens, a great physician whom our author says he had never seen
because not contemporary with him, but that his master had seen him
and got good experiments from him and passed them on to our author who
has proved them oftentimes and found them true. Our author especially
esteems the physicians of the altars, who are reputed superior to other
medical practitioners because they cure by means of the sacrificial
meats. Of a medicine which he received “from an Egyptian stranger,”
he exclaims that it has not its like and that this stranger had it
from one of the physicians of the altars. These allusions suggest
that our author is a pagan, perhaps a Sabian like Thebit ben Corat,
rather than a Mohammedan or Christian, but are perhaps a dodge of the
forger like his opening allusion to the fire which descended on the
altar--suggestive of fire-worship in Rasis’ own Persia.
[Sidenote: Who was the Latin translator?]
In several manuscripts[2396] the treatise which we have just been
discussing is ascribed to Galen rather than Rasis and is said to have
been translated from Greek into Arabic by John or Johannitius, that
is, by Honein ben Isʿhak or Hunain ibn Ishak, or Hunayn ibn Ishaq,
a Christian Arab who died in 873,[2397] and from Arabic into Latin
by a Franchinus or Farachius or Ferranus or Ferrarus or Frarthacius.
Steinschneider[2398] has explained the spellings, Franchinus,
Farachius, Faragut, Fararius, and Ferrarius, as all applying to
Faradj ben Salem, a Jew of Girgenti who was connected after 1279 with
Charles of Anjou as a translator. This Jew, commonly called Faragius
or Feragius in the Latin manuscripts, translated the _Continens_ of
Rasis[2399] and the medical treatise entitled _Tacuinum Dei_.[2400] But
can he be identified with the Ferrarius whom De Renzi[2401] classed
among the medical writers of the school of Salerno and whose works are
found in a manuscript dated as early as the twelfth century?[2402] Also
our treatise would seem to have been translated into Latin by the first
half of the thirteenth century, since there are several manuscripts
of it from that century, and since Gilbert of England cites either it
or the Rasis on pains of the joints which regularly accompanies it.
Perhaps Faragius made a re-translation, apparently not an uncommon
occurrence in the medieval period. It is also worth recalling that
Peter the Deacon listed among the works translated by Constantinus
Africanus a _De experimentis_. Can this have been the treatise ascribed
to Galen or Rasis, and can Franchinus and the other names possibly
be corruptions of Africanus? But this is not all. Just as Galen and
Rasis have ascribed to them both medical works and works of alchemy,
so one manuscript contains “Extracts from the treatise on the art of
alchemy of brother Ferrarius,” who, like that other friar inclined to
alchemy, Roger Bacon, “directs his letter to the Pope.”[2403] Nor do
these extracts seem to agree with the treatise in alchemy of Efferarius
which has been printed,[2404] although he too is described as a monk
who addresses _apostolicum quendam_.[2405] Probably, however, the same
alchemist is meant in both cases, but it also seems probable that
in general there was more than one writer named Ferrarius. But from
the perplexing problems of who was the translator of the _Medical
Experiments_ and of the identity or different personality indicated
by Ferrarius and other similar names let us turn to another work
attributed to Galen.
[Sidenote: _The Secrets of Galen._]
The _Secrets of Galen_, or _The Book of Secrets_, is a treatise which
seems to occur with fair frequency in the manuscripts[2406] and has
also appeared in print.[2407] It is perhaps most found with other
works of Galen, but also occurs in manuscripts containing experimental
books, and in particular the _Medical Experiments_ of Galen or Rasis
just considered, or in manuscripts with other works of Rasis. Gerard
of Cremona is often mentioned in the manuscripts as the translator of
the work from Arabic into Latin, and such a translation is included in
the list of Gerard’s works drawn up by his associates soon after his
death.[2408] At the close of the treatise occurs this statement: “Says
Hunayn, son of Isaac, ‘This is what we have found from the books (or,
book) of Galen for the use of the religious, and it is more glorious
and blessed than his other books, and of aid, so that if another book
were lost, I could supply it from this one.’”[2409] This statement
seems to indicate that this treatise, like the _Medical Experiments_,
had first been translated from the Greek to the Arabic by Honein ben
Ishak, or perhaps rather that Honein, who was a Christian Arab, has
made a compilation of extracts from the works of Galen for the use of
persons of religion.
[Sidenote: Addressed to “friend Monteus.”]
The opening words of the treatise are: “You have asked me, O friend
Monteus, to write you a book on the cure of diseases in accordance
with experimental medicine and rational considerations from those
numerous cases which I have wisely tested of good men of religion in
the service of the king (or, in the observance of the Faith).”[2410]
That these remarks are not the preface of a translator but the words
of the original author is indicated not only by the fact that in at
least one manuscript[2411] they are called, “The words of Galen,” but
also by the fact that, after the writer has made a few general medical
observations and allusions to his other writings on the elements, on
aid to the limbs, on disease and accidents, and on compound medicines,
he again addresses “brother Montheus” under the caption, “Words of
Galen commending his book.”[2412] Montheus is now told that “this is
the book of great assistance which I composed in medicine, for I have
tested all its contents many times in similar constitutions.” Galen,
or whoever the writer may be, regards this treatise as supplementing
and rectifying his work on compound medicines. In yet a third passage
“friend Monteus” is told of an “alcohol” which keeps the eyes in good
condition which the writer has used.[2413]
[Sidenote: Was he William of Saliceto’s “friend Montheus”?]
But here occurs a difficulty, for we find William of Saliceto, the
noted Italian surgeon of the thirteenth century, opening his work on
surgery with the words, “My intention is, friend Montheus, to publish
for you a work on manual operation in order to satisfy the petition of
our associates.”[2414] It would therefore appear either that William’s
work on surgery is a mere translation of some earlier treatise, or
that William is also largely responsible for the so-called _Secrets of
Galen_, and that he has throughout added new material and remarks of
his own to those of Honein and the genuine or pseudo-Galen. This would
not surprise us, for we have evidence that he was not the first to take
such liberties with the work of Galen and Honein. Moses Maimonides,
the Jewish writer of the twelfth century, says in his Aphorisms that
in the treatise of Hippocrates on diseases of women, upon which
Galen commented and which Johannitius translated, he has found many
interpolations of a marvelous character “which some other person than
Johannitius wrote and some other person than Galen expounded.”[2415]
But it would be difficult to explain why our treatise in the
manuscripts is quite generally said to have been translated into Latin
by Gerard of Cremona, while William of Saliceto is never mentioned.
