MEDICINE (GE. medicine, Fr. nri'decine, Lat. lei dieing. medicine, from medieir us, 111:101g to a physician. from Med it'll R. physician, from Inc rc. AV. Willi, If, heal) 11 'STORY OF. V1 hill' medical practice. in an elementary form, is prohably as old as anon, the 1,1,10.:t records of medical mat ler, extant are those of Egypt. \lost “1 our ktom ledge of Egypt inn medicine is derived from the Greeks, but recent discoveries of ancient papyri and better methods of deciphering iic'eriptions have y ielded much informa tion. The P?IIIV111Q ,1cles from :111"111 the 11111(.11 of the learning therein recorded had been traditiona1 for een iiiif.q. Certain facts Eg.yitt tan niedi eine are well '('his art, as most others. was vested in the priests: there was an extensive formulary. combined with many nionial rites; practice was widely specialized— there were physicians, gynecologists. veterinari ans, and Military but there was noth ing like progress from one age to another. Egyptian medical lore was preserved in the last six volumes of the Sacred 1104,k. These treated 11f anatomy, general diseases, instruments, reme dies, diseases of the eye, and diseases of \voltam, and in completeness and arrangement rival the II ippocrat ic collection. Which they antedate by a years.
The i1eb11•11', derived their medical knowledge from Egypt, and are chiefly remarkable for their thorough conception of the value Of public hygiene and sanitation. of which systems they may be con,inicrvd the originators. In the early days of the existence of the Hebrew nation. di- ease was looked 'upon as :1 punishment for sin, and the Levites were the sole practitioner.. Later in their history the dews received tlie impress of Assyrian. and later still of Greek thought. After two captivities we lint) a class "f temple PhY"i chins and special surgeons, and in the. centuries immediately preceding the Christian Era there were commuiml or city physicians who were held in high esteem. Jewish medical records em braced in the Talmud (q.v.) show that the .lew isle physicians had, like the Egyptian, little knowledge of human anatomy. that their surgery I was crude. and that no operations in midwifery were performed. .
The Vedas (q.v.), the sacred hooks of India, show that medicine as a separate science was in that country very ancient. The Indian physi
cians combined a close observation of 11111211Wile11:1 ttitll :I genius for misinterpretation, so that their study availed them little. Dement ology played a large part in their practice and belief. Physicians were drawn from the highest nude ItlIP ?. and long training, de coruni, and piety were required of them. Their therapeutic methods embraced diet. ha tiling, and innumerable drugs.
The origin of l'hinese is lost in tra dition and fable. Thu,. Chinese Mt rihtned the in vention of medicine to the Emperor Ilwang-ti, who was supposed to have !keel about They had elaborate rules for not ing the pulse. all 1 a portentous array of curious 1'1110(IIII-I, drawn 11'4,111 illo animal, vegetable. and mineral king. donis. They knew no anatomy. and their surgery was of a barbarous type. No bloody operations were performed. but euppiag, actipiniet tire plasters, and were used. .Aledieal practice was entirely unregulated.
It is Greece that furnishes us Nvillt the most interesting and signifivant remains of the his tory of niellieine during alit 141111,1y. I'161*011 he 1O111:1111% fabled to have introduced :ert of healing into l:rercv. 111141 III have cepto* pf .1....1.111:11?111•• who was as eminent among the as was Ilerines in Egypt. sell") irs ...insider them identical. The follower of hsenlapins early fot Med a sep:uati (lilt or worship. They hail temples situated in grove. and near springs. where healing xvris practiced and instruction given. Treatment consisted of the interpretation of dreams, propitiatory saeri tlees, the offering of votive tablets, etc., hilt .11,1 1112'. pure air, temperate living. and bathing also had their pail in the cure, together with frictions. emetics, and purgatives. The system tunally de generated into mere mysticism, and by the time of Hippocrates only the superstitious resorted to it Besides the temple medicine there were gymnasia, older even than .Esculapius, each of which had its yytanasiarelt or director; a gym nast, under him, who directed the treatment of the sick; and introliptes, who anointed, gave massage, bled, and dressed wounds and ulcers.