THE
SYDENHAM SOCIETY
INSTITUTED
MDCCCXLIII
[Illustration: SYDENHAM]
LONDON
MDCCCXLVII.
THE
SEVEN BOOKS
OF
PAULUS ÆGINETA.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK.
WITH
A COMMENTARY
EMBRACING A COMPLETE VIEW OF THE KNOWLEDGE
POSSESSED BY THE
GREEKS, ROMANS, AND ARABIANS
ON
ALL SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH MEDICINE AND SURGERY.
BY FRANCIS ADAMS.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON
PRINTED FOR THE SYDENHAM SOCIETY
MDCCCXLVII.
PRINTED BY C. AND J. ADLARD,
BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD VOLUME.
I think it necessary to say a few words in explanation of the reason why
the reader will find in the Commentary contained in this, my concluding
volume, some deviation from the plan upon which the Commentaries in the
two preceding volumes were executed.
In the Advertisement to the First Volume it is stated that, by the advice
of the Council of the Sydenham Society, I had restricted the history
which I gave of professional opinions on the various subjects treated
of in the course of my work to what is properly called the period of
ancient literature, and to this rule it will accordingly be observed
that I have generally adhered, except in a few instances, where a
departure from it seemed to be demanded for the sake of illustration, or
for some other special object. But in dealing with the subject-matter
of the present volume, namely, the Materia Medica and Pharmacy of the
ancients, it became apparent to me from the first that a different
plan of proceeding was indispensable, otherwise the usefulness of the
whole work to the ordinary reader would be very much impaired. It is
well known how frequently the nomenclature of the sciences connected
with these subjects has changed, and what differences of opinion have
prevailed with regard to many of the substances used in the practice of
medicine by the ancients. In order, therefore, to render the information
contained in this and the preceding volumes of ready access for practical
purposes, it appeared to me necessary to bring down the annotations to
modern times, so that one might see at once what is the exact import of
the ancient terms of art, and what the medicinal substances mentioned
in the course of the work actually were, according to the nomenclature
of the present age. Accordingly it will be found that the Commentary in
this volume abounds in references to modern authorities, and contains a
variety of materials collected, not only from the earlier herbalists and
commentators on Dioscorides, Theophrastus, and other ancient authors,
but likewise from recent writers on Botany, Mineralogy, and the Materia
Medica, in illustration of the various articles which are treated of
in this work. And I have much satisfaction in having it in my power to
state that the plan now described has the authority and sanction of the
Council, who gave it their entire approval. To Dr. Pereira I owe my
grateful acknowledgment for much valuable advice and assistance received
from him on this part of my work; but at the same time it is fair to him
to state I have no right to make him in anywise responsible for opinions
herein advanced which may turn out to be erroneous.
And now, having brought my laborious undertaking to a conclusion, I
would embrace the present opportunity of returning my most sincere
expression of thanks to the Council for the honour which they conferred
upon me in selecting my work for publication, and for the very
flattering terms in which they speak of the first volume in the Annual
Report of their proceedings for 1845. I trust that whatever degree of
merit they discovered in _it_ will be found not to be wanting in the
succeeding parts, and that, taken together, the three volumes will be
acknowledged to constitute a more copious repertory of ancient opinions
on professional subjects than is to be found elsewhere. If such be the
judgment which the intelligent members of the Sydenham Society shall
generally pronounce on my work, I shall certainly never regret the time
and exertions which I have bestowed upon it.
τοιόν δ’ ἀπέβη τόδε πρᾶγμα,
F. A.
BANCHORY, _June 21st, 1847_.
CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
SEVENTH BOOK.
SECT. PAGE
1. On the Temperaments of Substances as indicated by their Tastes 1
2. On the Order and Degrees of the Temperaments 2
On the powers of simple medicines 6
3. On the Powers of Simples individually 17
Appendix to the Third Section—On the Substances introduced
into the Materia Medica by the Arabians 424
4. On Simple Purgative Medicines 480
On those things which evacuate bile 481
Medicines which evacuate black bile 483
Medicines which evacuate phlegm ib.
Medicines which evacuate water 484
On cholagogues 489
On melanogogues 491
On phlegmagogues 492
On hydragogues ib.
5. On Compound Purgatives 493
6. On the Management of those who take Purgative Medicines; and
what is to be done to those who are not purged by a proper
dose of Purgatives 497
7. On the Treatment of Hypercatharsis 499
8. On the Antidotes called Hieræ 500
9. On Liniments to be applied to the Anus, and purgative
Applications to the Navel 502
10. On Emetics 503
Modes of administering hellebore 504
11. On the different kinds of Antidotes 510
12. On Trochisks, or Troches 528
13. On Dry Applications and Abstergents (Smegmata) 536
14. On Liniments to the Mouth and Throat 541
15. On Delicious and Officinal Potions 544
16. On Collyria and Agglutinative Applications 548
17. On Plasters, and those things which are added to the boiling
of them, from the Works of Antyllus, and on the proportion
of wax to oil 558
18. On Emollient Plasters and Epithemes 576
19. On Restorative Ointments (Acopa), Liniments, Calefacient
Plasters (Dropaces), and Sinapisms 581
20. On Different Preparations of Oil and Ointments 589
21. On Œnantharia 598
22. On Perfumes and Cyphi 599
23. On the Preparations of Masucha, which some call Masuaphium 601
24. On Pessaries, from the Works of Antyllus ib.
25. On Medicines which may be substituted for one another, from
the Works of Galen 604
26. On Weights and Measures 609
GENERAL INDEX 629
PAULUS ÆGINETA.