[Sidenote: Patients and prescriptions.]
The _Secrets_ describes the writer’s treatment of such ills as stupor
and chills, frenzy, headache, sore eyes, white growths in the eyes,
earwigs, earache, bones stuck in the throat, nosebleed. His patients
are likewise regularly mentioned and include old men of seventy and
young men of twenty, one of the sons of the kings, a king’s daughter,
“a man from the kings of Alexandria,” and another “man from kings,”
orators, and “a man from one of the villas of the Romans” who was
troubled with sciatica. He also describes pills for pains in the joints
which he made for his young friend Glaucus,[2416] a philosopher of
Beneventum.[2417] But he tells especially, as he had been asked to
do, of his prescriptions for monks and ascetics, both men and women,
who had ruined their health by their austerities.[2418] Be he Honein
or Gerard of Cremona or William of Saliceto, the writer has no false
modesty and says of his “alcohol” for the eyes, for instance, “This is
the last word, and a great secret.” His recipes, however, are the usual
sort of compounds and are limited to medicinal purposes, so that there
is no reason for us to dwell upon them further.
[Sidenote: _Liber Medicinales de Secretis Galieni._]
From its title one might think that a _Medicinal Book of the Secrets
of Galen_ in an Oxford manuscript[2419] would turn out to be the
same treatise as the foregoing, but upon examination it is found to
consist chiefly of the medicinal virtues of animals and parts of
animals, beginning with man. The names of the animals are given in
a foreign language, which is probably meant to be Arabic, and the
text is accompanied by a series of spirited little miniatures of the
animals in the margin, ending with the transmarine eagle. The work
rather resembles that of Sextus Placitus on medicine from animals
which precedes it in this manuscript and which we have discussed in an
earlier chapter.[2420] The closing chapters of our text deal with the
four humors. The superstitious and fantastic uses to which the parts
of animals are put is indicated by the opening words of the treatise,
“Bind on the tooth of a dead man.”
[Sidenote: Rasis _On sixty animals_.]
A very similar work on sixty animals is ascribed to Rasis in the 1497
edition of his works, and Albertus Magnus cites “the book of sixty
animals” to the effect that the flesh of the dog is hot and dry.[2421]
In reality in the treatise as it has reached us, only fifty-six
animals are discussed, the first being the lion, and the fifty-fifth
and fifty-sixth, man and woman.[2422] Most of the animals treated are
equally familiar, but some names have been left in Arabic. The work
does not describe the animals and their habits, still less draw moral
lessons or spiritual illustrations from them, but limits itself to
their medicinal properties, or in a few cases, such as ants or mad
dogs, to remedies against their bites. Much of the contents is of the
same sort as Pliny’s discussion of the medical virtues of parts of
animals, but the few authorities cited are Arabic or Greek,--Aristotle,
Dioscorides and Galen. The work is very superstitious. With the right
eye of a hedge-hog and other ingredients an eyewash is made which is
supposed to enable one to see in the dark, while if the left eye of the
same animal is fried in oil and a little of it inserted in a person’s
ear on the point of a stylus, he is supposed to drop off to sleep at
once.[2423] Eating a frog is recommended as a restraint upon sexual
passion and upon conception.[2424] It is said that everyone will be
terrified who enters a house that has been sprinkled with the water in
which the animal called _iaroboath_ has been drowned.[2425] If a man’s
tooth and a hoopoe’s wing are suspended over a sleeper, he will not
awake until they are removed.[2426] To cure tertian or quartan fever
one places on the back of one’s neck with the left hand a powder made
of a spider who has been captured while in the act of catching flies,
pulverized, and stored in linen.[2427]
[Sidenote: Eberus _On the virtues of animals_.]
Very similar to, indeed perhaps in large measure identical with one
or the other of the two foregoing treatises or with the _De medicina
ex animalibus_ of Sextus Placitus, judging from the description of
it given by Valentinelli, is a work on the virtues of about seventy
animals in a manuscript of the fifteenth century at Venice.[2428] Like
the work of Sextus Placitus it opens with “the little beast which some
call the _taxo_.”
[Sidenote: Galen and Honein _On Plants_.]
To Galen was ascribed not only the work on the occult medicinal virtues
of animals already noted, but also a like treatise on plants.[2429]
It was translated from the Arabic into Latin by _Grumerus Index de
Placentia_ (Grumerus, a judge of Piacenza) and Master Abraham the
physician, and is in the form of a Gloss or Commentary by Honein
ben Ishak or Johannitius, whom we again encounter as the translator
or adapter of Galen from the Greek. Honein states that Galen’s wish
in this work was to set down some medicines of marvelous properties
which he had collected in the course of his lifetime, and which Honein
too has often put to the test, “and experience never fails.” These
medicines are not commonly known, because Galen wished them divulged
only to men of wisdom and discretion. Others, however, before Honein
have translated the treatise from Greek into Arabic, and a preceding
glossator has dealt with it in a way of which Honein does not approve
and which he intends to rectify, including only what is true and what
he has himself tested. Forty-six specimens are then treated, of which a
few are stones or parts of animals rather than plants.[2430] Honein’s
gloss is mainly devoted to explaining what plant or tree Galen had in
mind in each case, or, where Galen does not give an exact name, to
stating its Arabic equivalent. In a few cases the opinion of Abraham
the Jew is briefly added.
[Sidenote: _Secrets_ or _Aphorisms_ of Rasis.]
