A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



cavity was lined with a peculiar saclike membrane, the 

 peritoneum, which also surrounded most of the organs 

 contained in the cavity, and he made special note that 

 this membrane also enveloped the liver in a peculiar 

 manner. The exactness of the last observation seems 

 the more wonderful when we reflect that even to-day 

 the medical student finds a correct understanding of 

 the position of the folds of the peritoneum one of the 

 most difficult subjects in anatomy. 



As a practical physician he was held in the highest 

 esteem by the Romans. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius 

 called him to Rome and appointed him physician-in- 

 ordinary to his son Commodus, and on special occa- 

 sions Marcus Aurelius himself called in Galen as his 

 medical adviser. On one occasion, the three army sur- 

 geons in attendance upon the emperor declared that he 

 was about to be attacked by a fever. Galen relates 

 how "on special command I felt his pulse, and finding 

 it quite normal, considering his age and the time of 

 day, I declared it was no fever but a digestive dis- 

 order, due to the food he had eaten, which must be 

 converted into phlegm before being excreted. Then 

 the emperor repeated three times, 'That's the very 

 thing,' and asked what was to be done. I answered 

 that I usually gave a glass of wine with pepper sprin- 

 kled on it, but for you kings we only use the safest 

 remedies, and it will suffice to apply wool soaked in 

 hot nard ointment locally. The emperor ordered the 

 wool, wine, etc., to be brought, and I left the room. 

 His feet were warmed by rubbing with hot hands, and 

 after drinking the peppered wine, he said to Pitholaus 

 (his son's tutor), 'We have only one doctor, and that 



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