Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/159

 MEDICINE

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MEDICINE

Concerning this terrible jjeriod we have reports from the jurist of Piacenza, Galjriel de Mussis; from Can- tacuzenus antl Nicephorus aliout the epidemic in Con- stantinople; from Boccaccio and Petrarch (Florence), from the physician Dionysius Colle of Belluno (Italy), the Belgian Simon of Covino (Montpellier), Guy de Chauliac (Avignon), and also from some Spanish physicians. Less voKmiinous accounts are to be found in the chronicles of the different countries. Europe has since been repeatedly visited by the plague, which has, however, never been so violent nor ex- tended so widely. The last great epidemics occurred in Central Europe in 1079 and 1713.

HUM.VNISM AND MeDICAL SCIENCE IN THE FIF- TEENTH .\ND Sixteenth Centuries. — The terrors of the Black Death, and the conviction which it brought of the powerlessness of current medicine, undoubtedly helped to effect a gradual change. The greatest in- fluence, however, was exerted by the humanistic ten- dency which had found many adherents, especially among physicians. The desire after general cultiva- tion in the natural sciences was substantially promoted by the great voyages of discovery made towards the end of the fifteenth century. It is worthy of mention that, at a time when the gifted Christopher Colum- bus was still riiliculed as a dreamer by the learned, the Florentine as- tronomer and physician, Toscanelli, and the house-physician of the Fran- ciscan monastery of Santa Maria de Rabida, Garcia Fernandes, both heartily encouraged him ^nd gave him material aid. The scientific endeavours for the reform of medi- cine are characterized by the activ- ity of the translators, by the critical treatment and explanation of old authors, and by independent inves- tigation especially in the field of bot- any. Concerning translations, those which had reference to the Hippocra

EnwARD (1749- tic writings were of prime importance. Among the translators and commentators of these works we find Nicola Leoniceno of Vicenza (1428-1524), the Span- iard Franciscus Valesius (end of the sixteenth cen- tury), the Frenchman Jacques Houllier (Hollerius, 1498-1562), Johann Hagenbut of Saxony (Cornarus, 1500-58), the two Paris professors, Jean de Gorris (Gorrffius, 1505-77), and Louis Duret (1527-86), and Anutius Foesius (1528-91), a physician of Metz. As investigators of Pliny there are Ermolao Barbaro (1454-93), later Patriarch of Aquileia, and Filippo Beroaldo (1453-1505). Students of other authors were Giovanni Manardo of Ferrara (1462-1536; Galen, Mesue), the Paduan professor Giovanni Battista de Monte (Montanus, 1498-1552; Galen, Rhazes, Avi- cenna), and the Englishmen Thomas Linacre (1461- 1524), and John Kaye (1506-73), Wilhelm Copus, town physician of Basle (1471-1521), and Theodore Zwinger of Switzerland (1533-88), all students of Galen. As may be seen, the system of Galen still formed the central point of medical studies, but it must be regarded as an advance that people now read his works in the original or in accurate translations, not as before in their Arabic form, for in this way many changes and conflicting views introduced by the Arabs were detected. But the full beauty of the Hippooratic works could not be appreciated as long as Galen reigned supreme.

The first fruit of Humanism in medicine was prima- rily of a purely formal nature, the main stress being now laid upon philological subtleties and elegant dic- tion. No longer content with prose, authors often recorded their thoughts in verse. Petrarch had blamed the phvsicians of his time because they knew X.— 9

how to construct syllogisms, liut did not know how to cure; and now the place of the philosophizing practi- tioners was taken by the poet physicians. A more satisfactory sign of the times is the great number of medical botanists, whose works show more or less in- dependent investigation, and always regard the needs of the physician at the bedside. Among these we must mention the town physician of Bern, Otto Brunfels (d. 1534), Leonard Fuchs (1501-66), professor at In- golstadt, Hieronymus Tragus (Bock) of Ileiderbach (1498-1554), and his pupil jacobus Theodorus Taber- naemontanus (d. 1590). The most important, how- ever, is the Zurich physician Conrad Gesner (1516-65; Tabulfe phyt-ographica;), who was the first to experi- ment with tobacco brought from America. Only Andrea Cesalpini, professor at the Sapienza in Rome, can be regarded as his equal. The interest taken in the study of natural science in Germany by Hapsburg emperors, Ferdinand I (1522-64) and Maximilian (1564-76). was of great advantage to it. The physi- cian-in-ordinary to the Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, Petrus Andreas Mathiolu.: of Siena (1500-77), published a translation of Dioscurides with a oommentarj', a work which was most highly valued until recent times. The rpecial fa- \ Mur of Maximilian II was enjoyed li\ Hembert Dodoens (Dodonaeus) of \i.'chlin (1517-85), and by the I' Minder of scientific botany, Charles 'li' rEclu.se (Clusius) of Antwerp (l.')2.5-1609). The latter was ap- pointed professor in Leyden, and for a time lived in Vienna, where he found zealous followers in the physicians Johann Aicholtz (d. 1588) and Paul Fabricus (d. 1589).

Progress IN Anatomy: Andreas Vesalius. — From the time of Mon- dino anatomy had been diligently cultivated at the universities, espe- Jennek cially in Italy. In Bologna, Gio-

1^23) vanni de Concoreggi (d. 1438)

issued a work on anatomy. As commentators of Mondino we must mention Alessandro Achillini (1463-1512) and Jacopo Berengerio da Carpi (about 1470-1530). Anatomv made special progress because of the artists. Thus Raphael Sanzio (1488-1520) al- ready makes use of the human skeleton when making his sketches, so as to give his figures the proper posture. We pos.sess numerous anatomical descriptions and sketches by Leonardo da Vinci (1442-1519), which were intended partly for an anatomy plamied by Mar- cantonio della Torre (Turrianus, 1473-1506), and partly for a work of his own. The great Michelangelo (1475-1564) left .sketches of the muscles, and in 1495, in the monastery of Santo Spirito at Florence, made studies for a picture of the Crucified with cadavers as models. — As an indication of how much the popes endeavoured to advance the study of anatomy, we may recall that the priest Gabriel de Zerbis for a time taught anatomy in Rome (towards the end of the fifteenth century), that Paul III (1534-49) appointed the surgeon Alfonso Ferri to teach this subject at the Sapienza in 1535, that the physician-in-ordinary of Julius III (1550-55), Giambattista Cannani, crowned his anatomical studies by discovering the valves in the veins; that Paul IV (1555-9) called to Rome the famous Realdo Colombo, the teacher of Michelangelo, and that Colombo's sons dedicated their father's work, "De re anatomica", to Pope Pius IV (1559-1565). Foremost among the universities stood Padua, the stronghold of medical science, whence was to issue the light which disclosed the weaknesses of Galen's sys- tem. In Padua, where Bartolomeo Montagna (d. 1460) performed no less than fourteen dissections, there existed since 1446 an anatomical theatre which