period instilled their astrologic dotage into the minds of their
contemporaries varied considerably. Either astrological remarks were
here and there interspersed in a work on medical or on astronomical
subjects, as was the case, for instance, in the “Opus Quadripartitum”
of Ptolemy and also in Galen’s book on the “critical days,” or
astrology was treated as a special science in the form of a connected
system, as is done, for instance, in the “Iatromathematica” of Hermes
Trismegistus. Such textbooks of astrology obtained publicity in large
numbers from about the fourteenth century on. Whoever may be inclined
to cast a glance into the learned work of Sudhoff will be astonished to
observe the extent to which iathromathematics flourished in the second
half of the middle ages and at the turning-point of the Renaissance.
Still another form was to impart to the public their astrological
doctrines in the form of short sentences. We find nothing in such works
regarding the intricate calculations and methods by which endeavors
were made to fathom the language of the stars, but astrological results
were communicated in concise, aphoristic sentences. This was done in
the “Centiloquium” of Ptolemy, a work which in a hundred brief sayings
brings an epitome of astrological wisdom to market. The work enjoyed
the highest esteem in the middle ages. Such a book, therefore, would
correspond to that form of modern literary production, which, under
the title “Method of acquiring this or that accomplishment within a
short period,” is advertised to us modern people in the daily press.
Moreover, the “Centiloquium” of Ptolemy had many imitators. Such
a work is found, for instance, in Arabic literature, and contains
astrologic wisdom condensed into 150 brief sentences by the astrologer
Almansor, who furnished the handbook upon request of his ruler; the
Arabian, Bethem, has produced a similar work. We find analogous works
appearing later in the middle ages. Eventually, the doctrines of
astrology were put into neat rhymes; thus, for instance, Heinrich von
Rantzau, who departed this life 1598 as governor of Schleswig-Holstein,
celebrates in 100 well-turned verses the significance of the planets
in relation to the physical and mental welfare of humanity. We shall
again refer to this subject when considering astrology of the middle
ages. The iatromathematic passages in the above-mentioned writings
of Ptolemy, Hermes, and Galen furnished the foundation for all later
astrologico-medical theories. For what the middle ages believed
regarding the medical importance of the sidereal world, especially of
the planets and the zodiac, was nothing but the immediate continuation,
or elaboration, of the astrologic teachings of Ptolemy and other
authors of the first Christian centuries.
In the first place, every portion of the human frame was placed under
the influence of a certain celestial body.
The five planets already known to the ancients, as well as sun and
moon, governed, according to Hermes, the following parts of the body:
The sun, the right eye.
The moon, the left eye.
Saturn, hearing.
Jupiter, the brain.
Mars, the blood.
Venus, taste and smell.
Mercury, tongue and gullet.
However, the influence which sun, moon, and the planets exercised
upon the human body gradually became more intricate. It was no longer
satisfactory to enumerate relations between the bodies of heaven and
the human organs of such a general nature as given by the above table
of Hermes. All parts and functions of the body were to be brought
into the closest relations with the planets. Thus, for instance, the
celebrated humanist, Marsilius Ficinus, the friend of the Medici (1433
to 1499), depicts most minutely in a book “On Life,” which was much
read in its time, the relations between the body and the planets. This
was also done by Heinrich von Rantzau, in his “Tractus Astrologicus,”
which in its time was very celebrated. There we read regarding these
conditions as follows:
SATURN governs the spleen, the bladder, the bones, the teeth, and,
in part, the circulating juices of the body; causes the color of
the skin of man to be dark yellowish; impedes or promotes growth;
causes the eyes to be small, and prevents the growth of the beard.
JUPITER governs the lungs, the ribs, cartilages, the liver,
arteries, the pulse, and the development of human semen; causes
the white color of the skin, and gives a good figure.
MARS governs the bile, kidneys, veins, and sexual organs, and of
these especially the testicles; makes hair red and the temper
irascible, and inclined to outrages of various kinds.
VENUS governs the uterus, the breasts, the sexual organs, the
spermatic tubes, the loins, and the buttocks; endows man with
physical beauty, furnishes him with long hair, round eyes, and a
well-formed face; but it is inexcusable on the part of this star
that it presented mankind with gonorrhea.
MERCURY governs all mental processes—memory, imagination, the brain
with its nerves, the hands, feet, and legs, the bones and the
bile; causes man to be light-fingered.
THE SUN governs the brain, nerves, urine, the right eye of the male
and the left one of the female, the optic nerves, and the entire
right half of the body; gives a good complexion to man.
THE MOON governs the brain, mouth, belly, intestines, bladder,
taste, the organs of reproduction, the left eye of the male, the
right eye of the female, and the feminine liver, and the entire
left half of the body.
The signs of the zodiac, like the planets, exert full control over
the various parts of the body. Honest Bartisch, of Königsbrück (1535
to 1606), has given us in his “Eye-Service” an illustration of these
relations. Fig. 4 is a reproduction of this plate of Bartisch.
The sun, moon, planets, and zodiac regulated not only the life of the
various limbs of living man placed under their special care, but their
activity commenced at that moment when the foundation was just about
to be laid for the future bodily existence of a mortal—_i.e._, at the
moment of conception. If, during this critical process, the respective
bodies of the heavens were in an unfortunate conjunction, the members
of the future being, the most primitive forms of which had just been
founded, were bound to suffer. Naturally, however, only those parts of
the body were affected by this destiny which were in the care of stars
that happened to be in unpropitious conjunction at the time.
If the act of conception had passed without evil influence on those
that were actively and passively participating in it, the product of
that hour could by no means be sure that this or that planet would not
maliciously thwart the ease and tranquillity of its embryonic and fetal
life. For sun, moon, and the seven planets each governed one month of
intra-uterine life, as is explained by Jacobus Forliviensis. Saturn
reigns during the first month of pregnancy, Jupiter in the second,
Mars in the third, the sun in the fourth, Venus in the fifth, Mercury
in the sixth, the moon in the seventh; the eighth month is ruled again
by Saturn, and this latter planet now shows itself to be so malicious
that it immediately destroys all life born in the eighth month. Jupiter
again takes control during the ninth month, and, as this star is fond
of warmth and humidity, and, therefore, a friend of life in any form,
no danger is to be feared for a fetus entering the world during this
month. However, after the nine months of pregnancy have passed without
evil interference by the planets, Mars once more is in command, and his
influence helps in accomplishing a normal birth.