BOOK SEVENTH.
In this book, being the seventh and last of the whole work, we are to
treat of the properties of all Medicines, both Simple and Compound, and
more especially of those mentioned in the six preceding books.
SECT. I.—ON THE TEMPERAMENTS OF SUBSTANCES AS INDICATED BY THEIR TASTES.
It is not safe to judge from the smell with regard to the temperament
of sensible objects; for inodorous substances consist indeed of thick
particles, but it is not clear whether they are of a hot or cold
nature; and odorous substances, to a certain extent, consist of fine
particles and are hot; but the degree of the tenuity of their parts, or
of their hotness, is not indicated, because of the inequality of their
substance. And still more impracticable is it to judge of them from their
colours, for of every colour are found hot, cold, drying, and moistening
substances. But in tasting, all parts of the bodies subjected to it come
in contact with the tongue and excite the sense, so that thereby one may
judge clearly of their powers in their temperaments. Astringents, then,
contract, obstruct, condense, dispel, and incrassate; and, in addition
to all these properties, they are of a cold and desiccative nature. That
which is acid, cuts, divides, attenuates, removes obstructions, and
cleanses without heating; but that which is acrid, resembles the acid in
being attenuant and purging, but differs from it in this, that the acid
is cold, and the acrid hot; and, further, in this, that the acid repels,
but the acrid attracts, discusses, breaks down, and is escharotic. In
like manner, that which is bitter cleanses the pores, is detergent and
attenuant, and cuts the thick humours without sensible heat. What is
watery is cold, incrassate, condenses, contracts, obstructs, mortifies,
and stupefies. But that which is salt contracts, braces, preserves as
a pickle, dries, without decided heat or cold. What is sweet relaxes,
concocts, softens, and rarefies: but what is oily humectates, softens,
and relaxes.
SECT. II.—ON THE ORDER AND DEGREES OF THE TEMPERAMENTS.
A moderate medicine which is of the same temperament as that to which it
is applied, so as neither to dry, moisten, cool, nor heat, must not be
called either dry, moist, cold, or hot; but whatever is drier, moister,
hotter, or colder, is so called from its prevailing power. It will be
sufficient for every useful purpose to make four ranks according to
the prevailing temperament, calling that substance hot, according to
the first rank, when it heats, indeed, but not manifestly, requiring
reflection to demonstrate its existence: and in like manner with regard
to cold, dry, and moist, when the prevailing temperament requires
demonstration, and has no strong nor manifest virtue. Such things as
are manifestly possessed of drying, moistening, heating or cooling
properties, may be said to be of the second rank. Such things as have
these properties to a strong, but not an extreme degree, may be said to
be of the third rank. But such things as are naturally so hot as to form
eschars and burn, are of the fourth. In like manner such things as are
so cold as to occasion the death of a part are also of the fourth. But
nothing is of so drying a nature as to be of the fourth rank, without
burning, for that which dries in a great degree burns also; such are
misy, chalcitis, and quicklime. But a substance may be of the third rank
of desiccants without being caustic, such as all those things which
are strongly astringent, of which kind are the unripe juice of grapes,
sumach, and alum.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The following is a list of the ancient authorities on the
Materia Medica and Pharmacy: Hippocrates (pluries); Dioscorides (de
Materia Medica); Celsus (v); Scribonius Largus (pluries); Marcellus
Empiricus; Pliny (H. N. pluries); Rei Rusticæ Scriptores; Apuleius (de
Herbis); Antonius Musa (de Herba Betonica); Macer Floridus; Galenus (de
Simpl.; de Comp. Med. sec. loc.; de Comp. Med. sec. gen.); Aëtius (i and
ii); Oribasius (Med. Collect. xi et seq.); Sextus Platonicus (de Med.
ex animal.); Zosimus Panopolita (de Zythorum confectione); Actuarius
(Meth. Med.); Myrepsus (pluries); Psellus (de Lapidibus); Rhases (Contin.
liber ult.; ad Mansor. iii); Avicenna (ii, et alibi); Serapion (de
Simpl.; de Antidot.); Mesue (de Simpl.); Haly Abbas (Pract. ii and x);
Averrhoes (Collig. v); Albengnefit (Libellus de Simpl. med. virt.); Geber
(Chemia); Servitor (de Præpar. Med. i. e. xxviii Albucasis); Baitharis
Præfatio ap. Casiri Biblioth. Arab. Hisp. p. 276; Ebn Baithar (Uebersetz
von Sontheimer); Rei Rusticæ Scriptores Arabici ap. Casiri B. A. H.;
Alchindus (Libellus de Med. compos. grad.)