To Rasis is attributed not only a work on animals much like that
ascribed to Galen; there also is a _Book of Secrets in Medicine_
printed under his name.[2431] But to avoid confusion with the two books
of secrets ascribed to Galen, we shall henceforth speak of Rasis’
treatise by its alternative title of _Aphorisms_. The following is a
literal translation of its preface, interesting for its attitude to
science and books, and both original and at the same time occasionally
a bit incoherent and abrupt or strange and mystical in tone. Perhaps
these characteristics are to be partly accounted for by awkwardness of
the Latin translator in grappling with the Arabic, or, if we assume
that the work is by Rasis, to the coming on of old age, or perhaps
they are merely the mystic and boastful style characteristic of
pseudo-literature.
[Sidenote: A literal translation of its preface.]
“I have collected and classified diseases, and I have shown cures and
the natures of cures from the canons of the ancients and from treatises
and chapters to the best of my ability; and I beseech God to supply me
with the additional strength and power to complete this book and make
it a useful one. Already we have completed a compilation of things
tested by experience in the arts, namely, philosophy and physics, two
subjects in which words and facts are infinite. And men can never make
an end of those subjects (_Nec etiam homines in eis complementum habere
possunt_.) But our intention in this book is to show things useful to
humanity. And in this we differ from the ancients who hid things that
were essential to know and deprived of light the path of science and
virtue. And witness to this point is our big book of divine science,
which is the Book of Spirituals, and our book Of the Spirit. And our
discussion in the Book of Diets, namely, how indulgence may be removed
from these for all time. And I have condensed the language so that one
can get to the point more easily. And I expect retribution from God who
will furnish me aid. For without Him nothing has effect.”
“Says Abu Bekr: the wise man is not occult and in every age, despite
frauds and concealments of the paths of science and of the ancient
arts, compilers have collected their doctrines and discovered their
ways whether hidden or manifest. And this book of ours is first and
is secret and is handy. And show it not to undeserving persons. In it
is contained reason, it adds something to the ancients, and as long
as there shall be days and years I shall live and gain through this
book of mine, and I have no doubt that this book of mine is something
secret. For it has been my plan to tell some secrets in it, both in
prognostics of the future and in confidential information and some of
my own cases. Said confidences I acquired and collected from the books
of sages who had not perfectly revealed them. And from what I have
experienced myself and acquired by my reason. And witness thereof is
my rational language, and I have spoken in collections of medicines
and foods, and I want to strike a golden mean between these and free
my words entirely from the accidental. And know that this is the pith
of all utility and the pearl of clarity which brings light out of
darkness. Which book the ancients would have praised had they lived
till now, and I have divided it into six chapters without superfluity;
with comprehensiveness and brevity I now begin to speak with my
excessive virtue and occult science.”
[Sidenote: Contents of its six chapters.]
The first chapter on prognostics deals with the weather as a sign or
cause of disease and also with bodily symptoms. The next two chapters
on experiments, confidences, and Rasis’ own cases, contain some close
resemblances to two treatises already described in this chapter,
listing marvelous oils, plasters, confections, and suffumigations like
the latter part of the _Experimental Medicines_ of Galen or Rasis,
making the same citations of Haly, and giving Rasis’s prescription for
his own insomnia; and also the alcohol (here spelt _alcofol_) for white
growths of the eyes of the _Secrets of Galen_, which is again called
“the last word” (_Scias quod hoc est ultimum_). The fourth chapter
speaks of the great force of occult virtues in natural substances, the
difficulty of measuring and comprehending such occult virtue, and the
consequent need of moderation and caution in the use of medicines and
the danger of rash experiment. The author’s advice that “of medicines
everyone should take less” was certainly sound amid the extravagances
of ancient and medieval pharmacy. He gives an interesting list of drugs
which may safely be employed.[2432] The fifth chapter, after a brief
introduction by Rasis, consists of the _Secrets_ or _Prognosticon_ of
Hippocrates, which we have already met following or in the midst of the
_Experimental Medicines_ of Galen. The sixth chapter is a collection
of miscellaneous aphorisms such as that in the practice of medicine
“Laymen and those would judge by their intuition and young men who
have not had practical experience are no better than murderers,”[2433]
and that “women who are accustomed to sleep a great deal on the right
side will hardly bear a female child.” In both the sixth and second
chapters the need of a doctor’s knowing astronomy and the importance of
observing the planets and the moon are touched on. Appeals for divine
aid and the rendition of thanks to God occur occasionally throughout
the treatise.
[Sidenote: _Experimentator._]
Withington states in his _Medical History_ that Rasis was sometimes
called _Experimentator_. Now among the many medieval “experimental
books” was one which is cited simply as _Experimentator_ by two
thirteenth century writers, Petrus Hispanus, afterwards Pope John
XXI, in his _Thesaurus Pauperum_,[2434] a medical compendium of great
popularity, and Thomas of Cantimpré in his encyclopedia entitled _De
natura rerum_.[2435] In his preface Thomas describes _Experimentator_
as “a book without name of the author, which I have heard was compiled
in modern times.”[2436] No manuscript of a work so entitled seems to be
extant. The citations of Thomas and Peter from the work deal largely
with animals, their habits and semi-human characteristics, and the
virtues medicinal and otherwise of various parts of their carcasses.
_Experimentator’s_ prescriptions included eating the heart of a wolf
and the gall of a bear, taking a powder compounded of the burnt hoof
of an ass, the ashes of a weasel, and swallows burnt alive, touching
an aching tooth with that of a dead man, and even more disgusting
remedies. Some of these suggest the _Sixty Animals_ of Rasis, but it
will be remembered that that treatise did not touch upon the habits
of the animals but only their medicinal uses. Moreover, Peter of
Spain cites herbs and other non-animal remedies from _Experimentator_
for paralysis of the tongue, toothache, and constipation, while
Thomas of Cantimpré repeats “the properties of air according to
_Experimentator_.” Thomas does well to speak of the book as _compiled_
in modern times, for many of its statements have a familiar sound
and suggest use of such authors as Pliny and Marcellus Empiricus.
For instance, Thomas cites _Experimentator_ for the account found
in Pliny’s _Natural History_--and described by Pliny himself as an
“experiment”--of marking a dolphin’s tail in order to learn its age, if
it should chance to be caught again. On the whole, if neither Peter nor
Thomas knew who wrote the _Experimentator_, it is probably idle for us
to make surmises, unless possibly it may have been by Thomas himself,
whose authorship even of the _De natura rerum_ is seldom recognized
either in the manuscript catalogues or in the manuscripts themselves.
