Page:The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800.djvu/262

 (General principles of Medicine). Among the physicians of the later Middle Ages this work was commonly spoken of as the "Colliget" (from kullidschat), and was almost as highly esteemed as the Canon of Avicenna. The idea of writing a treatise on the individual diseases was first entertained, among Arabian physicians, by Averroes; but on reflection he abandoned the idea, and, instead, urged Avenzoar, his friend and former instructor, to undertake the work in his place. It was in this way that the Teïssir—the finest work on the practice of medicine produced by an Arab writer—came to be written.

The topics treated in the "Colliget" are distributed throughout the seven books in the following manner:—

Book I.  Anatomy. Book II. Health (Physiology). Book III. Diseases. Book IV. Signs or Symptoms. Book V.  Remedial agents and Foods. Book VI. The Preservation of Health. Book VII. The Treatment of Diseases.

Neuburger speaks of the "Colliget" as a fine piece of philosophical writing, but adds that it is not at all suited to the needs of the practical physician. Indeed, he doubts whether any person who has not received a thorough training in natural philosophy—the philosophy of Aristotle—would be able to follow the author intelligently.

Maimonides.—Maimonides, who is ranked by Le Clerc as the greatest Jew, after Moses, of whom the history of that nation makes mention, was born at Cordova, Spain, in 1135 A. D. In early youth his teachers were his father and a disciple of Ebn Badja. At the age of thirteen, and from that time until he had reached his thirtieth year, he was obliged under the pressure of circumstances, to profess, at least outwardly, the faith of Islam. Death or banishment was the only alternative. During the intervening period of seventeen years he devoted himself exclusively to his studies. In 1160 A. D. he accompanied his family to Fez, Morocco, and five years later he settled