After the fetus had successfully passed all dangers which the planets
could cause during the nine months of intra-uterine life, and after
it had successfully matured, the hour of birth might, after all, be
accompanied with other quite severe sidereal complications. For if
any planet was in an unfavorable sign, or if the relations between
the signs of the zodiac and the sun or the moon were not quite in
their regular order, those members which were presided over by the
respective stars were made to suffer. The correct casting of the
medical horoscope, therefore, required the most accurate knowledge
of the minute of birth, with simultaneous occurrences in the canopy
of heaven. Provident fathers, accordingly, were mindful of having
an astrologer, during the hour of birth, in the room in which the
confinement was to take place, so that he might be able to ascertain as
accurately as possible the celestial occurrences which would determine
the bodily welfare of the new-born, and to arrange them for the
horoscope.
[Illustration: FIG. 4—THE RELATION OF THE PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY TO
THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC]
After the young mortal had safely arrived, and if a fortunate destiny
had placed in his cradle a favorable medical horoscope, both for the
hour during which the first material foundation had been laid for
his life and also for the hour of his birth, he had overcome only a
small part of the troubles which the starry world might be able to
inflict on his bodily welfare. If the various signs of heaven appeared
in unfavorable conjunction, or if the moon entered into any fatal
relations with the signs of the zodiac, members of the body which were
under the influence of the respective celestial bodies were still
imperiled. These dangers might threaten not only one individual, but
they were capable, eventually, even of calling down epidemics and
pestilence upon all humanity. After any form of disease had taken hold
of a person its course, treatment, and termination could be clearly
read in the stars of heaven. It was necessary, above all, to ascertain
the day, hour, and minute when the disease appeared. Unfortunately,
this must have been quite difficult at times; for many diseases begin
so insidiously that the moment of the attack is completely beyond
precise definition. In such a case one did the best that could be done,
and probably took as the moment of attack the first complaints of the
patient regarding his disorder. After the appearance of the disease was
dated in such a manner, the heavenly body, in the ascendant at this
period, was then ascertained; thus, the position and the course and the
phases of the moon, the relations of sun and moon to the twelve signs
of the zodiac, and the planets would be noted. It was necessary to
observe whether the moon was in opposition, quadrature, or conjunction
to the planets while she stood in the sign of this or that figure of
the zodiac. From these observations clear conclusions were first drawn
regarding the general condition, the character, the duration, and the
prognosis of the affection. These conclusions, however, were by no
means satisfactory as yet. An attempt was therefore made to obtain a
much more detailed insight into the causes, complications, and therapy
of the case in question by means of astrology, and such information was
abundantly provided in the _Medicina Astrologica_.
In the first place, the fact that sun, moon, planets, and the signs
of the zodiac shared the rule over the various organs of the body,
and furnished positive intimations regarding the cause of the disease
in question, made it unnecessary for the physician to trouble himself
at all with an examination of the patient in order to ascertain cause
and localization of the affection. One glance at the conjunctions of
the stars was sufficient to show which organ of the patient happened
to be endangered by the celestial constellation. If an individual
complained, for instance, of disturbed digestion, and if the heavenly
body that presided over the liver presented any remarkable phenomena,
naturally only the liver was responsible for the case in question,
and the diagnosis was made. Complications were to be expected if the
stars which controlled the circulation of blood and mucus showed
unfavorable signs. It was even possible for the physician well versed
in astrology to determine in advance the period of time at which the
occurrence of such humoral complications might be expected, as he had
learned that the various hours of the day and of the night were to
exert a powerful influence upon the juices of the body. For instance,
Almanzor explains that the first three hours of day and of night are
in closest relation to the blood, whereas the second quarters of day
and of night hold sway over the yellow, the third over the black
(bile), and the last quarters, finally, over the mucus. However, not
only were the various hours of great importance to the course of the
disease, but certain days of the disease—so-called critical days—were
of still greater significance. It is true, the doctrine of these
critical days was by no means the property of _Medicina Astrologica_,
but the Corpus Hippocraticum already contained a book Περὶ
χρίησὶμων. But the followers of Hippocrates had developed this
theory only from humoro-pathological premises, and Galen, in his work
χρήἱσιμαι ἡμέραι, had only included astrology in order to explain
and to prove the entire doctrine of crises (compare also Sudhoff). He
calculated in accordance with moon weeks and months, and in such a
manner that a week counted six days and seventeen and one-half hours,
and the month of the moon only twenty-six days and twenty-two hours.
The seventh, fourteenth, twentieth, and twenty-seventh days were to
be considered critical days of the first order. “Contemplate,” says
Galen, “the critical days in the course of the moon in the angles of
a geometrical figure of sixteen sides; if you find these angles in a
favorable constellation, the patient will fare well; badly, however,
if evil signs prevail.” But not only were certain hours and certain
days of the week said to exert an important astrological influence upon
the human body, such an influence was ascribed also to certain years.
Such years were called “_Anni Scansiles_”—that is, “climacteric.” The
expression “_Anni Climacterici_” was also used, but this designation
has nothing in common with the modern conception of the climacteric.
It was believed that the condition of the body underwent a thorough
revolution during these climacteric years, and that a new stage, as it
were, of organic life was reached. Heinrich von Rantzau, the astronomic
aristocrat and statesman, accordingly defines the climacteric years
as “_anni, in quibus ad sequentis temporis constitutionem sese vertat
ætas et inflectat_.” Therefore, such years should in themselves harbor
dangers for corporeal existence, and offer no favorable prospect for
the course of diseases.
Two kinds of such climacteric years were distinguished. One kind was
brought about by multiplication with the figure 7, and they were
called _anni hebdomatici_, or _climacterici (stricte sic dicta)_.