[Sidenote: _Experiments_ of Nicholas of Poland and Montpellier.]
Of medieval collections of experiments which are medicinal in character
we may further include some which do not fall under the head of
pseudo-literature but are ascribed to a writer of the thirteenth or
early fourteenth century.[2437] Such are “The Experiments of Brother
Nicholas, a physician of Poland, who was at Montpellier thirty (or,
twenty) years and who had such efficiency (or, was a man of so great
experience) that neither before him is there believed to have been his
like, nor is it hoped for the future, as is patent in his marvelous
works in divers provinces and regions in easily expediting great
and sudden cures.”[2438] Nicholas is here spoken of as “brother”
because he was a Dominican friar. In one manuscript this Nicholas of
Montpellier is further called “de Bodlys.” Serpents are used a great
deal in his experiments. Thus to break the stone in the reins or
bladder he recommends that the patient drink a little “snake-dust”
(_pulverem serpentis_)[2439] in wine early in the morning and late at
night. Or a pulverized toad or scorpion would be even more efficacious.
[Sidenote: His _Antipocras_.]
In one manuscript the _Experiments_ of Nicholas are immediately
followed by his _Antipocras_ or _Book of Empirical Remedies_.[2440]
This work, in form a poem with a prose prologue, in content is in part
an invective against the physicians of the Hippocratic school, who,
whether on rational grounds or from motives of professional jealousy,
have questioned the marvelous cures which Nicholas has wrought by
unusual pills or drugs, or by external applications in rings and
brooches. In part it is a listing of these empirical methods, ligatures
and suspensions, employment of occult virtues and amulets, by means of
which Nicholas asserts that he has wrought so many marvelous cures,
and which he declares are based on repeated experiment and solid
experience, whether they seem reasonable _a priori_ or not. He assails
the authority of Galen who said, “Physician, how can you cure, if you
are ignorant of the cause?” He makes much of the doctrine of occult
virtues in many things, and “more in despised than in precious and
famous things.” As authorities in his support he cites Tobias, Ptolemy,
Hermes and “master Albert.” The magnet, as usual, is brought forward as
a proof of the existence of occult virtue.
[Sidenote: Other works of Nicholas.]
A treatise entitled, _Fates of the Stars_, is ascribed to a Nicholas of
Poland in a manuscript at Munich, but if the date given, 1477 A. D., be
that of composing the treatise, the author is evidently too late to be
our Nicholas.[2441] Of chemical experiments attributed to some Nicholas
we shall speak in the following chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[2386] For instance, the following 14th century MSS at Munich and Paris
contain _Experimenta_ ascribed to Rasis along with his _Divisiones_,
_Antidotarium_, _Synonyms_, etc. CLM 13045, fol. 143; 13114, fol.
247; BN 6902, 6903, 6904, 6906. It is necessary to examine the MSS to
tell what the work or works thus designated may be, which I have been
unable to do in the case of the MSS at Munich. It is also impossible
to tell what _Experimenta_ of Rasis are meant in numbers 1227 and 1229
(James) of the medieval catalogue of St. Augustine’s, Canterbury.
Other extant MSS which cannot be identified from the notices of them
in the catalogues are: Wolfenbüttel 479, 15th century, fols. 304-16,
Experimenta Rasis, and 3175, 15th century, fols. 181v-6v, Experimenta
magis famosa et magis usualia ex libro experimentorum generali Rasis;
Vienna 2364, 14th century, fols. 153-73, Rhasis, Experimenta, and 2387,
14th century, fols. 137-9, quaedam experimenta translata a “Guirardo.”
[2387] Gilbertus Anglicus, _Compendium medicinae_, Lyons, 1510, fol.
328v.
[2388] Berlin 908, fol. 62.
[2389] In the Arabic list of 232 titles ascribed to Rasis published by
Ranking (1913), numbers 17 and 18 are works on gout.
[2390] Milan, 1481; and Bergamo, 1497.
[2391] Apparently so in CLM 12, 15th century, fols. 277-84; which,
however, I have not personally examined. The opening words of the _De
egritudinibus iuncturarum_ are, “Dicit Rasis volo in hoc capitulo
dicere medicinas que sunt necessarie in doloribus iuncturarum.”
[2392] See Appendix I for a list of the MSS of it.
[2393] At fols. 98v-101v: cap. 1, “De aptitudine medicinarum ut sine
horribilitate possint sumi secundum rasim pillule mirobalanorum”; cap.
2, “De medicinis que ornant faciem”; cap. 3, “Compositio multorum
oleorum”; cap. 4, containing remedies for various complaints, opens,
“Summa istius capituli. Post electionem specierum instrumentorum” and
ends, “cum sirupo cit(r?)oniorum.” But in both the edition of 1481 and
St. John’s 85, fol. 176v, recipes to induce sleep are headed “Chapter
Three.”
[2394] For instance, the first compound is described in the 1481
edition of Rasis as “ab afloīa experimentatore qui erat de civitate
teriste,” while in Arundel 115 we read “ab astarō experimentatore qui
erat de civitate tetith.”
[2395] _Compendium medicinae_ (1510), fol. 328v.
[2396] See Appendix I. Unfortunately I have not seen these particular
MSS.
[2397] E. G. Browne (1921), pp. 24-26, repeats some good stories
concerning Hunayn ibn Ishaq from al-Quifti and the Fihrist, and says
(p. 26) “Generally, as we learn from the Fihrist, Hunayn translated the
Greek into Syriac, while (his pupil) Hubaysh translated from Syriac
into Arabic, the Arabic version being then revised by Hunayn, who,
however, sometimes translated directly from Greek into Arabic. All
three languages were known to most of these translators, and it is
probable, as Leclerc suggests, that whether the translation was made
into Syriac or Arabic depended on whether it was primarily designed for
Christian or Muslim readers.”
Concerning Honein see further Suter (1900), pp. 21-23.
