MEDICINE. 
respective results in a state of combina- 
tion. 
HISTORY OF MEDICINE. 
Tiie commencement of the medical pro- 
fession, whether regarded as an art or a 
science, or both, is lost in the darkness of 
the earliest ages ; the fabulous history of 
the ancients derives it immediately from 
their gods; and, even among the moderns, 
some writers of established reputation are 
of opinion tliat it may justly be considered 
as of divine origin ; but, without adopting 
any supposition of which no probable evi- 
dence can be given, we may conclude that 
mankind were naturally led to it from 
casual observations on the diseases to which 
they found themselves subjected, and that 
therefore, in one sense at least, it is as 
ancient as the human race ; but at what 
period it began to be pi'actised as an art, by 
particular individuals following it profession- 
ally, is not known. The most ancient phy- 
sicians we read of were those who embalmed 
the body of the patriarch Jacob by order of 
bis son Joseph ; tlie sacred writer styles 
these physicians servants to Joseph, whence 
we may be assured that they were not 
priests, as the first physicians are generally 
supposed to have been ; for in that age we 
know the Egyptian priests were in such 
high favour, that they retained their liberty, 
when through a public calamity all the 
rest of the people were made slaves to the 
prince ; it is not probable, therefore, that, 
among the Egyptians, religion and medi- 
cine were originally conjoined; and if we 
suppose the Jews not to have invented the 
art, but to have received it from some other 
nation, it is as little probable that the priests 
of that nation were their physicians, as those 
of Egypt. That the Jewish physicians 
were absolutely distinct from their priests, 
is very certain. Yet as the Jews resided 
for such a long time in Egypt, it is probable 
they would retain many of the Egyptian 
customs, from which it would be very dif- 
ficult to free them : we read, however, that 
when king Asa was diseased in his feet, he 
sought not to the Lord, but to the phy- 
sicians ; hence we may conclude, that 
among the Jews the medicinal art was 
looked upon as a mere human invention; 
and it was thought that the deity never 
cured diseases by making people acquaint- 
ed with the virtues of herbs, but only 
l)y his miraculous power. That the same 
opinion prevailed among the heathens who 
were neighbours to the Jews, is also pro- 
bable from what we read of Ahaziah king 
of Judah, who having sent messengers to 
inquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron, con- 
cerning his disease, did not desire any re- 
medy from him or his priests, but simply 
to know whether he should recover or not ; 
what seems most probable on this subject 
therefore is, that religion and medicine 
intermixed themselves only in consequence 
of that degeneracy into ignorance and 
superstition, which t,ook place among all 
nations. 
The Egyptians, we know, came at last 
to be sunk in the most ridiculous and ab- 
surd superstition; and then, indeed, it is 
not wonderful to find their priests com- 
mencing physicians, and mingling charms, 
incantations, &c. with their remedies. That 
this was the case, though long after the 
days of Joseph, we are very certain, and 
indeed it seems as natural for ignorance 
and barbarism to combine religion with 
physic, as it is for a civilized and enlighten-' 
ed people to keep them separate ; hence, 
we see that among all modern barbarians 
their priests or conjurors are their only 
physicians. We are so little acquainted with 
the state of physic among the Egyptians, 
that it is needless to say much concerning 
them. They attributed the invention of 
medicine, as they did also that of many 
other arts, to Thoth, the Hermes or Mer- 
cury of the Greeks; he is said to have, 
written many things in hieroglyphic charac- 
ters upon certain pillars, in order to per- 
petuate his knowledge, and render it useful 
to others. These were transcribed by 
Agathodemon, or the second Mercury, the 
father of Teut, who is said to have com- 
posed books of them, that were kept in the 
most sacred places of the Egyptian temples. 
The existence of such a person, however, 
is very dubious, and many of the books as- 
cribed to him were accounted forgeries as 
long ago as the days of Galen ; there is also 
great reason to suspect, that those books 
were written many ages after Hermes, and 
when physic had made considerable ad- 
vances. Many of the books attributed to 
him are trifling and ridiculous ; and though 
sometimes he is allowed to have all tlie 
honour of inventing the art, he is, on other 
occasions, obliged to share it with Osiris, 
Isis, and Apis, or Serapis. After all, the 
Egyptian physic appears to have been little 
else than a collection of absurd supersitions. 
Origen informs us, that they believed there 
were thirty-six demons or gods of the air, 
who divided the human body among them ; 
