Page:The Harveian oration 1904.djvu/34

THE HARVEIAN ORATION, 1904 13 done little. I am especially indebted to Professor Kurt Sethe's work on 'Imhotep' and to Dr. H. Joachim's Papyros Ebers.'

Let me read you one or two extracts from the work of the Pharaoh Usaphais quoted in Eber's papyrus': 'Man hath twelve vessels pro- ceeding from his heart which extend to his body and limbs; two vessels go to the contents of his chest, two vessels go to each leg, two to each arm, two vessels go to the back of the head, two to the front of the head, two branches go to the eyes, two to the nose, two vessels go to the right ear, the breath of life goes through them, two go to the left ear, and through them passes the breath of death; they all proceed from the heart.' The concluding sentence is the earliest example I know of the ancient superstition that the left side of the body is sinister and evil. This is very early anatomy, professing to be at least six thousand years old; we must not expect it to be quite accurate.

Turning to a comparatively recent period, I shall quote from other parts of Eber's papyrus; the only existing copy of this papyrus (found in a tomb at Thebes) was written in or before the sixteenth century B.C. No doubt most, if not all, its contents are much older than that date. The extracts which I am about to read commence thus: From the secret book of the physician, 1. Fo. 103 2. Fo. 99