[2398] Steinschneider (1905), p. 14. In Virchow’s _Archiv_, XXXIX
(1868) 317-23, he holds that a prologue by Farachius opening, “Friend,
may God grant you noble morals,” should precede the _Incipit_, “Said
Galen, ‘The fire that descended,’” but in the next chapter we shall
find reason for believing that this prologue belongs rather with the
_Liber Vaccae_, also ascribed to Galen and Honein.
[2399] In two Vatican MSS of the 14th century, Urbin. Lat. 237 and 239,
are respectively books i-xi and xiv-xxv of the _Elhâwi_ (_El-hauy_)
of Rasis, which Feragius or Faragut is said to have translated from
Arabic into Latin at the mandate of King Charles at Naples. “Explicit
translatio ... facta de mandato excellentissimi regis Karoli ...
per manus magistri feragii Iudei filii magistri Dalem de aggregendo
(Salez de Agrigento) ... die lune xiii februarii septimae indictionis
apud Neapolim.” The variant readings in parentheses are from two 15th
century volumes of 537 and 471 double columned leaves respectively
which form MS 1091 in the library of the University of Bologna.
[2400] Ed. J. Schott, Strasburg, 1532. The work divides into two
parts, _Tacuinum morborum_ and _Tacuinum sanitatis_. MSS are numerous
but often anonymous: Vienna 2322, 13th century, 26 fols.; Bologna
University Library 389, 14th century, 43 fols.; etc. In two Oxford MSS
of the 14th century, Magdalen 102 and Corpus Christi 65, and in Vendôme
233, 15th century, fol. 81, the work is said to have been translated
from Arabic into Latin “by the hands of master Faragius for King
Charles.” But in S. Marco XIV, 50, 14th century, it is said to have
been translated under Manfred (1258-1266), “Liber Tacuini translatus
de arabico in latinum in curia illustrissimi regis Manfredi scientiae
amatoris.” The Arabic original, Taqwímu’s-Sihha, was written by Ibn
Butlán who died about 1063 A. D.
[2401] _Collectio Salernitana_, 1852-1859, I, 363, 369.
[2402] Library of the Dukes of Burgundy (Brussels) 4567, 12th century,
Ferrarii, Tractatus de medicina, opening, “In tractatu nostro primo
videam.” But perhaps the MS is dated too early in the catalogue of
1842. In Digby 197, 13th century, fols. 57-69, opening “Febris ut
testatur Jo (annitius) est calor innaturalis,” and closing, “in qua
bullierint ar. dragna (?) liquir, et succus eius. Expliciunt febres M.
Ferrarii feliciter,” may be another translation from Honein. Coxe says
that there is another copy of it among the MSS of All Souls College.
[2403] Digby 164, early 15th century, fol. 17, “Extracta de tractatu
fratris Ferrarii super arte alkymie. Dirigit epistolam suam Papae et
primo ponit artis impedimenta.” The same MS, as a matter of fact,
contains (fols. 8-12v) Bacon’s letter on the secret works of art and
nature and the nullity of magic.
[2404] _Verae alchimiae doctrina_, Basel, 1561, pp. 232-7; also in
Zetzner, _Theatrum chemicum_, III (1613), 128-37.
[2405] Steinschneider (1905), p. 14.
[2406] They will be found listed in Appendix II to this chapter.
[2407] In the edition of Galen’s works of Venice, 1609, VIII, _Spurii
libri_, fols. 101v-108v.
[2408] Boncompagni (1851), pp. 3-4, following Cod. Vatican 2392, fols.
97v-98r.
[2409] The Latin of the sentence reads in BN 7046, 13th century, fol.
54v, as follows, except that in parentheses variant readings are added
from Balliol 231, early 14th century, fol. 45r, in Roman type, and from
Berlin 166 (Phillips 1672) 14th century, fol. 34, in italics.
“Inquit hunai (hunayn, _ymahin_) filius ysaac. Istud (id, _illud_)
est quod invenimus ex li. (libris, _libris_) utilitatis religiosorum
(religiosioris) galieni (Gal’) et est gloriosioris benedictionis quam
libri eius alii et iuvamenti (Berlin 166 omits _et iuvamenti_) quod si
ceciderit alius liber ab isto transferam (transferrem) ipsum.”
Berlin 166 then adds another sentence: “Quamcunque medicinam non dixi
in hoc meo libro queratur in antidotario Unaym filii ysaac et illic
invenietur,” which indicates that Honein regards the _Secrets_ as his
own book and more than a mere translation of Galen.
[2410] “Rogasti me, amice montee, ut scriberem (describerem) tibi
librum in medicatione egritudinum secundum experimentum medicinale et
consideraciones rationales ex eis que expertus sum in multis sapientum
religiosorum bonorum in cultu regis (legis).”
[2411] Berlin 166.
[2412] Reminding us of “the prologue of a certain doctor in
commendation of Aristotle” in _The Secret of Secrets_.
[2413] BN 7406, fol. 49r; Balliol 231, fol. 40v.
[2414] See the following MS at Venice, S. Marco XIV, 58, 14th century,
fols. 41-93, Mag. Guillelmi de Saliceto, chirurgiae tractatus quinque.
“Propositum est, amice Monthee, tibi edere librum de operatione manuali
ut satisfactio respondeat peticioni sociorum....”
[2415] From a Latin translation of the Aphorisms of Moses ben Maimon
printed in 1489 (number IA.28878 in the British Museum), Particula 24.
[2416] In the same MS, Balliol 231, fol. 389v, is Galen’s _Ad Glauconem
nepotem suam_ (desinit in libro VII).
[2417] “Et eius regio benevetiti”; this suggests Gerard of Cremona or
William of Saliceto rather than Honein.
[2418] This feature of the treatise reminds one somewhat of the
treatise _On Melancholy_ ascribed to Constantinus Africanus, see above,
I, 752.
[2419] Rawlinson C-328, 15th century, fols. 147r-154v, “Liber
medicinalis de secretis Galieni. Dens hominis mortui ligetur ... / ...
alterius studiosus perpendet.”
[2420] See above, Chapter 26.
[2421] _De animalibus_, XXII, ii, 18, “Dicitur autem in libro sexaginta
animalium quod caro canis calida est et sicca.”
