Abhomeron Abynzohar & Colliget Auerroys (Medical Compendium)

extirpating, pull out the hairs as often as they grow back. And after extirpation, anoint the place with the blood of a bat. And you ought to know that some physicians cure this ailment in this way, namely: by turning the eyelid up to the upper part and gluing it there with glue, so that it does not return until a cauterization has been made with a gold needle at the root of the hairs. However, such a cure is not praised by me; rather, it is traditional to extirpate the hairs, that is, to pull them out, and to apply the blood of a bat from above; as we have said, this is a very laudable cure; so we have said in this case. And there are some who, by cutting, incise the eyelid, namely: the skin from above at the root of the hairs. And through that incision from above, they pull out the hairs, and then they sew them with a thread that is very thin, of raw silk. And afterward, the hairs return to their state, or they grow back in a due and natural manner. And there are some among the surgeons who have found a miraculous cure, and it is this: that one should take with the hands the skin of the thin upper eyelid, elevating it upward, and placing it between two pieces of reed prepared in a due manner, tying them tightly on both sides, letting it be until it putrefies, and it separates and heals by itself; considering, however, that the skin of the eyelid should not be elevated so much that it could remain inverted. And you must attend to the condition of the eye by treating it with rose water, and with collyria made with rose water, and by placing on the outside over the eyelids a plaster made of rose leaves; and by treating it delicately until it has been cleared.

Chap. VII. Concerning the case of the hairs of the eyelids.

When this ailment happens to the eyelids, it ought to be cured with lapis lazuli, ground and pulverized, and from it, an alchool is made, placing it daily upon the eyelids of the eyes and rectifying the diet.

Chap. VIII. Concerning the generation of small plates in the eyelids.

Small plates arise in the eyelids from superfluous moisture. The cure for this is to cleanse the body and to place a drying alchool in the eyes, thinning the diet by making it tend toward dryness.

Chap. IX. Concerning the stye in the eyelids.

In the eyelids occur pustules similar to grains of barley, which are produced from acute humors. And the cure for these is the cure of the aforementioned pustules.

Chap. X. Concerning the lacrimal fistula.

it breaks inside

this is for the body after

This ailment for the most part happens after the lacrimal [duct] is ruptured in the lacrimal gland. Wherefore, if there is sloth and negligence in the cure of this, the bone is corrupted. And sometimes it breaks, or it opens inside the nose, and thus sanies escapes. It could also happen that the aforementioned [duct] breaks inside the tunics of the eyes, and thus it is corrupted. The cure, however, for this is: first for the body, then to cure it with silomia; and in the purgation, yera pigra will suffice for it, continuing it. And because the opening of the fistula is very subtle, therefore it cannot be touched there at all. Wherefore, in that same opening, you ought to put this medicament: take burnt frankincense, ground and pulverized, and let it be tempered with rose water until it arrives at a perfect blackness, and let it be strained, and let it be distilled into the opening daily until it is cleared. But if the patient is a child or a woman, then this [medicament] ought to be burnt further, adding to it some of the powder of burnt papers. And if the patient is of a hard and earthy constitution, then to the aforementioned medicines you ought to add soot from a furnace or a chimney, tempering it with rose water and straining it as has been said, and continuing this medicament until it is entirely cleared. But if the sanies should exit through the nostrils, then the juice of greater centaury or horehound should be injected into the nostrils time after time until it dries out. And if the aforementioned sanies should emanate from under the eye on the outside, we judge it to be very grave and dangerous. Wherefore you ought to purge them only twice with the aforementioned. And for the most part, let him be with his head inclined toward the front, guarding absolutely against his lying supine, lest the sanies be able to return to the brain. And compress the eye with your hand or finger gently and softly until all the sanies that can emerge has come out, performing the aforementioned treatments on the eye. And placing on top a styptic and strengthening plaster made of roses and balaustine, ground and mixed with water, breaking the astringency of the balaustine with the mucilage of quince seeds, continuing such things until it has been cleared.

Chap. XI. Concerning flesh added in the lacrimal angle.

It has also been proven by the ancients, and I have seen it proven, that the application of balaustine in the eye is beneficial to the fistula itself, and also to the flesh added in the lacrimal gland. By also placing there an alchool with a probe or stylus suited for this drying and abstergent purpose. And that which is praised more by me is that which is made from erevsto [or erust], exercising it until it is cleared.

Chap. XII. Concerning the diminution of flesh in the lacrimal gland.

This same ailment can happen from the continuous application of acute medicines or from an incision made there with iron. Its cure is to place in that place a plaster made of frankincense masticated with penidia, because it is most perfect in this case.

Chap. XIII. Concerning the ailments occurring in the eye itself.

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But these ailments generally are found to be graver and harder and deeper than the aforementioned, and among these there are also some which are found to be graver than others. And it is certain that the eye is composed of diverse parts, one of which obtains supremacy over the others, and all the others are serving it and created entirely for its utility. And this part is called the "eye" properly, or by the name of the eye itself. It is that part of which Hal[y] Abbas speaks: if an ailment happens to the same, that noble or principal part is destroyed. And all [other parts] are less excellent than it, either by the priority of time or by nobility, and for these two reasons, one thing is named as more excellent or most excellent than others. And upon this, H[aly Abbas] built his discourse in this case. Wherefore, when an ailment is confirmed in this part, if any error occurs in the cure, we judge them to be entirely incurable. And you ought to know that the parts of the eye are many, and it was very difficult in the time of H[aly Abbas] to know and recognize the utility or operation of each one of them, to such an extent that Haly [Abbas] proposed in his heart not to give an account of each of the aforementioned individually, nor to declare their causes and utilities in his book which he made on the aid of the members, but he treated only of the ailments whose demonstrations were manifest. Therefore, since it was thus even at that time, how much less should they be found in this our time, when [it is rare] that physicians know and are those who study in the sciences, whether because of the intentions they have concerning their sects or faiths, or also because of the intentions and study they have concerning the world. And such men disparage and deride those who do not mix with them and do not love in their drinks and foods, who do not laugh and jest with them, and who do not loiter in the streets with them, and who do not walk through the city with them, going and returning. Now, however, we intend to recall briefly the accidents which happen to these eyes, omitting their causes, placing continually that which is proven to be necessary for their cures.

Chap. XIV. Concerning the operation of the eyes.

The eye is proven to be composed of diverse tunics, the first of which resides near the skull, and is a pellicle which is clothed upon the flesh. And after that, toward the anterior part, is another tunic which is called the second [tunica], and after that, similarly, follows the retina. And there are also in the eye several humors or humidities, of which the more principal and noble is the glacialis [crystalline], and that is principally the instrument of vision; to which, from the inner side toward the skull, the vitreous humor is applied, embracing it circularly, from that side bringing to it nourishment and food, by which it is nourished; and this is its nature and its utility. And from the outer side toward the air, the albugineus [aqueous] is embracing the glacialis circularly, and it is its shield and protection. And that which surrounds and covers the albugineus from the outside is the uvea tunic, having a black color tending toward green. And after it follows, from the same side, a tunic which is named the cornea, and it is covering and surrounding the uvea from all sides. And in the exterior part, the conjunctiva is placed, not covering the uvea and the cornea entirely from every side. And now I omit placing the origin and generation of these, lest my treatise be too much prolonged. And this is manifest, and it seems to happen to those who are surgeons and working with their hands. I say, indeed, that the glacialis humor is the root and subject of the sense of vision, receiving the visible spirit through the optic nerve coming from the brain. And each eye has two...