Accordingly, these were the years 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63.
These nine years formed the _climactericus parvus_, whereas the years
77, 84, 91, 98, 105, 112, 119, 126 were called the _climactericus
magnus_. A multiplication which extended further, to 171, reached
the _climactericus maximus_. The other kind of climacteric years was
obtained by multiplication with 9, and such years were called _anni
enneatici_, or _decretorii_. These were the years 9, 18, 27, 36, 45,
54, 63, 72, 81, 90, 99, 108, etc.
However, these climacteric years did not all present the same dangers,
but the peril inherent in them varied considerably. It was determined
by the multiplicator, and here especially the 3 and the 7 played a
very fatal rôle. The 21st year of life (3 × 7), and the 27th (3 × 9),
were one grade higher in the scale of dangers than those obtained by
other multiplicators. Still more dangerous were those years arrived at
by ascending in spaces of three hebdomads; therefore, the 21st year
of life—_i.e._, the period of three hebdomads—namely, 3 × 7; the 42d
year, as a period of 2 × 3 hebdomads—_i.e._, 2 × 21; the 63d year of
life, as a period of 3 hebdomads—_i.e._, 3 × 21; 84 = to 4 × 21; 105
= 5 × 21, etc. The 49th year of life and the 56th year of life were
said to be still more dangerous than these years obtained from the
period of three hebdomads. It is true, the cause of the danger is quite
obvious in the case of the 49th year; it was the ominous 7 × 7 which
here gave rise to forebodings. And it was not quite comprehensible what
caused the bad reputation of innocent 56; Rantzau fails to give us a
sufficient explanation.
But the most dangerous climacteric year was the 63d, for this was made
up of 7 × 9. It was, therefore, an _annus hebdomaticus_ and, at the
same time, also an _annus enneaticus_, for it belonged both to the
class of those climacteric years which were formed by the multiplier 7,
as also to that which were obtained by the multiplier 9. It was most
natural, therefore, that a period of life which from two sides was
fraught with danger, like the unfortunate 63d year of life, was bound
to appear equally suspicious to the healthy and to the sick. It is
probable that this year was, therefore, called _androdas_, because, as
Rantzau believes, it debilitates and breaks vitality.
It would appear, moreover, that the climacteric years enjoyed general
consideration in ancient times as well as in the middle ages, for
Rantzau names a number of celebrated men who were said to have
expressed themselves regarding the significance of these years, such as
Plato, Censorinus, Gellius, Philo Judæus, Macrobius, Cicero, Boëtius,
St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, Bede, Georgius Valla, and others. Not
satisfied with this statement, Rantzau also mentions in his catalog
a multitude of prominent men who all departed this life in their 63d
year, and thus, as he believes, had established the dangerousness of
this year by their death.
It is probable, therefore, that the 63d birthday was celebrated with
great apprehension during the entire middle ages, and the respective
individual did not draw an easy breath until after the ominous year had
been successfully passed.
However, the stars knew not only how to tell particulars regarding
the probable course and possible complications of diseases, but they
also gave information regarding very special forms of affections. It
was possible, thus, to learn from them at what time diseases of the
eye were to be feared, when mental diseases were threatening, when
hemorrhages were to be expected, etc. The astrologically trained
physician was able to obtain prompt information from the stars
regarding contingent surgical accidents; for there existed various
conjunctions of the celestial bodies, according to Ptolemy, which
surely pointed to wounds, fractures of bones, burns, concussions, and
other lesions. In fact, it was possible to see in advance, from the
celestial phenomena, what limbs would be exposed to forcible injury;
thus, certain conjunctions of the planets were said to prognosticate
with certainty wounds of the head; others, of the face; others, again,
of the hands and feet, of the fingers and toes, of the arms and legs,
of the trunk and neck. Astrology, moreover, was not satisfied with the
prognostic and diagnostic activity which we have just mentioned, but it
also interfered in therapy, internal as well as external.
Regarding, in the first place, internal medicinal treatment, the
astrologer knew how to give positive information about the same; for
all terrestrial beings, of an organic as well as of an inorganic
nature, were under the influence of the sun, the moon, of the planets,
and of the signs of the zodiac. The stars imparted certain powers to
the planets, to animals, and to all structures of the inorganic world.
If, therefore, it were known what stars happened to appear in the
vault of heaven at the beginning of the disease or of its treatment,
it was only necessary seriously to consider the organic and inorganic
structures under their supervision, and the remedies required for a
successful control of the disease were presently at hand. But if the
healer wished to be absolutely certain what medicaments to choose, the
phases of the moon and the condition of the sun were also to be taken
into consideration. Some remedies could be administered only when the
moon was in a particular relation to certain planets or stars of the
zodiac. These remedies were principally emetics and purges.
Similarly to the internal clinician, so also in surgery, the healer
was entirely dependent upon the conjunction of the stars. The primeval
Babylonian directed that the body must not be touched with iron during
certain conjunctions of the stars, and this was also prescribed in
all cases of _Astrologica Medica_. It appears, however, that this
direction obtained less general surgical recognition, but referred
principally to blood-letting. Even to this limited extent it implied
a high-handed interference with the art of the ancient as well as of
the medieval physician; for venesection occupied an entirely different
position among therapeutic measures during that period than it does
to-day. Whereas modern medicine does not consider blood-letting
necessary, except in the rarest cases, ancient as well as medieval
professors of medicine believed that they could under no circumstances
dispense with it; in fact, it is probable that until the seventeenth
century there was scarcely any form of disease the treatment of which
would have been possible without withdrawal of blood. An actual
system of blood-letting had been elaborated under the influence of
humoro-pathological opinions. Every vein that could be reached with
the lancet was acted upon, and the school of medicine of the period
was punctiliously careful in teaching which vessel presented the most
suitable point of attack for the hand of the physician in this or that
form of disease. The therapeutic subtleties which were thus brought to
light are beyond description. Thus, a withdrawal of blood from veins on
the right side of the body was said to yield an essentially different
effect from left-sided venesection, and each individual vein of the
body promised a special advantage which was peculiar to this one vein.
