LIST OF DISEASES AND AFFEC- 

 TIONS MENTIONED BY PLINY 



To equate modern diseases with the names used by ancient 

 physicians is a task full of uncertainty. In some cases indeed 

 there is no difficulty; a disease may have such distinctive 

 symptoms, and be so unlike any other, that its description 

 in Celsus or Galen points clearly to one, and only one, diag- 

 nosis, examples being intermittent malarial fevers and the 

 common cold. Pneumonia again in both Greek and Latin 

 writings is usually easy to detect (although there is some 

 chance of confusion with acute bronchitis), and so are also 

 dropsy and pleurisy. Often, however, we can do no more 

 than divide into groups : (1) diseases and (2) the ancient 

 names of diseases, and then identify a group from one with 

 a group from the other. Many quite different diseases are 

 so ahke symptomatically that identification can be estab- 

 hshed, even today, only by a microscopic examination con- 

 ducted with a technique quite unknown to the ancients. 

 Great care is needed with eye diseases and skin diseases, both 

 of which were far more common in earlier days than they are 

 with us, for dust was everywhere and disinfecting cleansing 

 was practically unknown. The principle of grouping is nearly 

 always the safest one to adopt ; to attempt more is hazardous. 

 For example, we have on the one hand collectio, furuncidvs, 

 panus, vomica and tumor ; on the other we have " boil," 

 " abscess," " gathering " and " carbuncle." The group of 

 complaints covered by the Latin terms is nearly, if not quite, 

 the same as that covered by the English, but any attempt to 

 make more specific identification is attended with much 

 uncertainty ; perhaps fanus is the only one we can isolate 

 more completely. 



547 



