On Medicine (De Medicina), Vol. 2

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INTRODUCTION

fever, and that Antonius Musa applied a cold pack,^a a treatment still used, a well known instance is that of King Edward VII, who, when Prince of Wales, was in danger from typhoid fever in 1871. The bold originality of the remedies applied by Petron^b were still remembered by Galen writing a century later.^c A similar type of "shock" remedy was the treatment of epilepsy by a draught of gladiator's blood^d and of hydrophobia by throwing the patient into a pond,^e though the latter may have been more of a homoeopathic nature, and would certainly cause the death of a genuine case, though it might be effective in the cases of hysterical symptoms simulating hydrophobia which, as Pasteur observed in his native district, often accompany an outbreak of the disease. But such methods were not always safe, and though they sometimes resulted in spectacular cures, they sometimes killed the patient.^f

Turning to the actual ingredients of the prescriptions, the greater part were derived from herbs and vegetables, which, as Celsus himself points out^g have been used medicinally from the earliest times and by the rudest tribes, but, in addition, many animal organic and inorganic substances were employed. If the herbs used by Celsus are compared with those in a modern materia medica, it will be seen that though many are the same, he often mentions plants which are no longer used, as the drug which they contain can be obtained in a stronger form, or one more satisfactory for use, from some other