THE MYSTERY AND ROMANCE
OF
ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY
THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS, LTD.
THE MYSTERY AND ROMANCE
OF
ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY
BY
C. J. S. THOMPSON
AUTHOR OF “POISON ROMANCE AND POISON MYSTERIES,”
“THE CHEMIST’S COMPENDIUM,” “THE CULT OF BEAUTY,”
ETC., ETC.
LONDON
THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS, LIMITED
28 & 29 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C.
1897
PREFACE.
It has been my endeavour in the following pages to sketch, however
imperfectly, some phases of the romance and mystery that have
surrounded the arts of medicine, alchemy, and pharmacy from the
earliest period of which we have record down to the close of the
eighteenth century. The influence of the past on the present is greater
than we commonly suppose. In this age of rapid scientific progress
and brilliant research, we are apt to overlook and lose sight of the
patient labours of the early pioneers of science, many of whom laid the
foundations of discoveries that have since proved of inestimable value
to mankind. Hence the history of the past, whether in science or in
art, is always worthy of study and attention.
My thanks are due to the Editor of the _Pharmaceutical Journal_ for
permission to reproduce several illustrations which appeared in its
pages together with a portion of this work.
C. J. S. T
LIVERPOOL, 1897.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
THE DAWN OF THE ART OF HEALING.
The foundation of the art of healing—The most ancient record
of medicine and pharmacy—The _Ebers Papyrus_—Origin of the
term pharmacist—Drugs used in ancient Egypt—Early Jewish
medicines—The antiquity of medicine and alchemy in China—The
Chinese and the Philosopher’s Stone—Ancient Chinese _materia
medica_—The medical art in ancient Greece—The Grecian temples
of medicine—Methods of treatment—The oath of Hippocrates
_pages_ 1-13
CHAPTER II.
THE WIZARDS OF EARLY GREECE.
Tiresias—Abaris—Pythagoras—Epimenides—Empedocles—Aristras—
Hermotimus _pages_ 14-23
CHAPTER III.
THE WIZARDS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
A Roman sorceress—Virgil’s sorceress—Canidia—A witches’
incantation _pages_ 24-29
CHAPTER IV.
THE FATHERS OF MEDICINE.
Æsculapius—Hippocrates—Diocles—Praxagoras—Chrysippus—
Hierphilus—Erasistratus—Serapion—Asclepiades—Galen—His
system of treatment—Medical practice in the fifth
century—Alexander of Tralles—The fees of Roman
practitioners—Votive offerings for health—Roman
_donaria_—Roman temples of healing _pages_ 30-38
CHAPTER V.
THE EARLY AGE OF GREEK AND ROMAN PHARMACY.
Celsus—Roman pharmacy—Methods of administration—Antidotes—Grecian
remedy for hydrophobia—Chemical bodies and drugs employed
by the Greeks and Romans—Dioscorides—His work on _materia
medica_—Ancient method of collecting opium—Preparation of wool
fat—Drugs used in Pompeii and Herculaneum _pages_ 39-46
CHAPTER VI.
ALCHEMY—THE ALCHEMISTS.
Origin of the term chemistry—Practice of the hermetic science
by the Egyptians—Al-Chindus—Geber—Rhazes—Merlin—St.
Dunstan—Albertus Magnus—Vincent de Beauvais—Raymond
Lulli—Arnauld de Villeneuve—Roger Bacon—Antonio
Quainer—Discoveries made by the early alchemists—Eck—John
Baptist Porta—Cornelius Agrippa—Dr. Dee—Symbols of the
alchemists _pages_ 47-63
CHAPTER VII.
THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE.
Alchemical research—Its objects—Supposed composition of the
Philosopher’s Stone—Claimants to the discovery—The theories of
Rhazes, Merlin and Bacon—Bacon’s definition of alchemy—Ripley’s
process—The Elixir of Life—The theories of Paracelsus—His
secret elixirs—Elixir Vitæ _pages_ 64-71
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BLACK ART AND OCCULT SCIENCES.
The antiquity of magic—Early magicians and wise men—Variety
of forms practised—Oneiromancy—Theurgy and Goetry—Historic
dreams—Necromancy—Methods of evocation—Chiromancy—Origin
of the practice—Astrology—Its antiquity—Famous astrologers
_pages_ 72-78
CHAPTER IX.
THE ART OF FORETELLING.
