iiS 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



proof than the mummies in our museums 

 to convince us that the Egyptians from 

 the period from which those interesting 

 objects date, must have possessed a very 

 accurate knowledge of anatomy, of phar- 

 macy and a skill in surgical bandaging 

 very far suspassing that possessed now- a- 

 days by even the most skilled professors 

 of the art. Mr. Granville says there is 

 not a single form of bandage known to 

 modern surgery of which far better ex- 

 amples are not seen in the swathings of 

 the Egyptian mummies; the straps of 

 linen are found without one single joint 

 extending to loo yards in length. 



Professor George Stokes, librarian to 

 the interesting Dublin institution, 

 Marshes' Eibrary, after his appointment, 

 when getting the place into order, found 

 a box containing a mummy; he sent for 

 me and asked me to examine it, and on 

 doing so found that there was a malfor- 

 mation of the bones of the right arm and 

 fore- arm. I handed the specimen to Pro- 

 fessor E. Bennett, who exhibited it at the 

 Academy of Medicine. The famous"Ebers 

 Papyrus" was purchased in 1874 by Dr. 

 Ebers at Thebes. This papyrus contains 

 no pages, each page consisting of about 

 twenty-two lines of bold Hieratic writing. 

 It may be described as an encyclopseiia 

 of medicine as known and practiced 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 an- 

 tiquity that they are ascribed to the 

 mythological ages when the gods yet 

 reigned personally on earth. Among 

 others is given the recipe for an applica- 

 tion whereby Osiris cured Ra of a head- 

 ache. In this papyrus is an example of 

 an old Egyptian diagnosis and therapeut- 

 ics 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 walk- 

 ing like one who suflFers from heat in his 

 back, then observe him when he lies 

 stretched out, and if thou findest his in- 

 testines hot and a hardness in his re-hit, 

 say unto thyself, this is a disease of the 

 liver. Then prepare for thyself accord- 

 ing to the secrets of the science from the 

 plant pa-che-test and dates, mix them, 

 and give in water." 



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 re- 

 commends onions for worms, and wine, 

 pepper and asafoetida for flatulency. The 

 Talmudists are responsible for calling the 

 earth, air, fire and water elementary 

 bodies. In the middle ages tue Jews 

 rendered service to the healing art, and 

 had a large share in the scientific work 

 connected with the Arab domination of 

 Spain. 



To be continued. 



• 



At a recent Pharmacy examination, 

 one of the questions given was: — Define 

 "Bacteria." 



"Bacteria," wrote the future Ph. G., 

 "is a ferment capable of decomposing 

 and replacing lung tissue." 



And the examining Professor who was 

 marking the paper, paused a few mom- 

 ents to recuperate. — J. Kussy 



The lecture delivered April 8th, by 

 Herman A. Heydt, L.L.B., on Mozin- 

 iaitt Climbing in Switzerland., will be 

 published in our next issue. 



One of our young men after procuring the 

 photo of one of our lady students (and?) was 

 heard to remark (as he closed the album and 

 laid it inside) "when shall we three meet 

 again." C. W. Smith. 