The physician of that period surely had enough to do to bear in mind
all the numerous therapeutic effects which he was to achieve by the
opening of the various veins. To facilitate this difficult art to a
certain degree special figures were designed—so-called venesection
manikins, in which the numerous points for bleeding were most carefully
annotated. Fig. 5 (page 175) shows such a picture. It indicates no less
than 53 different localities for venesection, and as each and every
one of them again implied four or five, or possibly even more, methods
of blood-letting, we may consider that there were many hundreds of
different possibilities for phlebotomy. If it was easy to become lost
in the labyrinth of this blood-thirsty therapy, the difficulty of a
methodical application of venesection was very materially increased by
astrology; for astrology differentiated between, first, favorable, then
doubtful, and, finally, unfavorable days for venesection, basing this
opinion upon certain positions between sun, moon, and planets. Then the
various ages of life had also different days for venesection; days, for
instance, which promised to be exceptionally successful for venesection
in the young, offered very unfavorable prospects to the aged. Thus,
for instance, the period from the first quadrature of the moon to
the opposition was said to be excellent for bleeding in adolescence,
whereas this period was by no means inviting for phlebotomy in those
who had reached the senile period. The chances for venesection became
rather intricate in their different aspects. Thus, for instance,
Stöffler taught:
{the sun prohibits venesection two
{days before and one day after.
Conjunction of {
the moon with { }prohibits venesection one
{Saturn }day before and one day
{Mars }after.
Quadrature of {Sun }prohibits venesection
the moon with {Saturn }twelve hours before and
{Mars }twelve hours after.
Opposition of {Sun }prohibits venesection one
the moon with {Saturn }day before and one day
{Mars }after.
We see, therefore, that the physician of that time was compelled to
be well-versed in astronomy unless he meant to commit grave mistakes
against the doctrines of _Medicina Astrologica_. Such sins could
eventually become rather dangerous to the physician, for the code of
Hammurabi (about 2200, B.C., ruler of Babylon) threatens the operator,
for not quite unobjectionable surgical procedures, with the loss of his
hands (Winckler, page 33, § 218).
In order to satisfy the astrological requirement of the physician most
thoroughly, there arose in the middle ages a very peculiar literature.
Under the name of an almanac or calendarium, thick folio volumes
appeared, which enumerated, in long tables, the various positions of
the planets and of the signs of the zodiac, so that the astrologer was
enabled to note the fate of mankind rapidly and easily. The contents
of such calendaria are beyond description. Apart from remarks which
referred to all occurrences of civil life, was stated the exact period
when to have the hair cut, when venesection was to be performed, when
to draw teeth, when to take a bath, etc. Even the proper time for
prayer was indicated by such a calendarium. According to the experience
of Peter of Abano, the conjunction of the moon with Jupiter in the
Dragon was sure to effect an answer to prayer. Hieronymus Cardanus
had discovered, with the aid of astrology, that a request was sure to
be complied with if a prayer was offered to the Virgin Mary on the
first day of April, at 8 A.M. (Möhsen, Vol. II., page 423). Physicians
excelled in the compilation of such calendaria, especially during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Professors, forensic physicians,
surgeons—in fact, all representatives of medical art—were equally
intent upon instructing the public by calendaria in regard to the most
various branches of _Medicina Astrologica_; thus, for instance, David
Herliz, physician at Prenzlau, supplied Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and
the Margravate of Brandenburg with calendars for fifty years, from the
year 1584. The Marburg professor of medicine, Victorinus Schönfelder,
played a similar rôle during the same period for western Germany. The
physician, as almanac-maker, is probably one of the most wonderful
results of medical superstition, and this aberration of medicine clung
so firmly to the people that, even in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, certain days of the year were considered as especially
favorable for venesection, and the calendars took particular pains to
call the attention of the public most emphatically to good days for
blood-letting.
[Illustration: FIG. 5—VENESECTION IN ITS ASTRONOMICAL CONNECTION]
=Explanation of Fig. 5=
_A._ The astronomic signs which are noted on the different parts
of the body indicate the signs of the zodiac, under the special
influence of which the respective members of the body are said to
be.
_B._ The numerals which are found at the most varied parts of the
body refer to indications for venesection, as stated below. In
these localities, which are characterized by figures, blood was
drawn for the most various affections, namely in:
1. Pains of the eyes and head; affections of the face,
including eruptions.
2. Affections of the head; mental disturbances.
3. Affections of the eye of various kinds.
4 and 5. Pains in the ears; lachrymation.
6 and 7. Tinnitus aurium; tremor of the head.
8. Disturbances of hearing.
9. Heaviness of the head; flow from the eyes. Venesection here
also renders memory more acute, as well as the activity of
the brain in general.
10. Heaviness of the head.
11. Ulcers of the lips and of the gums.
12. The veins of the palate are to be opened in eruptions in
the face, in toothache, in affections of the palate and of
the mouth, heaviness of the head.
13. Neuralgia and toothache.
14. Headaches, mental disturbances.
15. To render the memory more acute.
16. In all affections of the mouth or of the chest.
17. Fetid breath.
18. Pains in the jaws; fœtor e naso; eruptions of the face.
19. Neuralgia of the head; eruptions.
20. Disturbances in the chest of various kinds.
21. Flow from the eyes; headache; epilepsy.
22. Diseases of the chest of various kinds, including dyspnea;
headache; stitches in the side.
23. Diseases of the liver, injuries to the right side of the
body; nosebleed.
24. Affections of the head and the eyes; pains in the
shoulder-blades; coryza.
25. Pains in the heart, in the sides, and in the mouth.
26. Spasms in the fingers; pains in the spleen and in the
limbs; epistaxis; stitches in the liver.
27. Pains of the central parts of the body.
28. Affections of the lower portions of the body.
29. Heart-disease.
30. To render vision more acute, and to strengthen the
dexterity of the body.