Influence of the planets and signs of the Zodiac—Casting
horoscopes—Methods of divination—Crystal
gazing—Dactylomancy—Pyromancy _pages_ 79-82
CHAPTER X.
BLACK MAGIC.
Practice of magic by the early alchemists—Demonology—Initiation
of novices—Taking the oath—The ceremonial—Perfumes
employed—Composition of the incense used—Black magic by
burning—Witchcraft—Methods of practice—Trial of the Duchess
of Gloucester—The “evil eye”—Apparitions in the sky—A
witches’ Sabbath—Appearance of the devil—Origin of the word
“witch”—Their initiation and pact _pages_ 83-89
CHAPTER XI.
SUPERSTITION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON MEDICINE.
Origin of incantations and charms—The cure of disease by poetry
and music—Ancient theory of the cause of disease—Precious
stones as remedial agents—Influence of the planets on
herbs—Survival of old superstitious customs—The “coral
and bells”—Sympathetic powders—Curing by touch—Empirical
nostrums—The doctrine of Signatories—Ancient superstitious
practices _pages_ 90-97
CHAPTER XII.
LOVE PHILTRES.
Composition of philtres—Roman love philtres—Law
against their use—Greek Love philtres—Ingredients
employed—Botanomancy—“Water of Magnanimity” _pages_ 98-101
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PIONEERS OF PHARMACY AND BOTANY—PHYSIC GARDENS.
Drugs used by the Arabs—Avicenna—Basil Valentine—Paracelsus—His
life and teaching—Van Helmont—Monastic
Gardens—Mesué—Ebor-Taitor—The medical treatment of the
monks—Hildegarde—Gilbert and Hernicus Arviell—Simon de
Cordo—Peter de Crescenzi—Bartholomew Glanvil—Advent of
printing—George Agricola—Conrad Gesner—Jacques Gohory—The
_Jardin des Plantes_—William Davisson—Matthias of
Lille—Andrew Cesalpin—The first pharmacopœia—The _London
Pharmacopœia_—The _Dublin Pharmacopœia_—The _British
Pharmacopœia_—The Chelsea Physic Garden—Its origin—Thomas
Dover—The “quicksilver doctor”—His exploits _pages_ 102-117
CHAPTER XIV.
AMULETS, TALISMANS AND CHARMS.
Their antiquity—Definition—Object of their use—Egyptian
amulets—Grecian amulets—Roman amulets—Chinese
amulets—Knightly talismans—Precious stones as
talismans—Metallic amulets—Written amulets—Amulet
rings—Curious articles used as amulets—Charms—The “Lee
Penny”—The “Holy Hand”—Medical Charms—Early British
charm—Toadstones—Medicinal virtues of the toad—Roman charm for
prolonging life _pages_ 118-137
CHAPTER XV.
MONK PHYSICIANS—ITINERANT DOCTORS—SURGERY IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Monk physicians and their methods of treatment—Early
hospitals—Their originators—The first school of nurses—Medical
faculties of the thirteenth century—Examinations for title of
master physician and surgeon—Barber surgeons—Itinerant barbers
in France—Credulity of the public—Medical art in the fifteenth
century—Surgery in the time of the Crusades—Early tests for
water—Methods of disinfection _pages_ 138-146
CHAPTER XVI.
PLANT LORE—DRUG CHARMS—FOLK MEDICINE.
The mystery of dragon’s blood—Charms and superstitious
practises connected with dragon’s blood—Use of dragon’s
blood by the ancients—Modern practitioners of magic—Magic
properties attributed to the walnut—Sage—Rue—Henbane—Moon
Wort—Solomon’s Seal—Anemone—Trefoil—St. John’s
Wort—Dill—Thistle—House-leek—Pimpernell—Vervain—Magic
wreathes—Hawkweed—Mountain Ash—Squill—Mandrake—Method of
gathering the mandrake—Abrunes—The willow as a symbol of
sorrow—Almonds—The bachelor’s button—The bean and nut—White
hawthorn—Ferns and fern seeds—Leaves of peculiar shape—Black
hellebore—Ceremonial rites observed when collecting the
root—Peony—Forget-me-not—Elder _pages_ 147-165
CHAPTER XVII.
MUMMIES AND THEIR USE IN MEDICINE—THE UNICORN.