[2422] In the table of contents of the printed edition of 1497 the work
is spoken of as “De proprietatibus iuvamentis et nocumentis sexaginta
animalium”; in the page headings it is briefly called, “De sexaginta
animalibus”; but at the opening of the work itself we read, “Liber
Rasis philosophi filii zacharie de proprietatibus membrorum et de
utilitatibus et nocumentis animalium aggregatus ex dictis antiquorum
secundum quod probaverunt antiqui, et continet sermones 56.”
A “liber Rasis et diascorides de naturis animalium” is listed in the
fifteenth century catalogue of MSS of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury.
[2423] Cap. 23.
[2424] Cap. 30.
[2425] Cap. 33.
[2426] Cap. 36.
[2427] Cap. 54.
[2428] S. Marco XIV, 45, written in 1467, fols. 1-56, Eberi de
virtutibus animalibus, opening, “De virtutibus quae sunt in animali
quod dicitur taxus vel thaximus.” Valentinelli, V, 119, infers that the
author’s name is Eberus from the statement at fol. 29, “at haec est
quam ego Eberus probavi.”
[2429] In the Venice, 1609 edition of Galen’s works, VIII, _Libri
spurii_, fols. 120-22, Galeno adscriptus liber de plantis ... per
dominum Grumerum Iudicem de Placentia et per magistrum Abraham medicum
de Arabico in Latinum Marsiliae translatus ... Glossa Humain, idest
Ioannitii filii Isaac.
[2430] See 32) _lapis qui vocatur generans aquileum_, 34) _lapis
demoniacus_, 35) the liver of a bird, 36) the brain of a bird, 40)
_lapis Indaicus_, 43) _piscis qui vocatur provocator menstruorum_, 46)
asphalt.
[2431] In the edition of 1481 it occupies 21 pages, “Liber rasis
de secretis in medicina qui liber amphorismorum apellatur,” and
divides into six chapters: I) de pronosticis rerum futurarum, II) de
experiments et confidentiis, III) de casibus qui ipsi rasi acciderunt,
IV) de dietis medicinis et cibariis, V) de verbis ypocratis, VI) de
scientiis et intellectibus sine quibus rectus medicus esse non potest.
[2432] “He sunt medicine salve cognite mirobolanis citrini kebuli
belerici emblici fudi berberum, reubarbarum, draganti, gummi arabicum,
aloes, acatia, cassia fistula, terrantabin cinnamomum, amomum
squinantum, calamus aromaticus cos costus darsesahon tralacta mastix
sandaraca karabe, lignum aloes, muscus, camphora, ambra, gariofilii
sandali spodium faufel carui nanoti sethet nux mascata, bolus armenus,
neika-beri, lapides sarri, ruzubet bezari thenet, lapis lazuli, lapis
iacinthus. Sisimbrium, menta, almarda dux fumus terre fenigemisch
seleni lilium album, lilium celi, nenufar celeste et palliodium
aliothinum rose viole virgeris ladion idest oculus bovis, virga
pastoris, iusquiamus. Iste sunt tres res medicinarum in quibus non
evenit timor et si cum cera vel oepo vel zucharo misceantur, raro vel
numquam egro lesionem efficiunt magnam. Numquam enim vidi vel audivi
quod aliquis qui his rebus medicaretur magnam lesionem inferret egris.”
[2433] Layci et qui ex ingenio proprio volunt iudicare et iuvenes qui
res non sunt experti interfectores existunt.
[2434] See Chapter 58.
[2435] See Chapter 53.
[2436] Invenies etiam librum quemdam suppresso auctoris nomine quem
modernis temporibus compilatum audivi cuius sententias ubicunque
repereris ex hoc cognosces quod hoc nomen Experimentator subsequentibus
invenies praelibatum.
[2437] Since on the one hand he cites “master Albert”, while on the
other hand there are several fourteenth century MSS of his work.
[2438] Sloane 1754, 14th century, fols. 28r-30r, “Experimenta Fratris
Nicholay de Polonia qui fuit in Monte Pessulano 30 annis,” etc.
Berlin 166 (Phillips 1672), 14th century, fol. 21, “Incipiunt
experimenta de animalibus fratris nicholai de polonia,” etc. The
variant readings in parentheses are from this MS.
CLM 534, 14th century, fol. 75, Experimenta fratris, etc., medici de
Polonia qui fuit in Montepessolano.
Sloane 964, 15th century, fol. 82, “Experimentum M. Nicholai de Bodlys
qui fuit de Monte pessulano.”
St. Augustine’s, Canterbury 1846 (now missing), Experimenta Nicholai de
polonia.
Wolfenbüttel 3489, 14-15th century, fols. 83-135v, Experimenta magistri
cancellarii de Monte Pessulano, seems too long to be our treatise;
more likely it is the same as BN 7056, Experimenta magistri Gilberti
Cancellarii Montepessulani.
[2439] I assume that the expression refers to the reptile itself
reduced to a powder rather than to the dust which it has crawled over.
[2440] Berlin 166, 14th century, fols. 23-26, “Incipit antipocras
quem composuit et similiter noncupavit frater nicholaus fratrum
predicatorum, alio autem nomine appellatur liber empericorum.” I have
not seen the MS, but follow the description by V. Rose (1893) I, 371-2.
In the 15th century catalogue of MSS in St. Augustine’s Abbey,
Canterbury, the Experiments follow the Antipocras in MS 1604,
Collecciones Michael’ de noragte.... Antipocras I liber empericorum
fratris N. experimenta fratris N de polonia.
[2441] CLM 647, 15th century, fols. 51-71, Stellarum fata, anno 1477
per Nicolaum de Polonia. Diels and Sudhoff have engaged in controversy
over the _Antipocras_ of Nicholas of Poland, which Sudhoff published,
_Archiv f. Gesch. d. Med._, IX (1915) 31-52, and Diels republished,
_Sitzb. d. Kgl. Preus. Akad. d. Wiss._, (1916) pp. 376-94.
