The Modern Medical Science: a Journey Through History

practice of medicine.
The second and the third discourses of Al-Ma1iki deal with anatomy. The French translation of this part of the book has been published along with the Arabic text. The 19th discourse is devoted to surgery. The introduction of this book consisting of three chapters of the first discourse is highly remarkable. The part of the introduction consisting of the criticism of the ancient medical works is particularly interesting. The author explains the plans of his book in which he tries to give a moderate description of the subject treated, and illustrates his method by a specimen description of pleurisy. He begins with the definition of the disease and its aetiology. Then he mentions the four constant symptoms, fever, cough, pain and dyspnoea; whence he proceeds to the prognosis and specially the indications furnished by the supta, and finally give the treatment. In his book the author describes the importance of attending the hospital regularly. He writes: “And of those things which are incumbent on the student of this Art are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses, pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their inmates, in company of the most acute professors of Medicine; and enquire frequently as to the state of the patients and the symptoms apparent in them, hearing in mind what he has read about their Variations, and what they indicate of good or evil. If he does this, he will reach a high degree in this Art. Therefore, it behooves him who desires to be an accomplished physician to follow closely these injunctions, to form his character in accordance with what we have mentioned therein, and not to neglect them. If he does this, his treatment of the sick will be

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30