Hippocrates, although he appears to have been familiarly acquainted with
the properties of most of the vegetable substances of the Old World,
still employed in the practice of medicine, has left no regular treatise
on the Materia Medica and pharmacy of his time. Theophrastus has treated
more fully and ingeniously of botany and vegetable physiology than any
other Greek writer; but except in two or three instances he scarcely
alludes to the medicinal powers of the articles which he describes.
In short, Dioscorides is the first and great authority on the Materia
Medica,—his contributions to which can never be too highly appreciated;
for, as Alston justly remarks, the science in ancient times remained
ever after in nearly the same state as he left it. The genius of Galen,
it is true, shed a considerable degree of lustre over the subject by his
philosophical theory regarding the general actions of medicines; but
his descriptions of particular substances, and even his detail of their
properties, are mostly borrowed from Dioscorides. The Greek authors,
subsequent to his time, can scarcely be said to have added one single
article to the list of medicinal substances described by him. Aëtius,
however, although he can advance no great claim to originality, has
given, as we shall see presently, a remarkably lucid exposition of the
Galenical principles of therapeutics. Of Pliny’s great work, so replete
with the most rare and curious information on almost every department of
ancient literature, we feel reluctant to speak otherwise than in terms
of unqualified eulogy, and yet candour obliges us to admit that on all
medical subjects this writer is but a very indifferent authority. For,
being evidently possessed of no practical acquaintance with professional
matters, he appears to have been wholly incapable of discriminating real
from pretended facts in medicine, and has accordingly jumbled important
and useless matter together in many instances with very little judgment,
nor can his opinions be much relied upon except when he copies closely
from Dioscorides. The same objection cannot be made to his countryman
Celsus; but the plan of his work being limited, the account which
he gives of these matters is confined to a classification of simple
substances, and a few formulæ for the formation of the more important
pharmaceutical compounds. The Arabians added camphor, senna, musk, nux
vomica, myrobalans, tamarinds, and a good many other articles to the
Materia Medica; but, upon the whole, they transmitted the science to us
in much the same shape as regards arrangement and general principles
as they received it from their Grecian masters. At the same time it is
impossible to take even a cursory view of the great work of Ebn Baithar,
now fortunately rendered accessible to many European scholars by Dr.
Sontheimer’s translation of it into German, without being struck with
the amazing industry, enterprise, and talent displayed by that wonderful
people in this department of medical science. In this collection,
more than 1400 medicinal and dietetical articles are described, many
of them no doubt in nearly the same terms as they had been noticed by
Dioscorides and Galen, but of original matter relative to substances
then for the first time introduced into the practice of medicine, there
is no lack; and it is only to be regretted that a proper key to these
stores is still a desideratum which it is to be feared will not soon be
supplied. Ebn Baithar’s list of medicinal substances, however, is far
more copious than those of the other Arabians, who in general follow
closely in the footsteps of the Greek authorities, and seldom supply
anything very original of their own. For example, the Materia Medica
of Rhases contains only 765 articles, and that of Avicenna only 747,
which it is to be remarked, is a smaller number than is contained in
the work of Dioscorides, wherein Alston states that he counted above 90
minerals, 700 plants, and 168 animal substances, making 958 in all. This
is nearly triple the number of simples contained in the Materia Medica
of the Edinburgh Dispensatory at the present day, which amount only to
341 articles; so that if this branch of medical science has received any
material improvement in modern times, it must arise principally from
our superior accuracy in estimating the virtues of the substances now
in use, or in making more ingenious compositions of their elementary
ingredients. At all events, it is quite clear that the Greek, Roman, and
Arabian physicians were amply provided with medicines of every possible
character, and there is no reason to suppose that they were in anywise
behind us in the skilful management of them. It has been affirmed,
indeed, in some late publications which we have seen, that the ancients
had never classified the articles in the Materia Medica according to the
nature of their actions; but this we need scarcely assure the reader is
a very erroneous account of the matter: and in proof of this we could
have wished, if our limits had permitted us, to have introduced here some
of the classified lists of medicinal substances as given by the ancient
authorities, and more especially those of Aëtius and Serapion.
Verum hæc ipse equidem, spatiis inclusus iniquis
Prætereo, atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo.
