CHAPTER I. THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE. According to the beliefs of superstitious ages, cruel demons were watching on every side for chances to do injury to man. Gradually tribes of men built up elaborate ceremonies and invented charms to drive off demons, and they arranged sacrifices and scheduled feasts in order to enlist the aid of helpful spirits. The medicine man was their leader in the performance of these ceremonies. If, from the traditions of the tribe and from his own experiences, he learned the demands of the demons well enough, and understood the voices of good spirits so that he could wisely select camping places, know the seasons for making victorious attacks upon enemies, found out how to arrange for success in the annual hunts, discovered what herbs to place in the food of the tribes upon the solemn occasion appointed to stay plagues, he succeeded in extending his influence over his subjects. The Mosaic Law gave minute directions for wholesome living. These directions were enforced by the priests. The disciples of Esculapius were required to record the stories of their cures upon the tablets which were placed on the walls of the shrines erected in honor of this early Greek physician. Real progress in medicine, however, begins with Hippocrates, a Greek philosopher, who was born about 460 B.C. He was a careful observer and a conscientious student and was much loved and highly honored by his countrymen He knew the effects of many drugs, understood the influences of unsanitary surroundings and was able to ascribe many diseases to unwholesome diet. Inasmuch as the early Greeks opposed the mutilation of human bodies, he knew little about anatomy. His code of ethics has given dignity to the medical profession. Hippocrates observed carefully the progress of disease; Aristotle, who followed him, through his study of the structure of animals made our first known contributions to anatomy, although it is possible that the Egyptian priests who were accustomed to embalm the bodies of the dead knew something of the structure of the human body. Galen, from being the physical director to the gladiators of an Asiatic town, rose to the important position of physician to the great emperor, Marcus Aurelius. He knew something of anatomy. His recorded observations show that he knew something of hygiene. He recommended gymnastic exercises, the outdoor life and the use of the bath. The physicians of the later Roman Empire were imitators who based their practice upon the writings of Hippocrates and Galen. For want of careful observation and continued investigation, medicine declined and this decline probably led to the first legal regulation of the practice of medicine. Under the laws of the empire, each town had its official physician, who examined and licensed practitioners. After the time of Constantine, hospitals and dispensaries were established. At later periods the monasteries became hospitals. In the absence of any strong central government during the several hundred years of confusion, com |