CONSTANTINI

AFRICANI ON THE SUBJECTS NECESSARY

FOR THE PHYSICIAN TO KNOW, BOOK ONE.

WHAT KIND OF STUDENTS OF MEDICINE THERE SHOULD BE.

CHAPTER I.

An ornamental woodcut initial 'O' depicts a physician seated and gesturing toward a figure standing before him, likely a student or patient.

He who wishes to obtain the habit acquired skill or disposition of medicine must honor his master, praise him, and serve him as if he were a parent. For parents must be shown honor as those from whom one’s being is derived. The master is to be honored as the one from whom one’s rough and unformed self is shaped. Whoever the master takes on to be taught, he should observe whether the student is worthy of himself. He should then teach those who are worthy, and do this without money or greed, and for the sake of future merit; he should strive to repel the unworthy from this science. He should work to recover the health of the sick, not for the hope of money, nor should he consider the rich more than the poor, nor the noble more than the ignoble. He should neither teach nor agree with those who teach how to mix a harmful potion, so that no fool, hearing this on his authority, might mix a potion of death. Nor should he teach how to perform an abortion. When he visits the sick, he must not set his heart upon his wife, nor consider his maid or daughter. These things blind the heart of man. He alone must be privy to the illness entrusted to him. For sometimes the sick person reveals to the physician what he is ashamed to confess to his parents. He should flee luxury and avoid the pleasures of the world along with drunkenness. For these disturb the mind and strengthen the vices of the body. He should love the assiduity of study in curing the health of the body, and should not neglect his reading, so that if he ever loses his books, his memory might assist him. He should not disdain to visit any sick person, so that he may always be more proficient in his experiments. He should be pious, humble, gentle, and lovable, seeking to be helped by divine assistance.

There are six things that are appropriate to know: CHAP. II.

An ornamental woodcut initial 'S' is decorated with a bird and scrolled foliage.

There are six things that it is appropriate for beginners to know: the intention of the book and its utility, the title, to which part of doctrine it tends, the name of the author, and the division of the book. Our intention is to say such things here about theoretical and practical medicine that, once read, no other books of this art will be necessary. For we seem to have collected everything here concisely, yet fully and clearly. We have treated of this intention to provide light for those entering this path. For he is like a blind man who does not know the path he is walking. The utility of this book is very great. For it labors to say what medicine does regarding the human being who is subject to it. Secondly, because it is more excellent than other arts.