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* MEDICI. 266 MEDICINE. Storia del granducato di Toscana (Florence, 1871); Perrens, Histoire de Florence dvpiiis la domination des ilcdicis y'lisfyii'ii /(( cliiiU dc la ripuhlique (Paris, 1SS8-"JU) ; Koscoe, The Life of Lorenzo de' Medici (London, 1784), ed. by V. llazlitt (London, 18'J0) ; Reumont, Lorenzo de' Medici (2d ed., Leipzig, 1883) ; Koscoe, Life and Pontificate of Leo X. (5th ed., London, 1840). Sec C.TIIAB1XE de' IMedici; JIaria de' ilEDiti; Tuscany. MEDICI, Tombs of the. Tlic burial phue of the Medici family in the new sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo, at Florence. It contains JNIichelangclo's statues of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici, the former represented as a general of the Church, the latter in dee)) meditation. The sarcophagus of Giuliano is adorned by the fa- mous sculptures of Day and Niglit. and lliat of Lorenzo by those of Kvening and Dawn. The work was left unfinished in 15.34. MEDICI, Villa. A villa, south of the Pin- cian Hill at Kome, built in 1540 for Cardinal Ricci da Montcpuiciano and acquired by the Medici in lOOO. In 1801 it became the home 01 the French Academy of Art, which was founded by Louis XI ". and formerly was in the Palazzo Salviati. The facade incloses ancient reliefs and an important collection of casts is contained in the wing. MEDICINA, niri'di-chc'na. A town in the Province of Bologna, Italy, 15 miles east of the city of Bologna (.Map: Italy, F 3), It is situ- ated in a low-lying region which is extensively cultivated. It has so)ue manufactures, and trades in grain, wine, and mineral waters. Population, in I'.IOI (commune). 12, .■).'!■"!. MEDICINAL PLANTS. Plants of which some part or product is used in medicine. Con- sult Potter, Materia Medica. Pharmacy and ThrraiKiilics (Philadelphia, 1902). MEDICINE, Amehkax Academy of. . association organized in 1870, holding annual meetings in the different large cities of the United States: (1) to bring together physici.ans who are also alumni of some academic or scientific col- lege; (2) to urge the importance of a thorough mental training before studying medicine; and (3) to investigate and discuss ])robIems of medi- cal sociology. The society has a membership of nearly 000," and its publication is The Piillclin, appi'aring at F.aston, Pa, MEDICINE, Forensic. See JIedical Juris- rni UKM i:. MEDICINE (OF. medicine, Fr, ni< (Irvine, from l.at. muliiina. medicine, from nirdirinnx, relating to a physician, from mediciix. physician, from medrrr, Av, mad, to healK History of. While medical practice, in an elementary form, is probably as old as man, the oldest records of medical matters extant are those of Kgj'pt. Most of nur knowledge of Kg^'ptian medicine is derived from the (Jreeks, but recent disenverie.; of ancii-nt papyri and better methods of deciphering in- scriptiiina have yieliled much original informa- tion. The Papyrus Fber.* dales from about the sixteenth century R.C., and nnich of the learning therein recorded had been traditional for cen- turies. Certain facts concerning Ep>"plian medi- cine are Avell established. This art, as most others, was vested in the priests; there was nn extensive fornuilarv, combined with many cere- monial rites: practice was widely specialized^ there were physicians, gjnecologisls, vctcrinai-i- ans, and military surgeons; but there was noth- ing like progress from one age to another. Egyptian medical lore was preserved in the last si. olumes of the Sacred Book. These treated of anatomy, general diseases, instruments, reme- dies, diseases of the eye, and diseases of women, and in completeness and arrangement rival the llippocralic collection, which they antedate by a tliousand years. Tiie Hebrews derived their medical knowledge from Egjpt, and are cliielly remarkable for their thorough concept iim of the value of public hygiene and sanitation, of which systems lliey niay bo considered the originators. In the early days of the existence of the Hebrew nation, dis- ease was looked upon as a punishment for sin, and the Ixvites were the sole practitioners. Later in their history the .lews received the impress oi Assyrian, and "later still of Greek thought, .fter j two captivities we find a class of temple physi- J cians and special surgeons, and in the centuries inunediately preceding the Christian Era tlicrr were conununal or city physicians who wert ^^ held in high esteem, dewish medical records cm- braced in the Talmud (ipv.) show that the .Jew- ish pliysicians had, like the Egyptian, little ; knowledge of human anatomy, that their surgeiT was crude, and that no operations in midwifery were performed. The Vc<las (q.v.), the sacred books of India, show that medicine as a separate science wa~ in that count r.v very ancient. The Indian pliysi- cians combined a close observation of jiatliological phenomena with a genius for misinterpretation, so that their study availed them little, Demon- ology played a large part in their practice and belief. Physicians were drawn from the highest caste (the Brahmans), and long training, ortentous array of curious remedies, drawn from the animal, vegetable, and mineral king- doms. They knew no anatomy, and their surgery was of a barbarous ty|ie. No bloody operations were performed, l)ut cupping, acu])unclure (q.v,), plasters, and fomentations were used. .Medical l)ractice was entirely unrcgtilated. It is Greece that furnishes us with the most interesting and significant remains of the hi' iory of medicine during aniicpiijiy. Chiron (q.v. i. the Centaur, is fabled to have introduced the art of healing into (Jreece. anil to have l)een the pre- ceptor of .Ksculapius (q.v.). who was as eminent among the Greeks as was Hermes in Eg>pt. Some schidars ccmsider them identical. The followers of .i:scul;iiiius early formed a separate cult or worshiji. They had lemples situated in groves and near springs, where healing was practiced and instruction given. Treatment consisted of the interpretation of dreams, propitiatory sacri- fices, the olTering of votive tablets, etc., hut diet ing, pure air, tcmneratc living, and bathing also had their part in the cure, together with frictions, emetics, ami purgatives. The system finally de- generated into mere mysticism, and by the time