APPENDIX I
THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS
The _Medical Experimentation_ is printed in the 1481 edition of Rasis
but not in that of 1497. It also is found in old editions of Galen,
such as that of Venice, 1609, VIII, Spurii libri, fols. 108v-113v; and
that of Renatus Charterius, Paris, 1679, X, 561-70.
It occurs frequently in the MSS. In the following list I have
endeavored to indicate the other treatises accompanying it, since they
are perhaps all sections of one work. I note first those MSS which I
have personally examined.
St. John’s College 85, late 13th century, fol. 157v-,
“Incipiunt experimenta rasi. Dicit rasis volo in hoc
capitulo dicere medicinas que sunt necessarie in doloribus
iuncturarum scilicet medicinas laxativas” ... (the Incipit
of the De egritudinibus iuncturarum): fol. 167r-, “De
experimentis altaris. Dixit G. quod ignis qui descendit
...” (the Incipit of the De medicinis experimentatis):
fol. 172v-, “De aptatione medicine ut sine horribilitate
possit sumi secundum Rasim pillule mirabiles”: fol.
178v, “Expliciunt experimenta rasis. amen dicant omnia.”
Steinschneider (1905), p. 12, was in error in describing
the “experiments” of Rasis in this MS as alchemistic;
nor do I understand why he said (1906), p. 47, “Ein
medizinisches liber Experimentorum von Razi ist sonst kaum
bekannt; wenn St. Johns Coll. 85 ein solcher enthält, so
ist wohl der Titel neu,” especially since he himself some
pages later (1906), p. 85, associates with the name of
Rasis a lib. Experimentorum in Wolfenbüttel 479, fols.
304-16.
Arundel 115, 1327 A. D., fol. 108v-, Practica puerorum;
fol. 110-, Tractatus de iuncturis dolorum curatione; fol.
116v-, Liber experimentorum; fol. 121r- De aptatione
medicine ut sine horribilate sumi secundum Rasim pillule
mirabiles; fol. 125r, “Expliciunt experimenta rasys. deo
gratias.”
Sloane 1933, 13th century, fol. 99r-, Antidotarium of
Rasis, some 50 or 60 chapters from diseases of the scalp
to sciatica, opening and closing, “Iam quidem pervenimus
ad expositionem resonis ... / ... imspissetur deinde
repone. xplicit antidotarium rasi”: fol. 105v-, “Incipiunt
experimenta rasi. Dixit rasis volo in hoc capitulo....”
The MS is imperfect, if not mutilated: at fols. 111-12 it
seems to run into the Practica puerorum and at fol. 114v
stops in the midst of the De medicinis experimentatis.
BN 7046, 13th century, following the Divisiones and
Antidotarium of Rasis come at fol. 157-, Rasis de
iuncturarum egritudinibus; fol. 165-, Practica puerorum;
fol. 169-, Experimenta seu ipsius seu Galeni.
BN 6906, 14th century, following the Antidotarium, at fol.
164r-, de iuncturarum egritudinibus; fol. 175r, “Explicit
practica parvorum. Incipiunt experimenta;” fol. 188r,
“Explicit experimenta rasis.”
Other Paris MSS where the Diseases of the Joints and Medical
Experiments are joined together as a single work are BN
6902, fols. 106-129v; 6903, fols. 75r-92r; 6904, fols.
141r-159v: all of the 14th century. In BN 6902, fol.
117r, the caption, “Here Rasis begins to tell various
experiments which he acquired,” precedes the usual Incipit
of the Medical Experiments, “Said G(alen) Fire descended
on the altar....” In the other two MSS the usual Incipit
occurs alone and there is no rubric or break in the text
to mark it.
The following MSS I have not seen:
BN 6893, 14th century, #3 Rhazis experimenta de doloribus
juncturarum; #4 Galeni liber de medicinis experimentatis
sive experimentatio medicinalis e graeco sermone in
arabicum a Johannicio et ex arabico in Latinum a Magistro
Franchino conversa.
Balliol 285, 13th century, fol. 198, Liber Galieni de
medicinis experimentatis qui intitulatur experimentatio
medicinalis quem transtulit Johannes de Greco in Latinum
(Arabicum?) et magister Farachius de Arabico in Latinum;
Incipit, “Dixit Galenus ignis qui descendit....”
CLM 372, 15th century, fol. 185-, Galeni liber ...
“experimentatio medicinalis” quem transtulit Johannicius
de Greco in arabicum et mag. Ferranus de arabico in
latinum.
CLM 666, 15th century, fol. 288-, Excerptum ex Galeni libro
de medicinis experimentatis a magistro Ferraro translato.
CLM 19901, 15th century, fol. 209-, Liber Ga(leni) de
medicinis experimentatus qui intitulatur experimentatio
medicinalis quem transtulit Johannicius de Graeco in
Arabicum et mag. Frarthacius de Arabico in Latinum.
Merton College 228, 14th century, fol. 51-, Avicennae liber
experimentorum, interprete Gerardo Cremonensi, but the
Incipit shows it to be the De medicinis experimentatis,
“Dixit Galienus; ignis qui descendit....” It is
interesting to note that it is preceded by the Divisiones
of Rasis and followed by his work to Almansor, which are
the only other treatises in the MS and are also said to be
translated by Gerard of Cremona.
Amplon. Folio 260, 13-14th century, fols. 344-52,
experimenta de doloribus juncturarum, fols. 355-66,
Galieni experimentatio medicinalis (ab aliis Rasi
attributa).
Amplon. Folio 265, early 14th century, fols, 111-19, liber
experimentorum Rasis, fols. 121-26, de cura dolorum
iuncturarum Rasis. It is unusual for the _Cure of Pains in
the Joints_ to follow the other treatise.
Berlin 899, 13th century, fol. 89-, Experimenta,
or, De doloribus iuncturarum; fol. 96-, Liber G.
experimentationis medicinarum. This MS also has the usual
supplementary matter beginning with the “De aptatione
medicine ut sine horribilitate possit sumi,” etc.,
although just before this another hand has inserted the
word “Explicit” and drawn a red line.