We have mentioned above that Aëtius’s account of the general principles
of the Materia Medica is particularly excellent, and we have now to add,
that as it is sufficiently explicit to convey a distinct idea of the
Galenical system, and is contained within moderate limits when compared
with the full and lengthy exposition of it given by Galen himself, we
shall give that of Aëtius entire, and confine our annotations almost
solely to it in the present instance:—
“_On the Powers of Simple Medicines._
“There are differences in the particular actions of medicines, arising
from each of them being to a certain degree hot, or cold, or dry, or
humid, or consisting of subtile or of gross particles, but the degree
in which each of them is possessed of the above-mentioned properties
cannot be truly and accurately determined. We have endeavoured, however,
to define them in such a manner as will be sufficient for all practical
purposes, laying it down that there is one class of medicines possessed
of a similar temperament to our bodies, when they have received a certain
principle of change and aliation from the heat in them, and that there is
another which is of a hotter temperament than we. Of this temperament I
have thought it right to make four orders, the first being imperceptible
to the senses, and only to be inferred from reflection; the second being
perceptible to the senses; the third strongly heating but not burning;
and the fourth, or last, caustic. In like manner of frigorific or cooling
things, the first order requires reflection to demonstrate its coldness:
the second consists of such things as are perceptibly cold; the third
is perceptibly cold, but does not occasion mortification; the fourth
produces mortification. So it is in like manner with humectating and
desiccant articles. Let such an order of degrees be laid down to render
clearer the course of instruction, rose oil or the rose itself being
placed in the first order of cooling things; the juice of roses in the
second, and in the third and fourth those things which are extremely
cold, such as cicuta, meconium, mandragora, and hyoscyamus. In regard
to hot things, dill and fenugreek belong to the first order; those
which are next to them, to the second; and so of the third and fourth,
until we come to the caustic. In like manner, respecting moistening and
desiccant medicines, beginning with those of a moderate degree, we may
arrange them until we come to their extremes. Such knowledge is of no
small importance for the purpose of medical instruction. One ought also
to exercise the sense of taste, and remember the peculiar qualities of
juices; as, for example, that such a substance when applied to the tongue
dries strongly, contracts, and roughens it to a considerable depth, such
as unripe wild pears, cornels, and the like; every such thing that is
intensely austere is called sour. Such things, as when applied to the
tongue, do not constringe and contract it like astringents, but, on the
contrary, appear to be detergent and cleansing, are called salt. Such
things as are more detergent and also rougher in a painful degree, are
called bitter. Those things which are biting and corrosive with a strong
heat, are called acrid; and such as are biting without heat, are called
acid, and these have the power of causing a fermentation when poured upon
earth. Of those which lubricate, fill, remove asperities, and, as it
were, erosions of the tongue, such as do so with sensible delight, are
called sweet; but such as do this without sensible delight, are called
fat. If, then, you wish to form a judgment of acrimony, you may learn
to do so from garlic, onions, and the like, which are to be frequently
tasted and long masticated, in order that the sensation thereby imparted
may be fixed in the memory. But if you wish to acquire the perception
of astringency, you may do so from galls, sumach, and the like; if of
bitterness, from natron and bile; and if of sweetness, from rob and
honey. Further, if you would wish to judge of such things as are devoid
of all qualities, or of an intermediate quality as to taste, take water,
and having tasted it, retain the perception in your memory; but see
that it be the purest water, and that it contain none of the aforesaid
qualities; neither sweetness, acidity, acrimony, nor bitterness; and,
in addition, that it be neither very hot nor very cold. Proceeding from
this, you may the more readily perceive the obscure taste of certain
juices which I call moderately sweet, but which others call watery; such
as the juice of green reeds and of grass, of wheat and of barley, and
of moderately sweet things, as resembling what I have described to be
of all other things the most devoid of qualities, I mean water, which
is in an intermediate state between heat and cold, or inclines a little
to cold. If being endowed with such a taste, it have not a liquid but a
dry consistence, it must necessarily be terrene and desiccative without
pungency. These things are called emplastic, such as starch, and most of
the thoroughly-washed metals, as pompholyx, ceruse, calamine, Cimolian
earth, Samian earth, and the like. Some are not only terrene, but also
watery in their nature; and some contain no little air in them: such
are viscid and therefore emplastic. There are two kind of emplastic
medicines, the one very terrene and dry, and the other altogether viscid,
being composed of water, earth, and, for the most part, of air, such
as sweet oil. The white of an egg is similar to oil, but more terrene.
