A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



remedy." He adds: "There may have been a few 

 rationalists amongst the Egyptian doctors, for the 

 number of magic formulae varies much in the different 

 books. The book that we have specially taken for a 

 foundation for this account of Egyptian medicine 

 the great papyrus of the eighteenth dynasty edited by 

 Ebers 5 contains, for instance, far fewer exorcisms than 

 some later writings with similar contents, probably be- 

 cause the doctor who compiled this book of recipes 

 from older sources had very little liking for magic." 



It must be understood, however indeed, what has 

 just been said implies as much that the physician by 

 no means relied upon incantations alone; on the con- 

 trary, he equipped himself with an astonishing variety 

 of medicaments. He had a particular fondness for 

 what the modern physician speaks of as a " shot-gun" 

 prescription one containing a great variety of in- 

 gredients. Not only did herbs of many kinds enter 

 into this, but such substances as lizard's blood, the 

 teeth of swine, putrid meat, the moisture from pigs' 

 ears, boiled horn, and numerous other even more re- 

 pellent ingredients. Whoever is familiar with the 

 formulae employed by European physicians even so 

 recently as the eighteenth century will note a striking 

 similarity here. Erman points out that the modern 

 Egyptian even of this day holds closely to many of the 

 practices of his remote ancestor. In particular, the 

 efficacy of the beetle as a medicinal agent has stood 

 the test of ages of practice. "Against all kinds of 

 witchcraft," says an ancient formula, "a great scara- 

 baeus beetle ; cut off his head and wings, boil him ; put 

 him in oil and lay him out; then cook his head and 