CU Trinity 1473, 15th century, fols. 116-31, Experimenta
rasis, opens, “Dixit rasis volo in hoc capitulo ...” (the
Incipit of the Diseases of the Joints), closes, “... per
vias urinales” (the Explicit of Rasis’ passage on the cure
of the stone) “Expl. antidota.” (over an erasure) “Rasi et
cum hiis totus libellus Deo gracias.”
Peterhouse 101, 13-14th century, fols. 98v-116, is like the
MS just described, except that it closes “... per vias
urinales. Expl. experimenta Rasis,” and then follows the
Antidotarium of Rasis.
CLM 3520, 14th century, fol. 61-, Liber experimentorum
Rasis, fol. 63-, Medicinae Zenonis de Athenis, is
presumably simply a part of the former, since it includes
twenty experiments or recipes by Zeno of Athens.
CLM 13026, 14th century, fol. 1, Liber de secretis G(alen)i;
but the Incipit, “Dixit G; ignis qui descendit ...” is
that of the Experiments.
Wolfenbüttel 2156, 15th century, fols. 427-35, Experimenta
varia Rasis, Vsion Rision (qui erat de Armenia anteriori),
Asariton, Anuleth de Macedonia, Acharaan de civitate
Apthor, aliorumque medicorum. These seem to be some of the
authorities cited in the Medical Experiments. The same MS
also contains Rasis’ Divisiones and a part of the Secrets
of Galen of which we shall speak later.
Vienna 2306, 14th century, fols. 9v-15r, Pseudo-Galenus, De
medicinis expertis.
Vienna 5336, 15th century, fols. 24-27, Liber de medicinis
expertis, in fine mutilus.
APPENDIX II
THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE SECRETS OF GALEN
I have examined the first two MSS in the list and derive the others
from the descriptions in MSS catalogues. In the two which I have seen
the mentions of Gerard are confined to the rubrics.
BN 7046, 13th century, fols. 48r-54v, Incipiunt secreta
Galieni translata ab ysaac in omnibus egritudinibus.
It follows the _Flores_ of Avicenna and is followed by
his _Summa Antidotarii_ and by various works of Rasis
including the _De juncturis_ and _Experimenta_ above
mentioned. The table of contents indicates that the
MS once contained other medical treatises including
_Experimenta_ of “Gilbert, chancellor of Montpellier.”
Balliol College 231, early 14th century, a ponderous folio
volume of Galen’s works in Latin translation; of 26 items
our treatise is #6 at fols. 39v-45r.
Peterhouse 33, 13-14th century Italian hand, fols. 186-92,
Liber g. de Secretis Secretorum, “Rogasti me amice
montane.”
Chartres 284, 13th century, Galeni opuscula, fols. 251v-258,
Secreta Galieni a magistro Girardo Cremonensi translata de
arabico in latinum. Incomplete at the end.
Chartres 293, 14th century, Galeni opuscula, fols. 118-24,
Liber secretorum, “Rogasti me, amice, ut describerem.”
Brussels, Library of the Dukes of Burgundy 8488, first third
of the 12th century (which would be too early for even
Gerard of Cremona), Galieni secretorum, “Rogasti me amice.”
Berlin 166 (Phillips 1672), 14th century, fols. 26-34. The
following description is found in the margin, upper left
hand corner: “Secreta G. a magistro Girardo cremonensi
translata de arabico in latinum. Verba G. Incipiunt
secreta G.”
Berlin 908, 15th century, fol. 279-, “Incipiunt Secreta
Galieni a magistro Gerhardo Cremonensi translata de
Arabico in Latinum in Toleto ... / ... Expliciunt
gloriosissima secreta galieni.”
Vienna 2296, 13th century, fols. 116r-122r, Pseudo-Galenus,
Liber secretorum ad Monteum.
Vienna 2395, 13th century, fols. 65r-72r, “Hec sunt secreta
Galeni a Gerardo Cremonensi translata de arabico in
latinum.”
Vienna 2306, 14th century, fol. 27v, Pseudo-Galenus, Liber
in medicatione aegritudinum ad Monteum, “Rogasti me amice
montee.”
Wolfenbüttel 1014, 15th century, fols. 72v-73v, Secreta
Galieni. Preceded by _Experimenta magistri Bernhardi_,
which is presumably the _Experimentarius_ of Bernard
Silvester, and followed by fols. 74-77, Experimenta varia
magistri ... (name erased), and fols. 79-81, Experimenta
ex libris medicinalibus diversis. In the same MS at fol.
102, De libro Kyranidis Kyrani, regis Persarum.
Wolfenbüttel 2156, _anno_ 1452, fols. 178-9, Quatordecim
experimenta de secretis Galeni ad amicum quendam. At fols.
427-35 are the _Medical Experiments_ of Rasis.
Wolfenbüttel 2841, _anno_ 1432, fols. 98v-107v, Liber
secretorum Galieni translatus ex Arabico in Latinum a
magistro Gerardino Cremonensi.
Escorial H-III-2, 15th century, fols. 9-25, “Hec sunt
secreta galieni. Verba galieni. Rogasti me amice montee ut
describerem tibi librum ... / ... Quod si ceciderit alius
liber ab isto transferam ipsum. Explicit liber secretorum
Galieni.”
The brief descriptions in the MSS catalogues do not always make clear
whether the _Secrets_ of Galen in question is our treatise or not.
Bourges 299, 14th century, fols. 97v-105, “Liber de secretis
secretorum Gal.” is probably our treatise. This MS
contains minor medical works of Galen.
Vienna 5435, 15th century, fols. 265-75, Pseudo-Galenus,
Liber secretorum; followed at fols. 276-83, by
Pseudo-Galenus, Liber experimentorum et secretorum.
Probably our treatise and the _Medical Experiments_.
Vienna 5504, _anno_ 1464, fols. 147-8, Liber de secretis
secretorum Galeni secundum sententiam Hippocratis; fols.
149-62, Galenus, De secretis secretorum.
BN 7031, 15th century, fols. 1-17v, “Incipiunt secreta
Galieni canones quos misit ad moteum Regem assiriorum”
(Secrets of Galen, or Canons which he sent to Moteus, king
of the Assyrians), turns out upon examination to be an
entirely different treatise.