The cheesy part of milk is emplastic, and so also the fat of swine. The
fat and suet of a bull and a buck-goat are acrid, and more terrene than
that of swine. That of a goose or a cock is hotter and drier than that
of swine; but of subtile parts, and by no means terrene. The fats then,
if they have no acrimony, are emplastic, or obstruent of the pores, more
especially if of a drier and more terrene nature, such as well-washed
wax. Emplastic medicines then are of such a nature. But astringents
are terrene, and with regard to the composition of their particles are
thick; but in their qualities they are cold. Acids in composition are
attenuating, but cold, like astringents. The terrene particles contained
in the juices, which, when melted, contract and dry the humidity of the
sentient parts of the tongue, if particularly rough, are called sour; but
if less so, austere; and we properly call the temperament of such juices
cold. But since they are unequally desiccative—for in this consists
their asperity—they are likewise terrene; for every watery substance
permeates the body evenly, and when removed it easily coalesces; but
what is terrene when removed does not readily coalesce again. And the
peculiarity of the sensation, if you will recollect the impression, will
testify to the same effect; for the passage of acid juices, in the organs
of sensation, appears quick; but that of sour, slow; and acids exert
their actions more on the deep-seated parts, whereas sour substances act
more superficially. When you wish to ascertain the action of a truly sour
substance, if that which is made trial of appear at the same time sour
and pungent, I would recommend you to lay that species aside, and to have
recourse to something which is sour without being pungent, and neither
acid, sweet, nor bitter, but as much as possible having no one quality
or power mixed up with its astringency; for it is useless and foolish to
make trial of such a medicine, as it cannot be ascertained whether it
be by its astringency, or by any of the qualities mixed with it, or by
a combination of both, that the substance which is made trial of exerts
its action. Therefore, chalcitis, misy, copperas, the flakes of copper,
sori, and, in addition to them, the armeniacum pictorium (Armenian
pigment), mercury, and other astringent substances which are also at
the same time pungent, act by both their properties upon the bodies to
which they are applied; but we are not thereby informed whether they burn
by their astringency or by their acrimony; for such substances, when
taken into the body, being composed of gross particles, and rather hot
in their powers, having become ignited in the course of time, according
to the change which they undergo in the body of the animal, ulcerate
and burn the parts about the stomach like heated stones or irons; and
owing to their weight they are incapable of being distributed over the
body. It is better, therefore, after much observation, to look out for
something that is purely astringent, and when you have found such a
substance, make haste to try it in the manner you have formerly heard
described; such as having tasted the flowers of the wild pomegranate,
galls, or the flowers of the cultivated pomegranate, hypocistis, acacia,
sumach, or the like, if the substance appear intensely sour, and it is
manifest that it contains no other quality, you must prove the action
of astringency from it. A sour substance then is terrene and cold, and
its quality may necessarily be removed in three ways; either by being
heated, or moistened, or by undergoing both these changes at the same
time. If only heated, it will neither become more humid nor softer; but
becoming harder it will have acquired sweetness, as is the case with
acorns and chesnuts, as they are called. But if only moistened, and if
the humidity is of a thick nature and watery, it becomes austere; for
the astringent part being dissolved renders the juice austere, it being
the property of a watery fluid to obtund the powers of every juice. If a
subtile and airy fluid be superadded, it will become acid, for coldness
being attenuating will render the former quality acid. When moistened and
heated at the same time, if with a watery humidity, it will occasion a
change to sweetness; but if with an airy, to fatness; for the fruits of
such trees as appear sweet to us when ripened, are, when newly formed,
sour and dry in their consistence, each according to the nature of the
tree which produced it; but in process of time, they become more humid or
juicy; and some get acidity superadded to their sourness, which latter
quality when they have laid aside they become again sweet as they arrive
at maturity. Some do not acquire sweetness at all while upon the trees,
but after a time, when separated from them. Some without the intermediate
acidity pass from sourness to sweetness, as the fruit of the olive. All
things are concocted by heat, which is of a twofold nature, the one
proper and innate, and the other supplied from without by the sun. But,
since being sour at first, they become sweet when ripe, their sweetness
is occasioned by heat; but their acidity and sourness by cold. And it has
already become obvious that as fruits being sour at first, in process
of time become, some sweet, some acid, some austere, and some remain
sour, that great variety will arise from a mixture of these qualities.
Wherefore, the fruit of the ilex, the cornel, and other such things, are
sour to the last, because they remain cold and dry as at the beginning,
being only increased in size, but acquiring no other internal change.
The fruits of the myrtle, the wild pear, and the oak are sweet and sour
at the same time; but the fruit of Aminæan vines, wine, and such like
things, are only austere. The fruit of the palm tree, and of wines, the
Surrentine, and such as have sweetness joined to astringency, are at the
same time austere and sweet. The Theræan wine, the Scybelitic, boiled
must called rob, and other such like things, are only sweet. The fruit
and juice of the olive in particular, but also of all other such things
from which oil is formed, are fatty. And as a sour juice in process of
time, becoming at first sweeter, and afterward turning more acrid and
bitter, ends in becoming wholly bitter; so in like manner, a cold juice
becomes at first more acid, and if wholly congealed it turns entirely
acid; and such fruits as at gathering are filled with much humidity,
and such as otherwise acquire much water, readily become acid from very
slight causes. For if the unripe grape is acid, but the ripe sweet, and
if all fruits are ripened by the solar heat, it is obvious that what
is more imperfect and colder is acid; whereas, what is more perfect
and hotter is sweet. When wine, therefore, from refrigeration becomes
acid, it is clear that it returns again to the same juice from which
it was formed, I mean that of the unripe grape. But vinegar differs
thus far in power from the juice of the unripe grape, that the vinegar
has acquired a certain degree of acrimony from the putrefactive heat
(”fermentation?“); but the juice of the unripe grape has no acquired
heat, and therefore none of the acrimony of vinegar; wherefore, vinegar
is more attenuating than the juice of the unripe grape, as the sensation
bears testimony to the truth of what has been said; but the acrimony of
the vinegar is not sufficient to overcome the coldness arising from its
acidity; it serves, however, to make it more penetrating; for inasmuch
as heat is more penetrating than cold, so does the acrimony of vinegar
the more readily pass the pores of sensible bodies, and thus acrimony
takes the lead, but coldness follows at no great interval. And it is this
mixed and almost indescribable sensation which prevents us from calling
vinegar simply cold; for we perceive in it a certain fiery acrimony.