The art of embalming and its antiquity—Various processes
employed—The cost of embalming—The practitioners of the
art—The drugs and substances employed—Process used for the
poorer people—The veneration of mummies by the Egyptians—Trade
in mummies for use in medicine—Fictitious mummies—How to tell
genuine mummy—The dose and medicinal properties—The price
in 1685—Varieties of mummies used in medicine—Process for
preparing artificial mummy—Methods of administration—Human
fat and its medicinal properties—Human skulls and their
value—Human bones and other animal substances as remedial
agents—The Unicorn—Its appearance described—Properties
attributed to the horn—Where the horn was obtained—The value of
the horn—A horn presented to King Charles I.—Virtues attributed
to it _pages_ 166-174
CHAPTER XVIII.
ORIGIN OF THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES—APOTHECARIES AND THEIR
PRACTICE—APOTHECARIES AND THEIR BILLS—CURIOUS REMEDIES—A DRUG
PRICE LIST OF 1685.
Earliest record of an apothecary in England—Powers granted
to the College of Physicians—Foundation of the Society of
Apothecaries—Nicholas Culpepper—History of the Society—Charter
granted—The first hall and council house—Examinations
found necessary—The apothecaries and the druggists—The
glass tax—Rules for the guidance of apothecaries—The sale
of drugs and poisons restricted in Glasgow—A cavalier’s
experience of apothecaries and their treatment—His doctor’s
bill and his opinion on it—Apothecaries’ bills—Favourite
methods of administration—Animal _materia medica_—Broth
of viper—Curious remedies employed—Drugs used by the
physician to King Edward I.—Physicking an ambassador—An
apothecary’s advertisement—Physicians’ fees—Midwife’s
fee in the seventeenth century—Ancient pharmaceutical
preparations and their origin—Mediæval method of improving
the complexion—Human blood as a remedial agent—Celtic
recipes—A remedy for drunkenness—Oil of red dog and its
preparation—Strange recipes—The “everlasting pill”—Cleopatra
and the asp—Ancient method of changing the colour of the
hair—The aloe of Scripture—Pharmacy 200 years ago—The cupidity
of the apothecaries—Denouncing the apothecaries—Herb-women of
London—The price of bottles in 1656—Popular preparations—A
drug price-list of 1685 _pages_ 175-211
CHAPTER XIX.
PHARMACY IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.
An apothecary’s shop in the time of Queen Elizabeth—Description
of the interior—The customers—Apothecaries’
prescriptions—Apothecaries’ guilds and their injunctions as to
prayer—The itinerant dentist—Medicaments used in the time of
Queen Elizabeth _pages_ 212-220
CHAPTER XX.
FAMOUS EMPIRICS AND THEIR NOSTRUMS.
Early methods of introducing a nostrum—The origin of
quack medicines—The Elixir of Life—The Collyrium
of Danares—Sympathetic Powder—Hoffman’s Water of
Magnanimity—Dutch Drops—_Eau Médicinale de Husson_—Dr. James’
fever powder—Count St. Germain’s tea—Cagliostro’s Balm of
Life—How the Count was confounded—Count Thün of Leipzig—Dr.
Brodum and his “Nervous Cordial”—Dr. Solomon and his “Balm of
Gilead”—How “the doctor” was punished—Perkin’s Tractors—An old
ballad _pages_ 221-228
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ANTIQUITY AND HISTORY OF THE MORTAR.
The origin of the mortar—Derivation of the name—Primitive
mortars—Grain crushers—Egyptian mortars—Antiquity
of the mortar in Africa—A Cingalese mortar—Roman
mortaria—Manufactories of mortaria in Britain—Stone
mortars—Wooden querns—Origin of the pestle and mortar
as a trade sign—Iron mortars—Bell-metal mortars—Brass
mortars—Copper mortars—Marble mortars—Modern mortars
_pages_ 229-237
PART II.
ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY IN LITERATURE.
CHAPTER I.
PAGES
Chaucer 239-252
CHAPTER II.
Shakespeare 253-277
CHAPTER III.
Spenser 278-282
CHAPTER IV.
Goethe 283-291
CHAPTER V.
Le Sage 292-299
CHAPTER VI.
Ben. Jonson 300-302
CHAPTER VII.
Sir Walter Scott 303-305
CHAPTER VIII.
Dumas 306-311
CHAPTER IX.
Reade 312-321
CHAPTER X.
Dickens, Thackeray 322-328
CHAPTER XI.
Marryat 329-335
ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY:
THEIR MYSTERY AND ROMANCE.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
THE DAWN OF THE ART OF HEALING.
The birth of the art of healing goes back to a period of great
antiquity. The instinct that first led man to utilise the fruits of the
earth for his bodily sustenance, may perchance have suggested the herbs
which grew around him as a means of alleviating the ills of his flesh.