31. Headache, fever, various kinds of cataract, glaucoma, etc.;
cloudiness of the sclera; inflammations of the tongue and
of the pharynx.
32. Pains of the head, lungs, spleen.
33. Diseases of the blood; chlorosis; jaundice; affections of
the head; stitches in the right side. Blood-letting in this
locality purifies liver, spleen, breast.
34. Same as 32.
36. Affections of the spleen, meningeal inflammation;
hemorrhoids; stitches in the left side; renal affections;
dysmenorrhea.
37. Affections of the spleen and of the bladder.
38. Dropsy; disturbances of digestion; ulcers of long standing.
39. Melancholia; venesection in this locality strengthens
the kidneys.
40. Hemorrhoids; strangury; disturbances of digestion;
affections of the bladder and of the sexual organs.
41. Venesection here acts upon the proper condition of the body
in general.
42. Diseases of the kidney, bladder, stone, testicles.
43. Venesection here strengthens the gait.
44. All kinds of pains of the lower extremities, such as
arthritis, gout; also in dysmenorrhea.
45. Affections of the sexual organs; diseases of the kidney and
bladder.
46. Diseases of the testicles.
47. Disturbances of menstruation; sterility of women;
affections of the bladder and spleen.
48. Various kinds of diseases of the feet.
49. Dysmenorrhea; eruptions in the face and on the legs.
50. Apoplexy; paralysis.
51. Ophthalmia; skin diseases; cough; oppression of the chest.
52. Dysmenorrhea; affections of the testicles; costal pains.
53. Ophthalmia; dysmenorrhea; amenorrhea; skin eruptions.
Such therapy, detached entirely from the actual requirements of the
case and based only upon observation of the sky, was bound to be
attended with the most unfortunate results. The suffering public was
frequently but little cheered by the assistance of its physicians, and
often felt the desire to find out what another physician could do. It
appears that such a condition occurred quite frequently, for Ptolemy,
in number 57 of his “Centiloquium,” gives special directions under
what astral conditions such a change of physician could take place. He
says: “_Cum septimum locum atque ejus dominum in ægritudine afflictum
videris, medicum mutato._” It appears certain, accordingly, that a
general change of physicians was inaugurated by the public so soon as
the above conjunction was noted in the sky.
Those who desired to be very careful in the choice of their physician
did not change only when the conjunction of the stars recommended it as
advisable, but they also attempted to ascertain the horoscope of the
newly chosen medical adviser, for medical wisdom was found in greatest
abundance in a man whose aspects showed a certain form. “_Perfectus
medicus erit, cui Mars et Venus fuerint in sexta_,” says Almansor.
This condition of _Astrologia Medica_ was such as to weigh like
an oppressive nightmare upon mankind, not only for centuries but
for thousands of years, and in this way medical superstition has
slaughtered more human beings than the most bloody wars ever did.
However, astrology has not always ruled our kind with equal strength.
There were periods during which belief in the fate-determining power of
the stars was more dominant, and others in which it was feebler. The
ancient world, which was blindly devoted to all kinds of superstition,
had also cherished and fostered astrology. But when the ancient theory
of life was demolished later on, and the Christian God of love had
taken possession of the world, the belief in the fate-determining power
of the stars was shaken, and centuries, followed during which _Medicina
Astrologica_, altho it did not by any means disappear entirely, was
forced more or less to the rear. Astrology did not become resurrected
until scholasticism and dogmatism had held back the activity of
the mind from independent investigation, thus bringing about the
intellectual darkness which for centuries prevailed. This use of
astrology truly forms one of the most wonderful pages in the history of
the development of our race, for an actual _furor astrologicus_ seized
upon the world in the course of the thirteenth century. The movement
originated at the court of Emperor Frederick II. The great Ghibelline
was so positive and so enthusiastic an adherent of all astrologic
doctrines that he did not decide upon any undertaking until he had
first learned the opinion of the stars regarding his enterprise. It was
his firm belief that the stars prophesied for him a political rôle
which was to shake the entire world, and of his astrological prediction
he apprised his adversary, the pope, in the following words:
Fata volunt, stellaeque docent, animumque volatus,
Quod Fridericus ego malleus orbis ero.
But if a ruler of high mental gifts is always destined to exert a
powerful influence upon his epoch, how much more telling is this
influence when the contemporaries of such a monarch lead a mental
life, fettered by so many religious, philosophical, and physical
prejudices as undeniably dominated mankind during the reign of
the great Hohenstaufen. If these conditions were of the greatest
advantage to astrology in general, circumstances shaped themselves
most favorably for _Medicina Astrologica_ in particular. Very soon
after the death of the star-learned Hohenstaufen emperor, two highly
talented physicians bound themselves body and soul to astrology—namely,
Arnald Bachuone, called also, after his birthplace, Villanueva,
Arnaldus Villanovanus or Arnald of Villanova (1235-1312), and Petrus,
called also, after his birthplace, Abano near Padua, Petrus de Apono
or Petrus Aponensis (1250-1315). From that time until the seventeenth
century the most eminent representatives of all the sciences and
professions devoted themselves to the doctrines of astrology. In the
excellent work of Sudhoff is cited a notable number of physicians—by
no means the most unskilful of their day—who confessed themselves to
be iatromathematicians (_i.e._, _medici astrologici_). Astrology,
and with it _Medicina Astrologica_, reigned supreme at most of the
princely courts from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries. The
Hohenstaufen, Frederick II., was, as we have seen, an implicit adherent
to astrologic doctrines; likewise the Visconti in Milan. The royal
court of Aragon in Palermo offered a sheltering asylum to astronomy
and to astrology. Alfonso X. of Castile was so enthusiastic a friend
of scientific astronomy that he ordered the planet-tables of Ptolemy
to be restored, with an outlay of enormous costs, by fifty astronomers
called by him to Toledo. German princes, such as Elector Joachim of
Brandenburg, Albrecht, Elector of Mayence, Landgrave William of Hesse,
Duke Albrecht of Prussia, not only adhered to the predictions of the
stars, but they also subscribed to the statements of astrological
medicine. Thus, for instance, Thomas Erastus (died 1583) the well-known
opponent of Paracelsus, tells us that, as body-physician to the
reigning count of Henneberg, he was not permitted to begin a course
of treatment until he had consulted the stars. The German emperor,
Charles V., was quite as constant a friend of the astrologists; he
was instructed in astrology by his teacher, the subsequent pope,
Hadrian VI. The court of Denmark was the center of astrological
teachings under Frederick II., as no less a personage than Tycho de
Brahe was active there. But not only rulers favored astrology, it met
with implicit belief from highly enlightened scholars, statesmen, and
naturalists. Thus, Melanchthon was so convinced an adherent of all
astrological doctrines that he was incessantly active in their favor by
mouth and by pen. And when fatal disease had finally seized upon him,
he was soon satisfied as to the issue, in that Mars and Saturn happened
to be in conjunction (Möhsen, Vol. II., page 416).
