One of the difficulties in the early days of the universities
was to procure good MSS. In the Paris Faculty,
the records of which are the most complete in Europe,
there is an inventory for the year 1395 which gives
a list of twelve volumes, nearly all by Arabian authors.(25)
Franklin gives an interesting incident illustrating
the rarity of medical MSS. at this period. Louis
XI, always worried about his health, was anxious to
have in his library the works of Rhazes. The only
copy available was in the library of the medical school.
The manuscript was lent, but on excellent security,
and it is nice to know that it was returned.
(25) Franklin:
Recherches sur la Bibliotheque de la Faculte de
Medecine de Paris, 1864.
It is said that one of the special advantages that
Montpellier had over Paris was its possession of so
many important MSS., particularly those of the Arabian
writers. Many “Compendia” were written
containing extracts from various writers, and no doubt
these were extensively copied and lent or sold to
students. At Bologna and Padua, there were regulations
as to the price of these MSS. The university controlled
the production of them, and stationers were liable
to fines for inaccurate copies. The trade must
have been extensive in those early days, as Rashdall
mentions that in 1323 there were twenty-eight sworn
booksellers in Paris, besides keepers of bookstalls
in the open air.
The Greek doctrine of the four humors colored
all the conceptions of disease; upon their harmony
alone it was thought that health depended. The
four temperaments, sanguine, phlegmatic, bilious and
melancholic, corresponded with the prevalence of these
humors. The body was composed of certain so-called
“naturals,” seven in number—the
elements, the temperaments, the humors, the members
or parts, the virtues or faculties, the operations
or functions and the spirits. Certain “non-naturals,”
nine in number, preserved the health of the body, viz.
air, food and drink, movement and repose, sleeping
and waking, excretion and retention, and the passions.
Disease was due usually to alterations in the composition
of the humors, and the indications for treatment were
in accordance with these doctrines. They were
to be evacuated, tenuated, cooled, heated, purged
or strengthened. This humoral doctrine prevailed
throughout the Middle Ages, and reached far into modern
times—indeed, echoes of it are still to
be heard in popular conversations on the nature of
disease.
The Arabians were famous for their vigor and resource
in matters of treatment. Bleeding was the first
resort in a large majority of all diseases. In
the “Practice” of Ferrari there is scarcely
a malady for which it is not recommended. All
remedies were directed to the regulation of the six
non-naturals, and they either preserved health, cured
the disease or did the opposite. The most popular