But the coldness, from the accompanying acidity, straightway obtunds
and extinguishes the acrimony, and therefore there is a much greater
sensation from the coldness than from the heat; for some persons by
drinking oxycrate in the summer season are sensibly cooled, and remain
free from thirst. But since thirst arises from two distinct causes,
either from a deficiency of moisture or an excess of heat, that arising
from dryness is not cured, but that occasioned by heat is removed by it;
for vinegar by itself does not moisten, but is decidedly refrigerant.
Thirst, therefore, arising from a hot intemperament, or from a hot and
dry one, is not to be cured by drinking vinegar; but when humidity and
heat meet together, the proper cure of such a kind of thirst is vinegar;
but otherwise in the case of those who are thirsty in ardent fevers and
all other hot diseases, and in those during summer and hot weather,
their state is a compound of heat and dryness, so that the proper
cure for it is a composition of vinegar and water; for the vinegar is
decidedly refrigerant, and by its tenuity readily diffusible, and the
water, in addition to its property of cooling, is the most moistening
of all substances, for nothing is more moistening than water. But as an
external application for heat of the hypochondrium, the juice of unripe
grapes is preferable to vinegar, because it has no violent and offensive
coldness, nor any pungent heat mixed with it; for in such affections
persons require to be soothed without violence by an application which
will not induce externally any pungent acrimony. The juice of the unripe
grape, then, is not only acid but sour; for, as mentioned before, almost
all the fruits of trees are at first sour to the taste; and not only
are acids cold, but so also are sour and austere things. And if any one
will taste quinces, myrtles, or medlars, he will perceive clearly that
there is one sensation from acids, and another from sour and austere
things; for sour things seem to propel inwards the part which they
touch, everywhere equally squeezing, constricting, and contracting, as
it were; but the austere seem to penetrate deeply, and to induce a rough
and unequable sensation, so that by drying they expel the humidity of
the parts of sensation. Thus, between sour and austere juices, there is
a certain peculiar difference of sensation not easily to be described,
but which everybody must understand from what has been said. Every sour
substance, then, when free from all other qualities, I have upon trial
always found to be cold; but every sweet substance is hot, and does not
greatly exceed the heat in us; and as we are delighted, more especially
if we are cold, with the touch of warm water, until it expand the parts
congealed by the cold, and as it heats us, and does not dissolve nor
break the continuity of the parts, it is very pleasant and useful; so all
sweet food is hot, and yet it is not possessed of such a degree of heat
as to be unpleasant, but remains within the limits of those things which
expand, soften, and are demulcent: for all nutritive food is allied to,
and agrees with, the whole substance of the bodies which it nourishes; it
requires, therefore, to be moderately hot, so as to agree with the bodies
which are nourished; and hence one kind of food and medicine does not
agree with all men; for according to his peculiar substance and affection
is every one delighted and benefited. And such being the nature of things
those kinds of food which are less sweet are less hot, and their heat is
proportionate to their sweetness; but these things, when they get to an
immoderate degree of heat, are no longer sweet, but appear bitter, such
as honey which is old and much boiled, and so also with all other sweet
things; for such things as without boiling or preparation are allied to
the temperaments of the bodies which they nourish, appear already sweet;
but all such as are not allied appear unsavoury until prepared, for
those which are hot require to be corrected by cold, and those which are
sufficiently cold by the mixture of calefacient food and by heat. In
like manner such things as are terrene and drier than proper, are to be
corrected by humidity; and those things which are humid and watery, by
drying; that which is sweet therefore, in addition to being more or less
hot, is necessarily more or less humid. But when this bitterness arises
from being over-roasted, as in lime and ashes, it is necessarily rendered
dry and hot. For this reason every bitter thing is of such a nature as
to prove detergent, and is calculated to break down and to cut viscid
and thick humours, and such are ashes and natron; but that bitter sap
is dry and terrene, may be collected from the circumstance, that bitter
things are of all others the least prone to putrefaction, and do not
engender worms nor other animals such as are usually formed in roots,
herbs, and fruits when they become putrid; for we see that such animals
and putrefactions take place in humid bodies. Those things which are
intensely bitter (I call those things such which have no other manifest
quality) are uneatable, not only by men, but by almost all animals,
because every living creature is more or less humid, and bitter things
are dry in like manner as ashes and cinders. As, therefore, that which is
truly sweet is nutritive, and that which is purely bitter innutritive,
so those things which are intermediate are nutritive indeed, but less
so than the sweet. The salt juice is allied to the bitter, for both are
terrene and hot; but they differ from one another perceptibly in this,
that the bitter is more attenuated and wrought by the heat and dryness;
and thus, too, of salts, such as are hard, denser, and more terrene (as
are almost all the fossils), are less calefacient and attenuating; but
such as are brittle and porous are at the same time more attenuating and
hotter; and some of them are bitterish, being intermediate between the
hard salts and aphronitrum; and if you will warm any saltish thing to a
great degree it will straightway become bitter. Thus, the water of the
Lake Asphaltitis, which they call the Dead Sea, being contained within
a hollow and hot place, and overheated by the sun, becomes bitter, and
for this reason it becomes more bitter in summer than in winter. And if
you will draw some of it, and put it into a hollow vessel in a place