However, men were not wanting who courageously took up the battle
against astrological delusions. Thus, for instance, the friend of
Lorenzo of Medici, the learned Count Pico of Mirandola (1463-1494);
also Girolamo Fracastori (1483-1553), who is known by his didactic poem
on syphilis, opposed astrology.
If we now ask how it was possible that a superstition like astrology
could for centuries dominate Occidental medicine, and was even able
to influence the best minds in its favor, an answer to this question
will not be as difficult as might appear at first glance. The very
best and the most enlightened minds are always particularly affected
by what is enigmatical and mysterious in the phenomena of life. They
perceive the narrow limits set to our cognition of nature much more
acutely and deeply than the average mind. This consciousness of the
insufficiency of our own knowledge, joined with an ardent desire after
a broadening of our understanding, tends to turn the mind in strange
directions. The result of clearer self-knowledge in this modern epoch
of ours is an adverseness to any form of romantic fancy, and is likely
to end in a sad resignation that may result in pessimism. But the
middle ages, with their exuberant confidence and faith, their belief in
wonders, and their romantic ideas, did not suffer to any great extent
from scientific apathy. A sharply defined, mystic tendency helped to
overcome what was inadequate in the cognition of nature. And for this
reason do we find this mystic tendency prominent, especially in those
representatives of that period who, owing to their mental capacity,
were bound to perceive their defective insight into the manifestations
of life much more intensely than this was felt by the average persons
of narrower intellect.
The conditions thus described, as well as the diagnostico-theoretical
principles on which medicine and natural sciences were based in
antiquity and in the middle ages, until late in the eighteenth century
led many mentally gifted men to consider astrology rather a refuge from
the current defective conception of natural phenomena than a false
doctrine.
VI
INFLUENCE EXERTED UPON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERSTITION BY MEDICINE
ITSELF
As ancient, medieval, and some more modern theories of medicine have
traveled over the same diagnostico-theoretical roads as did the natural
science of those periods, they were naturally subject to the same
errors and aberrations. But the consequences of their errors differed
materially. Whereas natural science, in the early and middle ages,
with its faulty diagnostico-theoretical method, too frequently had
recourse to supernatural factors to explain terrestrial phenomena, and
thus created superstition instead of elucidation, the pathology of
ancient as well as of medieval medicine avoided as much as possible
any recourse to miraculous agencies in explaining the pathological
phenomena of the body. This it was forced to do for the sake of
self-preservation. For what would have become of the physicians with
their art, which was of a purely material kind, working as it did with
drug and knife, if they themselves had traced disease to supernatural
causes? No one, under such conditions, would have had any dealings
with mundane medical science. It is true, there have been times when
such a state of things actually existed. The physician, with his
earthly appliances, was always led astray as soon as metaphysical ideas
had victoriously entered pathology. History affords numerous examples
of this. The cult of relics, the belief in astrology during half of the
middle ages, show plainly to what a degrading position the physician
was reduced as soon as a pathology reckoning with earthly factors was
replaced by a metaphysical theory of disease. Then the physician was
either completely thrust aside—ἀλλ’ ὠθεῖται μὲν ἒξω νοσοῦντος ὁ
ἰατρός, as says Plutarch (“Superstition,” Vol. I., page 412)—or he
was forced to submit to a disgraceful interference. All schools of
medicine, therefore, from the humoral pathology of the followers of
Hippocrates to the so-called parasitism of the nineteenth century,
have avoided as much as possible the acknowledgment that supernatural
influences were active as pathological factors. Various as the
principles of the countless medical schools may have been, they were
all united in assuming as the starting-point of their speculations some
material process of the body itself, in accordance with which they
applied their therapeutic agencies.
Sometimes, it is true, it would seem as tho medicine, under some
circumstances, had recourse to supernatural factors in explaining
various phenomena of physiological as well as pathological conditions;
as, for instance, in the primeval pneuma-doctrine, or in those
conceptions which attribute to a mental or psychical principle a
far-reaching influence upon the performance of all bodily functions.
Upon closer investigation, however, we shall find that the pneuma,
or spirit, the soul, or whatever else the mysterious mainspring
of all phenomena of life may be called, was by no means conceived
of by medicine as immaterial or supernatural. On the contrary!
Medicine, as often as it required a spiritual something to explain
the manifestations of the body, has always regarded this unknown
quantity as thoroughly substantial. It has not, indeed, been possible
to determine more precisely the material nature of this great unknown,
altho such attempts are by no means wanting in Democritus, Galen, and
others; still it was always considered a corporeal thing. Supernatural
qualities were ascribed to it only after death, but so long as the soul
animated the body, united with the latter, it was a terrestrial being,
and as such obeyed the laws of terrestrial substance. It was possible
for medical science, therefore, to reckon with it in the explanation
of pathological processes without necessarily expecting a reproach that
supernatural agencies were called in for assistance.
Medicine, therefore, altho it has traveled the same
diagnostico-theoretical road as natural science, has not, like the
latter, directly produced superstition. It is true, it has called
forth innumerable erroneous hypotheses. But a wrong hypothesis, altho
it may be nonsensical to the utmost and give rise to the most serious
practical consequences, is by no means superstition; for both error
and superstition—so far as it is a question of medical matters—are two
radically different conceptions, because the former concerns itself
only with natural, the latter with supernatural factors.