It is a matter of doubt whether medicine as an art was first practised
in Egypt or China; from recent research probably the former, as at the
time of the writing of the _Ebers Papyrus_, B.C. 1550, the Egyptians
had a considerable knowledge of the use of herbs and other bodies for
medicinal purposes.
The art of medicine had two foundations—empiricism and
superstition—which have influenced it from its birth down to the
present time.
The most ancient record of medicine and pharmacy known was discovered
at Kahun in 1889, near the pyramid of Illahun in the ruins of an
ancient town, which had apparently been inhabited by the builders of
the pyramid. It dates from the twelfth dynasty, B.C. 2700 to 2500, more
than a thousand years before the Exodus.
Besides containing instructions for midwives, it includes numerous
formulæ for the treatment of various complaints, composed of such very
homely articles as beer, cow’s milk, honey, oil, onions, herbs, dates,
and other fruits.
The _Ebers Papyrus_, which was found reposing between the legs of a
mummy, throws a light on ancient Egyptian pharmacy, and was written in
the reign of King Amenhotep I., of the eighteenth dynasty. It commences
as follows: “Beginning of the chapter of applying medicaments to every
part of the patient.
“I have come forth from Heliopolis with the mighty ones of the Temple
of the Sun, the wielders of protection, the princes of eternity.
“Rescuing (?) I have come forth from Sais with the Mothers of the Gods,
who have given me their protection.
“I have magic formulæ made by the Universal Lord to drive out the
stroke of god and goddess, the Male Death and Female Death, _et
cetera_,[1] that is in this my head, in this my neck, in this
my shoulder, in this my flesh, in these my limbs, to punish the
above-named enchanters (?) who introduce disturbance into this my
flesh.”
[1] Etc. is probably a direction _ad lib._ for the doctor
speaking the formulæ.
Such formulæ, evidently for recitation during the treatment, continue
for a page and a half. The book has thus no general title, but plunges
at once into the mysteries of the profession.
“Beginning of the mystery of the physician who knows the motion of
the heart. There are vessels in it to every limb. When any physician,
doctor, or amulet-maker puts his fingers upon the top of the head, upon
the occiput, upon the hands, upon the chest, upon the arms, upon the
legs, he communicates (?) with the heart, for its vessels extend to
every limb, wherefore it is called the starting-point of every limb.”
The following may be taken as an example of the recipes given in the
manuscript:—
“A remedy for the belly that is painful: Cummin 1∕64 hin, goose-grease
1∕8 hin, milk 1∕16 hekt; cool, strain, and drink”. The hin is about 29
cubic inches, and the 1∕16 hekt 18 cubic inches; the prescription is
thus roundly 1∕2 cubic inch of cummin, and 4 of goose fat, in half a
pint of milk.
This papyrus contains 110 pages, each page consisting of about
twenty-two lines of bold Hieratic writing. It may be described as an
encyclopædia of medicine as known and practised by the Egyptians of
the eighteenth dynasty, and it contains prescriptions of all kinds of
diseases—some borrowed from Syrian medical lore, and some of such
great antiquity that they are ascribed to the mythological ages,
when the gods yet reigned personally on earth. Among others is given
the recipe for an application whereby Osiris cured Ra of a headache.
In this papyrus is an example of an old Egyptian diagnosis and
therapeutics, as follows: “When thou findest any one with a hardness
in his re-hit (pit of the stomach), and when, after eating, he feels
a pressure on his intestines, his hit is swollen and he feels bad in
walking like one who suffers from heat in his back, then observe him
when he lies stretched out, and if thou findest his intestines hot and
a hardness in his re-hit, say unto thyself, This is a disease of the
liver. Then prepare for thyself according to the secrets of the science
from the plant pa-che-test and dates, mix them, and give in water.”
It also contains numerous recipes for the treatment of diseases, for
internal and external use. Most of the drugs mentioned are derived from
indigenous plants, and such chemical bodies as alum, salt, nitre, and
sulphate of copper are included in some of the prescriptions.
It seems probable that most of the medicines used in these early
times were first tried as foods; and those which when taken in large
quantities or in special conditions influenced the functions of the
body, these and others found to be too strong for dietetic use were
relegated to the books of medicine.