exposed to the sun during the summer season it will straightway become
more bitter than it generally is. For no animals appear to be found in
such water, neither plants; and although the rivers which fall into it
contain many large fishes, more especially the river near Jericho called
Jordan, none of the fishes pass the mouth of the river, and if you will
catch some and throw them into the Lake, you will see that they die
immediately, and hence it is called the Dead Lake or Sea. Thus, that
which is intensely bitter is inimical to all plants and animals, and is
of a parched and dry nature, becoming like soot from roasting. Having,
therefore, settled the powers of bitter juices, and said that they are
cutting, detergent, attenuant, and decidedly hot, to such a degree only
as not to burn, we shall next proceed to the acrid; and first we may say
of them that they are truly hot, then corrosive, caustic, escharotic, and
of a dissolvent nature, when applied externally to the skin; but when
taken internally, those which, in their whole substance are adverse to
certain animals, are all septic and destructive to them, as the cantharis
and buprestis are to men. But such as are distinguished only by excess
of their heating powers, if thicker and terrene, as arsenic, sandarach,
and the like, we call ulcerative of the internal parts; but if they
consist of subtile parts, such as the common seeds, carrot, anise, and
the like, they are diuretic, diaphoretic, and, in a word, cutting and
discutient; and some are also useful in expectorations from the chest
and menstrual discharges. But acrid juices would seem to differ from
bitter, not only in possessing strong heat, but also in this, that all
bitter things are not only hot but of a dry temperament like ashes,
while in such acrid substances as are not bitter, there is often much
humidity mixed, and therefore we use no few acrid things as articles
of food. But since enough has been said respecting all the juices,
it still remains to treat of the vapours. Most of the vapours, then,
affect us similarly to the juices; for all acids, and likewise vinegar
itself, move the senses of smell and taste in like manner; and acrid
things, as garlic, onions, and the like, are pungent and offensive to
the smell, no less than to the taste; so that, without tasting certain
things, such as dung, we are confident that we know its quality, and
therefore at once we abstain from them, because we repose confidence in
the sense of smell. And of fragrant things, such as have become putrid
and offend the smell, we straightway throw away, and do not attempt to
taste; and in short, with regard to almost all things, the smell and
taste are found to agree; and we refer each of them to two classes,
calling the most of those substances which have smell, odorous, and
fetid, and considering the odorous analogous to sweet things, and the
fetid to such as are not sweet to the tongue, it would appear that from
bodies which have no smell there is but little emitted, or at least that
it is disproportionate to their bulk, as is the case with salt and sour
things in particular; for the substance of sour things is of a dense
and cold nature, so that it is natural that what is emitted from them
should be small in quantity, thick, and terrene in its parts, so as not
to reach the brain in respiration. Hence it is not safe to judge of
their temperament from the smell as it is from the taste: for we know
that things which are inodorous consist of thick particles, but it is
not apparent how they are as to heat and cold; and that fragrant things
consist of subtile particles, and are hot in their nature; but it is not
shown by the smell but by the taste what is the degree of their tenuity
and heat. The inequality of their substance is the cause why fragrant
things give no certain indication of temperament; and therefore it is
not safe to judge of all the qualities of the rose from its smell; but
in taste all the parts of the bodies which are tasted fall equably upon
the tongue, and each excites a sensation agreeably to its nature, namely,
the sour part in it which is terrene consists of thick particles and is
cold; the bitter, which consists of subtile parts and is hot; and third,
the watery, which is necessarily cold. It is not safe then, as has been
said, to form a judgment of all the powers of simple substances from the
smell; but it is still more impracticable to estimate simple medicines
from their colours; for hot, cold, dry, and humid substances are found
of every colour. And yet from the colour of every kind of seeds, roots,
or juices it is possible to derive a certain indication of their
temperament. For example, onions, squills, and wine, the whiter they are,
are the less hot; but such as are of a yellowish and intermediate colour
are hotter. And wheat, vetches, and kidney-beans, and chick-peas, the
root of iris, that of kingspear, and many others, are similarly affected.
In each genus, for the most part, such things as are gold coloured,
red, and of a bright yellow, are hotter than the white, so that if any
conjecture can be formed therefrom of the powers of medicines, it is so
far well. It is best then, as has been often said and demonstrated, to
determine the powers of each by exact experiment, for by this you cannot
be deceived; but before ascertaining their powers by experiment, the
taste will give many indications, in which it will be assisted in a small
degree by the smell.” (_Præfatio in Aëtium._)
For a fuller account of the subject, the reader is referred to the first
five books of Galen’s work ‘On the Powers of Simples;’ to the first
tractate of the Second Book of Avicenna; and to the introductory part of
Serapion’s work ‘On Simples.’ A useful abstract of the ancient opinions
is given in the small tract of Albengnefit. The nature of the tastes
is ingeniously discussed in the ‘Timæus’ of Plato, and by Theophrastus
(de Causis Plantarum, vi.) Alkhendi’s theory of the action of compound
medicines appears to be ingenious; but it is complex and difficult to
explain, being founded upon the principles of geometrical properties
and musical harmony. The ‘Chemia’ of Geber contains a very interesting
abstract of the knowledge possessed by the ancients regarding the
recondite nature of substances, that is to say, on alchemy, but supplies
little or no information on the Materia Medica or Pharmacy.
