Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/37

21 Care of Sick in Ancient World 21 drugs shows that the Egyptian pharmacists made decoctions, infusions, solutions for injection, pills, tablets, troches, capsules, powders, inhalations, lotions, ointments, plasters, and other forms of medicines used today. They knew a great deal about the therapeutic action of drugs, and laid the foundations of chemistry. The Egyptians, as is well known, developed the art of embalming, and used aromatics, resin, and probably other preventives now unknown. They attained a rare skill in bandaging, as shown on mummies, often using one thousand yards of bandage on one body. Many of their methods are now a lost art. They also became skilled in den- tistry, and filled teeth with gold fillings. Their priest-physicians understood hypnotism and prac- tised it. Through their occult powers they used magic a good deal in treatment, and interpreted dreams. Egypt had learned astronomers, and this study led to the development of astrology and the belief that disease, as well as the general des- tiny of an individual, was influenced by the stars. The medicnl books go back to mythological days when the god Horus, the Sun, learned medi- cine from his mother Isis, the Earth. There is nothing to be found in these records about nurses and their tasks, and this seems a little strange,