As an instance of this, the leaves and seeds of the castor oil plant
and the astringent sycamore fig are included in many recipes, but
Maspero states that there is little doubt that castor oil was taken
regularly in food in the time of the Pharaohs, and at the present time
it is a favourite adjunct to the salads of the Egyptian fellaheen.
The same writer thinks the Egyptians began by eating every kind of
food which the country produced, and so became acquainted with their
therapeutic properties.
In another papyrus said to have been written about the time of King
Chata of the first dynasty, who reigned B.C. 4000, the following
prescription for promoting the growth of the hair is given:—
Pad of a dog’s foot 1
Fruit of date palm 1
Ass’s hoof 1
Boil together in oil.
Dr. v. Oefele states of pharmacy before the time of Hippocrates, that
although the practice of medicine was not separated from pharmacy among
the Greeks and Romans, there was such a separation among the ancient
Egyptians, from whom the distinction was handed down to the Copts,
and by them to the Arabians; and, in fact, that the term pharmacist
is probably of Egyptian origin, being derived from Ph-ar-maki, which
signifies the preparation of medicine from drugs. The Egyptian pharmaki
who were engaged in that occupation belonged to the higher social
ranks of writers or academically-educated persons, comprising also the
priests, physicians, statesmen, and military commanders.
The Jews were indebted to Egypt for their primary ideas of medicine,
but they cast away the ideas of demonology and magic which clouded
what was good in the practice of Egypt. The Talmud recommends onions
for worms, and wine, pepper, and asafœtida for flatulency. The
Talmudists are responsible for calling the earth, air, fire, and water
elementary bodies. In the middle ages the Jews rendered service to the
healing art, and had a large share in the scientific work connected
with the Arab domination of Spain.
In China the use of drugs goes back to a very remote age, and alchemy
was practised by the Chinese long previous to its being known in
Europe. For two centuries prior to the Christian era, and for four or
more subsequent, the transmutation of the base metals into gold, and
the composition of the elixir of immortality, were questions ardently
studied by the Chinese. It is, moreover, a matter of history that
intercourse between China and Persia was frequent both before and
after the Mahomedan conquest of the latter country; that embassies
from Persia as well as from the Arabs, and even from the Greeks in
Constantinople, visited the court of the Chinese emperor in Shansi;
that Arab traders settled in China, and that there was frequent
intercourse by sea between China and the Persian Gulf; and lastly, that
China had an extensive alchemical literature anterior to the period
when alchemy was studied in the West. All these facts go to prove that
the ancient science known as alchemy was originated by the Chinese, and
not by the disciples of Mahomed, who only acquired the knowledge at
second hand.[2]
[2] Hanbury’s _Notes on Chinese Materia Medica_.
It is somewhat curious that while the alchemists of the West were
always in doubt as to what constituted the true Philosopher’s Stone,
the Chinese seemingly had no doubt as to its identity. Cinnabar was
regarded by the early alchemists and philosophers of that nation as
the wonderful body which was supposed to have the mysterious power
of converting other metals into gold, and when used as a medicine
would prolong life for an indefinite period. Ko-hung, author of the
_Pau-p’uh-tsi p’ian_, a work of the fourth century, and undoubtedly
genuine, gives various mineral and vegetable productions possessing in
different degrees the properties of an elixir vitæ. In one paragraph of
this work he states: “When vegetable matter is burnt it is destroyed,
but when the Ian-sha (Cinnabar) is subjected to heat it produces
mercury. After passing through other changes it returns to its original
form. It differs widely, therefore, from vegetable substances, and
hence it has the power of making men live for ever and raising them to
the rank of the genii. He who knows the doctrine, is he not far above
common men, etc.?”
In _materia medica_ the knowledge of the Chinese was much in
advance of the nations of the West, and their great herbal, entitled
_Pun-Isaun-Kang-Mûh_, written by Le-she-chin in the middle of the
sixteenth century, shows the discernment possessed by these curious
people. This work consists of forty thin octavo volumes, the first
three of which contain woodcuts of many of the minerals, plants, and
animals referred to in the text. The woodcuts alone number 1100, and
the work itself is divided into fifty-two divisions. The antiquity
of the practice of medicine among the Chinese may be gathered from
the fact that there exists a work entitled _A Treatise from the Heart
on the Small-pox_, which was written during the dynasty of Icheon,
B.C. 1122. In this work the eruption is described, and some kind of
inoculation is also referred to as a remedy.
But it is to Greece that we have to look for the birth of medical art
in the West, its practice by the priests being of great antiquity.
