782 
Notes  on  Ancient  Medicine. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
/       Nov.,  1921. 
Other  notes  would  tend  to  indicate  that  there  was  confusion  be- 
tween the  nerves  and  ligaments,  as  well  as  between  arteries  and  veins. 
The  author  from  whom  the  above  was  quoted  appears  to  have  been 
more  intent  on  perpetuating  the  quaintness  from  the  ancients  than 
disclosing  the  best  thought  of  his  time. 
The  division  of  the  ''contained"  portion  of  the  body  into  four 
humors  led  Hippocrates  to  develop  what  is  known  as  the  humoral5 
pathology,  in  which  it  is  postulated  that  the  stomach  is  the  prime 
source  of  the  humors,  and  sickness  is  the  result  of  their  appear- 
ance in  other  parts.  Invasion  by  bile  caused  acute  diseases ;  mucus  or 
phlegm  was  the  cause  of  catarrh  and  the  rheumatic  affections; 
dropsy  depended  upon  water  from  the  spleen.  The  quantity  of  bile 
determined  the  type  of  fever.  Beginning  with  an  extreme  quantity 
of  bile,  and  lessening  the  amount,  the  fever  would  be  called  continued, 
quotidian  or  tertian;  a  quartan  fever  was  one  in  which  the  bile  was 
mixed  with,  viscous  black  bile  (or  atrabile).  Both  Galen  and  Hip- 
pocrates believed  inflammation  to  be  due  to  the  introduction  of  blood 
into  a  part  which  had  none  before.  If  this  introduction  was  compli- 
cated by  mucus,  bile,  or  atrabile  the  inflammation  would  not  be 
pure,  but  would  be  known  as  oedematous,  erysipelatous,  or  scirrhous, 
respectively. 
Surgery  came  to  the  Greeks  from  the  Egyptians  and,  as  in  medi- 
cine, Hippocrates  stands  forth  as  the  first  writer  of  note.  He  is 
credited  with  ten  works  on  the  subject,  though  some  of  them  are 
regarded  as  spurious.  When  one  considers  the  defective  state  of 
the  knowledge  of  anatomy,  the  success  of  this  surgeon  is  remarkable. 
He  was  skilled  in  treating  fractures  and  dislocations,  and  was  also 
familiar  with  the  trephine.  Asclepiades  (first  century  B.  C.)  was 
first  to  propose  the  operation  of  bronchotomy,  though  he  never  per- 
formed the  operation.  Ammonius  of  Alexandria  was  first  to  pro- 
pose and  perform  a  lithotrity — stone  in  the  bladder  having  been  a 
popular  malady.  Celsus  has  minutely  described  the  operation  from 
whose  description  the  following  may  be  of  interest:  "A  hook  is  to 
be  insinuated  behind  the  stone  so  as  to  resist  and  prevent  its  recoil- 
ing into  the  bladder,  even  when  struck;  then  an  iron  instrument  is 
used,  of  moderate  thickness,  flattened  toward  the  end,  thin  but  blunt ; 
which  being  placed  against  the  stone,  and  struck  on  the  farther  end, 
cleaves  it."  After  Hippocrates,  this  Celsus  is  the  next  important 
writer  on  surgical  subjects.    Qualifications  laid  down  by  him  for 