Yet it is quite conceivable that the dissemination of an intellectual
principle can be furthered and promoted without overt advocacy of the
principle itself, and this was the relation that existed for thousands
of years between medicine and superstition; for we learn from this
investigation that the representatives of medicine were too often ready
to admit all kinds of superstitious views into medicine. Whenever
religion, philosophy, and natural science have seriously attempted to
influence medicine in a manner promoting superstition, medical science
yielded to these attempts, and this is the only reproach which can be
justly laid at the door of our science.
However, this reproach is mitigated if we consider that medicine did
not accord a home to superstition of its own free will, or even from
a predilection for the heresies of other disciples, but it did so
under compulsion; for the religious, the philosophical, the physical
views which forced the entrance of superstition into medical science
were almost always the views of a formidable party. It is a fact
sufficiently demonstrated by history that powerful and far-reaching
predilections of the popular mind resistlessly hurry along whatever is
in their path. Such mental currents are the products of their period;
they are the immediate result of the general sentiment and feeling
of their time, and for this very reason they successfully overcome
resistance. The opinion of a single individual may raise a protest
against the spirit of the age, but this resistance is always bound to
be in vain. The opinion of a single individual, even if it actually
represents the truth, is absolutely powerless to resist the spirit of
the age which, with elemental force, compels obedience. Therefore, the
courageous, truth-seeking resistance which was offered to the heresies
of _Medicina Astrologica_ by Pico of Mirandola and Girolamo Fracastori
was bound to be futile, because astrology was a genuine child of its
time, and therefore held irresistible sway over thought and sentiment.
If religion and philosophy so often interfered with the development of
medicine, this was only possible because the general tendency of the
contemporary mind was thoroughly absorbed in this or that religious or
philosophical idea. For each domain of human activity must needs be a
mere reflection of the tendency which guides the mind of its period.
This is a law which, with iron force, dominates the development of
culture. Superstition in medicine, therefore, was bound to flourish and
thrive whenever it harmonized with the spirit of the age.
This law, tho it may have checked the development of our science,
nevertheless holds out the certain promise of a period, the
intellectual power of which will thoroughly clear away all relics of
superstition, which, still persisting in the minds of the many, drives
them to the faith-curist and to the quack.
VII
MEDICAL SUPERSTITION AND INSANITY
The history of medicine is conjoined with the evolution of theology
to an extent which makes them almost inseparable, and this may
best be seen from a study of the management of the insane, which
is a continuous record of cruelty based upon medico-theological
superstition. Perhaps the most heartrending chapter of unphilosophical
theology teems with the narration of thousands of unfortunate
beings murdered, tortured, and mishandled by the finesse in the
interpretation of Biblical texts. The greatest triumph of modern
medicine has consisted in unfettering the views of effete centuries,
born of superstition and misconception, and in placing the treatment
of the insane upon a humane, often even a curative, plane. As other
afflictions of humanity were attributed to the agency of evil spirits,
this was particularly the case with insanity; for if the evil one found
it an easy task to control the corporeal acts of humanity, his power
over the mental functions of the person afflicted was even greater.
Hence, it was not the person who acted, but the evil spirit in him.
Thus, the devil and his minions were the specific pathogenic agents.
This conception was not universal, for history shows us that clear
thinkers, far in advance of their times, had an almost correct view
of the nature of insanity—namely, that it was due to an affection of
the mind. Among such men were Hippocrates, Aretæus, Soranus, Galen,
Aurelianus, etc., and some of the Mohammedan physicians. These apostles
of science taught that insanity was a disease of the brain, and the
most efficient remedy, mild, palliative treatment.
The belief which had flourished in most of the Oriental religions from
remote antiquity, that the power of evil demons was the active cause
of disease, particularly that lunacy was due to diabolic possession,
became rooted in the early Christian Church and flourished for eighteen
centuries, each leaf of this malignant plant representing countless
unfortunates sacrificed to superstition. Later it was thought that the
moon had a direct influence upon perturbation of the mind; hence, the
term “lunacy” developed.
These doctrines gained special credence in the first centuries after
Christ by the dissemination under the Church Fathers of the story
of the miracles which they claimed had been performed by Jesus of
Nazareth. Did not the Savior cast out devils? Did He not cure madness?
The very word “epilepsy” shows by its derivation, ἐπίληψις (to seize
upon), that possession was the presumable nature of the malady.
The noble work accomplished by the “pagan” pioneer alienists was
discredited or forgotten, and the Church originated a process by which
the possessed were to be treated. This method of treatment was derived
purely from theologic sources, tempered with sufficient dogma. At first
the treatment was gentle, in accordance with the spirit of the great
physicians of antiquity, and if the afflicted one was not violent he
was permitted to attend public worship. Sacred salves and holy water,
the breath or the spittle of the officiating priest, the touching of
relics, or a visit to holy places, were the principal therapeutic
agents employed. These methods, even if they did no good (sometimes
merely the consolation of a kind word from the priest had a beneficial
effect), certainly did no harm, even tho such practises were factors in
the spread of superstition.
This mild form of treatment did not, however, long continue. Soon
measures were directed toward driving out the evil spirit from the
possessed. This was attempted in various ways; first, by exorcism, in
the period of Justin Martyr, and continued up to almost recent times
(see Lecky, “History of European Morals”). “From the time of Justin
Martyr for about two centuries, there is, I believe, not a single
Christian writer who does not solemnly and explicitly assert the
reality and frequent employment of this power.”
One of the chief attributes of the devil was pride, therefore attempts
were made by exorcism to pierce this vulnerable point in the armor of
the evil one, and the foulest, vilest epithets were used to attain this
end. It is impossible to-day to print these expressions, even in a work
of scientific character, and it is better, perhaps, to refer such as
are especially interested in them to the _Manuale Benedictionum_, by
the Bishop of Passau, published in 1849, and similar works. Adjuvants
to this form of treatment consisted in “frightening” the devil by
long words, difficult to pronounce, commonly derived from Oriental
languages, by the administration of malodorous and filthy “drugs,” and
similar practises.
