Page:The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800.djvu/261



I felt some pain in the region of the mediastinum (the membrane which divides the thorax in the middle) while I was on a journey. As it increased a cough developed, and I observed that my pulse was very hard and that I had an acute fever. On the fourth night I took away a pint of blood, but this gave me very little relief. Being obliged to travel all day I was much fatigued when I retired at night, and I fell asleep. During my sleep the bandage on the arm came off, and when I awoke I found the bed deluged with blood and my strength greatly exhausted. The next day I began to cough up a sanious matter, and my mind wandered at times. Gradually all the symptoms subsided and I recovered my health. Although I partook of large quantities of barley water, I believe that my recovery was not due to this, but rather to the great loss of blood which I had experienced.

Freind adds that "Avenzoar not only takes notice of an abscess in the mediastinum, but in the pericardium like-*wise; which I don't find had been described or even observed by any of the Greeks or Arabians: and there is no doubt but this membrane and the mediastinum to which it is contiguous, are subject, as well as the pleura and lungs, to an inflammation."

It is one of the distinguishing features of Avenzoar's character that, in his writings, he does not hesitate to differ from his predecessors whenever he believes that their views are erroneous.

Averroes.—Averroes was one of Avenzoar's most distinguished pupils. Indeed, the latter's famous work, the Teïssir, is dedicated to Averroes. Thanks to the distinguished French historian and philosopher, Ernest Renan, our knowledge of Averroes has been greatly expanded since 1852. Averroes was born at Cordova in 1126 A. D. His father and his grandfather had both held the office of Cadhi (Alcalde, in Spanish), and were therefore people of importance in that city. His studies were confined at first largely to philosophy, and when he reached mature age he gained a great reputation as the commentator and interpreter of the writings of Aristotle. Still later in life much of his attention was devoted to medicine, and he wrote a book which bears the title "Kitab al-kullidschat"