The earliest record of a temple of medicine is of one erected in the
Peloponnesus in the year B.C. 1130, or about fifty years after the fall
of Troy. Other temples or centres of the healing art gradually sprang
up, and round each of those clustered a little school of students.
There were the temple of Health at Pergamus, the temple of Hygeia at
Cytea, and the temples of Æsculapius at Cos and Epidamus, where the
famous statue of Æsculapius stood. The father of ancient medicine,
Hippocrates, graduated as a student of Cos, and Galen is said to have
been at Epidamus.
It was in the temple of Æsculapius at Greece that any record of
medicine was first kept, the names of diseases and their cures being
registered on tablets of marble. The priests and priestesses, who were
the guardians of the temple, prepared the remedies and directed their
application, and thus commenced the practice of physic as a regular
profession.
These official persons were ambitious to pass as the legitimate
descendants of Æsculapius, and therefore assumed the title of
the Asclepiades. The writings of Pausanius, Plutarch, and others
abound with accounts of the artifices of these early practitioners.
Aristophanes mentions the dexterity and promptitude with which they
collected and put into their bags the offerings on the altar.
The patients were wont to repose on the skins of sacrificed rams in
order to procure celestial visions. As soon as they were supposed to
be asleep, a priest, clothed in the dress of Æsculapius, imitating his
manner, and accompanied by the daughters of the god (that is, by young
actresses well up in their parts), entered and solemnly delivered a
medical opinion. The student sat at the feet of the philosopher of his
choice, and after a certain period and course of probation, was granted
the rights of priest and physician to practise as a teacher and healer.
They had their code and ethics of a standard almost equal to those of
to-day, and their knowledge of surgery, and the use of the herbs and
plants which grew around them, was not a little.
Entering on their novitiate at their chosen temple or school, they were
required to make a protestation or oath, of which the following is the
one made by Hippocrates:—
“I, Hippocrates, do now promise and protest to the great god Apollo
and his two daughters Hygeia and Panadie, and also to all the gods and
goddesses, to observe the contents of this oath or tables wherein the
oath is carved, written, or engraved, so far as I can possibly, and so
far as my wit or understanding shall be able to direct me, _viz._, I
yield myself tributary and debtor to the master and doctor, who hath
instructed me and showed me this science and doctrine, even as much
or rather more than to my father who hath begotten me, and that I
shall live and communicate with him, and follow him in all necessities
which I shall know him to have, so far as my power shall permit and
my goods extend. Also that I shall love and cherish his children as
my brother’s, and his progeny as my own. Further, that I shall teach,
show and demonstrate the said science without reward or covenant, and
that I shall give all the canons, rules and precepts freely, truly and
faithfully to my master, his children as to my own, without hiding or
unacting anything, and to all other scholars who shall make the same
oath or protestation, and to no others. Also that in practising and
using my science towards the sick, I shall use only things necessary,
so far as I am able, and as my spirit and good understanding shall
give unto me, and that I shall cure the sick as speedily as I may
without dilating or prolonging the malady, and that I shall not do
anything against equity for hatred, anger, envy or malice to any
person whatsoever. Moreover, that I shall minister no poison, neither
counsel nor teach poison, nor the composing thereof to any. Also that
I shall not give nor cause to be given, nor contend that anything be
applied to a woman breeding, to destroy and make her void her fruit.
But I shall protest to keep my life and science purely, sincerely and
inviolably, without deceit, fraud or guile. And that I shall not cut
or incise any person having the stone, but shall leave the same to
those who are expert in it. And, furthermore, that I shall not enter
into the patient’s house lest with purpose to heal him, and that I
shall patiently sustain the injuries, reproaches, and loathsomeness of
sick men and other base railings, and that I shall eschew, as far as
I may, all venereous lasciviousness. Moreover, I protest, be it man,
woman, or servant who is my patient, to cure them of all things, that
I may see or hear either in mind or manner, and I shall not betray
that which should be concealed or hidden, but keep inviolable with
silence; neither reveal any creature under pain of death. And therefore
I beseech our gods that observing this protestation, promise, and vow
entirely and inviolably, all things in my life, in my art, and science,
may succeed securely, healthfully, and prosperously to me, and in the
end eternal glory.
“And to him that shall violate, transgress, or become perjured, that
the contrary may happen unto him, _viz._, misery, calamities, and
continual maladies.”
We have here principles laid down which would do honour to any medical
body, and which show the highly civilised condition and the excellent
moral teaching of the early Greek philosophers and priests.