It was claimed that many devils were thus driven out, and the annals of
the Church contain numerous records of persons cured in this manner.
“The Jesuit Fathers at Vienna, in 1583, glorified in the fact that
in such a contest they had cast out twelve thousand, six hundred and
fifty-two living devils” (White). The prevalence of these ideas to
such a degree in the minds of the people may be noted from the fact
that, in the churches themselves, such scenes are carved in stone and
depicted on canvas. Medieval drama teemed with similar conceptions,
and this condition of affairs prevailed for over one thousand years,
unfortunately not in this harmless manner, but supplemented by great
cruelty, which forms, perhaps, the most terrible chapter in the history
of medical superstition.
The subtleties of theologic interpretation soon evolved a more
comprehensive method of dealing with the “possessor” and the possessed.
As an appeal to pride was ineffectual and noxious drugs unavailing,
it was found necessary to whip the devil out, or the unfortunate
individuals were imprisoned, and as a refinement of this treatment they
were even tortured. Thus the jailer for a long time played the part
of a specialist in lunacy, with the clergy in consultation. Places in
which the insane were confined were known as “fool towers” and “witch
towers.”
This state of things was not altered with the dawn of the Reformation.
The writings of Luther conclusively show his ideas in regard to
possession and witchcraft, and these views under Calvin reached
enormous development. Even Cotton Mather, in many respects far in
advance of his times, and who himself had known persecution, was not
emancipated from these delusions, and Salem has many a story to tell of
possession and witch-baiting. It is true we may quite properly consider
these views as the thought of the times, but, in many other respects,
Luther, Calvin, and Mather were in advance of their period, and,
therefore, a justification for their actions is not quite apparent.
Marcus Aurelius also was much superior to his age, yet was grateful to
his teachers that they taught him to disregard superstition in all its
various forms.
It is not unlikely that conditions of this kind frequently led to
epidemics—if not of actual insanity, at least to hysteria—which not
rarely developed in cities, nunneries, and monasteries; thus the
epidemics in Erfurt in 1237, in the Rhine countries in 1374, and many
others (see Hirsch).
It is rather remarkable that while such views and practises prevailed
in the Christian Church, the followers of Mohammed not only held
different views, but adopted a mode of treatment of the insane which
laid the foundation of modern therapeutics in diseases of the mind.
In the twelfth century, in Bagdad, a palace called the “Home of Mercy”
was built, in which the insane were confined, examined every month, and
released as soon as they had recovered. An asylum in Cairo was founded
in 1304, while the first Christian asylum expressly for the mad is
noted in 1409 (Lecky).
But science fought its way through the barriers of ignorance,
misdirected zeal, and superstition. Altho there were physicians and
“magicians,” who conformed to the views of the Church, the seed sown by
the earlier schools of medicine slowly but surely began to put forth
shoots, and the result was a tree of knowledge, the fruit of which
may be observed in every modern insane asylum of the world, where
the unfortunate sufferer is treated with kindness and skill, which,
fortunately, often results in cure.
Scientific reason frequently rebelled against the “insane
superstition,” at first mildly, but constantly increasing in strength,
until an effectual protest was finally raised by John Weir, of Cleves,
who was soon followed by Michel de Montaigne. And now a battle royal
was waged between the adherents of theology and the disciples of the
“resurrected” truth, and once more in the history of the world was
demonstrated the correctness of the saying, that “truth crushed to
earth shall rise again.” All over the world the warfare was carried,
and at the end of the eighteenth century new champions arose—Jean
Baptiste Pinel in France, and William Tuke in England. Their followers
are legion, and in the book of life, in letters of gold, many a name
has been written of those who trod in the footsteps of these pioneers.
Theology no longer interferes in the treatment of the insane; in fact,
it would be manifestly unjust not to mention that many Christian
theologians subsequently joined in the noble work of lunacy reform, and
aided progress greatly.
How great this progress in the treatment of the insane can best be
appreciated by some of the older physicians in practise to-day. Who
does not remember the chains, the strait-jacket, the dark locked cells
of the insane asylum? These conditions existed not very many years ago,
and altho the novels of Charles Reade are no doubt greatly exaggerated
in regard to the conditions he portrayed in insane asylums, yet _more
than a grain of truth_ is probably contained in them. The books did
much to bring about reforms in England and elsewhere.
Modern alienists have wrought wonders; their successful operations
are not published in the daily press, but any visitor who knows what
an insane asylum was fifty years ago, and who spends a few hours in
a modern hospital for the treatment of lunatics, will observe what
appears but little short of the miraculous. Imagine two thousand
or more insane persons dining in a large hall, upon the table a
tablecloth, and the insane using knife and fork in a decorous manner,
and when the visitor is told that the “violent ward” is also present,
and is asked to single these out from among the many, and fails (as
he invariably does), the results attained by science, above all other
measures, are strikingly apparent.
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Transcriber’s note
Words in italics were surrounded with _underscores_ and words in small
capitals with all capitals.
The following corrections were made, on page
18 “conspiculously” changed to “conspicuously” (becomes
conspicuously prominent)
30 “explicity” changed to “explicitly” (will be more explicitly
referred to)
57 “Julien” changed to “Julian” (led her toward the grave of
St. Julian)
77 “guage” changed to “gauge” (gauge the ideas of priests)
91 “Ephesus(500” changed to “Ephesus (500” (the absurd theory which
Heraclitus of Ephesus (500 B.C.) has propounded)
116 “invidual” changed to “individual” (to plague an individual
being)
192 “person the” changed to “the person” (it was not the person who
acted)
196 “manasteries” changed to “monasteries” (nunneries, and
monasteries)
203 “autorisirte” changed to “autorisierte” (Deutsche autorisierte
Ausgabe).
Otherwise the original was preserved, including inconsistent
hyphenation and possible errors in languages other than English,
for example the capitalisation in Greek sentences.