Before concluding our present commentary, it may be proper to remark, as
tending to show the importance of the Galenical theory of the action of
medicines in the literature of medicine, that not only was it generally
adopted by most of the Greek and Arabian authorities subsequent to
Galen, but it prevails in the works of all our old herbalists, as, for
example, Gerarde, Parkinson, Culpeper, and of the other writers on the
Materia Medica, down to the days of Quincy. We may also take the present
opportunity to state that in the works of the ancient authorities, we
have detected a few traces of the singular doctrine of signatures, as it
has been called, but that with the exception of Geber, who can scarcely
be held to be a medical writer, we have found no allusion to alchemy
_or_ astral influence, as having anything to do with the operation of
medicines. The first ancient writer who notices alchemy, we believe, is
Firmicus (iii.) Though the Arabians were much given to this superstitious
conceit, it would appear from what we have mentioned that their medical
authorities had kept their minds free from the contamination of it.
SECT. III.—ON THE POWERS OF SIMPLES INDIVIDUALLY.
COMMENTARY. The part of our task upon which we are now entering is
at once so arduous and important, that we cannot but feel diffident
of our abilities to execute it properly. We may venture, however, to
assure the reader that we have spared no pains as far as lay in our
power to unravel the intricacies with which this department of ancient
science is involved, and that, with this intention, upon every article
we have carefully compared the descriptions of the ancient authors,
and have likewise availed ourselves of the learned labours of modern
commentators on Theophrastus, Pliny, and Dioscorides. We may mention
that those we have generally reposed most confidence in are Matthiolus,
Dodonæus, Harduin, Stackhouse, Schneider, Sprengel, and Sibthorp. It
will also be seen that we have paid a good deal of attention to the
works of our English herbalists, the study of whose works we consider
highly important, as reflecting much light on the ancient literature
of this subject. We have further culled freely from a variety of other
sources. As our limits prevent us from entering into the discussion of
controverted points, we are under the necessity of merely giving the
result of our own investigations in each case. Those who wish to see the
commentator’s opinions more fully on these matters are referred to the
Appendix to Dunbar’s ‘Greek Lexicon,’ which was written exclusively by
him.
Ἀβρότονον,
Abrotonum, _Southernwood_, warms and dries in the third degree, being
of a discutient and cutting nature, for it is possessed of a very small
degree of sourness, and if rubbed with oil over the whole body, it cures
periodical rigors. But it is prejudicial to the stomach; and the burnt
being more desiccative than the unburnt, cures alopecia, along with some
of the finer oils.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Dioscorides and most of the subsequent authorities, with
the exception of Paulus, describe two species, the mas. and the femina.
The one without doubt is the _Artemisia Abrotanum_; the other probably
the _Santolina Chamæcyparissus_. The use of southernwood is as ancient
as Hippocrates, but Galen is the ancient author who has treated of its
faculties most elaborately. He recommends it strongly both externally in
fomentations, and internally as an anthelminthic. For the latter purpose
it is praised by the natural historian Ælian (H. A. ix, 33), and by
most of the medical authorities on the Materia Medica, both ancient and
modern. As an application in ophthalmy, along with the pulp of a roasted
quince, it is highly spoken of by Galen and the others. Galen says, that
friction with the oil of southernwood is useful in intermittents, and
this character of it is confirmed by all the authorities down to recent
times. Avicenna joins Dioscorides in praising it as an emmenagogue, and
says, that it produces abortion. (ii, 266.) Aëtius is fuller than the
others on the virtues of the lixivial ashes of southernwood, recommending
them particularly in diseases of the anus and in alopecia. Celsus ranks
it among the cleansing medicines (v, 5.) Pliny makes mention of a vinous
tincture (xiv, 19.) See also Dioscorides (v, 49.) Macer Floridus, a
comparatively modern authority, joins the more ancient authorities in
commending it as an antidote to narcotic poisons. He also says, that a
vinous tincture of it is useful in sea-sickness. Serapion, after quoting
freely from Dioscorides and Galen, under this head adds, upon “an unknown
authority,” that, when boiled with oil and rubbed over the stomach,
it cures coldness of the same. (De Simpl. 317.) In the modern Greek
Pharmacopœia (Athens, 1837), the two species of wormwood are described by
the names of _Artemisia Abrotonum_ and _Artemisia contra_. See further
Pereira (M. M. 1356.)
Ἀγάλλοχον,
Agallochum, is an Indian wood resembling the thyia, of an aromatic
nature. When chewed it contributes to the fragrance of the mouth. It is
also a perfume. Its root, when drunk to the amount of a drachm weight,
cures waterbrash and loss of tone in the stomach, and agrees with
hepatic, dysenteric, and pleuritic complaints.
* * * * *