The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-06-03

avoid the use OF language which could posi-
bly, be construed as involving the assumption
OF q right to censurc. he is equally nverse to
the more subtle form of self-assertion betrayed
SAYS. in the tcnce which brings his narrative
to an end. seemed to me necessary to attempt
eaosy the army Of s HS, a6 0p ,s
there is not trace OF pancgyric or OF detrac-
ton in these coloress and limpid pilGes
rs they occurred. and the chief actors
are portrayed in their true relations and pro-
Is planted in the reader that the current YER
diet on the merits of the Generals principally
concorn.ed will bear considerable ieconstrnc,
ton. We get. for instance. II strong Impression
that the prepondcrant and almost exclusive
credit popularity given to Gen. Grant for the
paigns can hardly lie reconciled with tho facts
and that tho sterling hut hitherto lll-appre-
ciated services of Gen. Meade arc now certain
to receive a proper recognition ut the hands OF
future historians.
The Practice of Medicine In the Middle Ages.
There is q great deal Of reconcile and curl
Gus. but ill-digested and sometimes inaccurate.
learning in u book compiled by Mr.. GEORGE F.
FoRr and published by j. w. Bouton. under
tho somewhat inappropriate thlc OF Medical
Economy During Me MchNe Ages. The scope OF
the inquiry prosecuted in this volume Is much
wider than would bc inferred from the title. for
the author begins will! reviewing the progress
made in the development Of the art OF medicine
at Alexandria under tho Ptolsnies. and pro-
cecd, to trace the gradual evolution of i'm
proved systems Of surgery and medicine at
Rome through the migration OF Greek physi-
clans. chapter il devoted to Galen. and more
than 100 pages are employed in discussing the
deterioration of the medical profession in the
six centuries which interviewed between Ga!en
nm rla Npyrrthnlpss fhn hOr
has left himscl ample room for recounting the
results Of his researches in the special field OF
medieval mediciDc.
Mr.. Fort has certainly accumulated vast
amount Of materials which. in the hands Of a
man more sedulous to weigh. slit. and classify
evidence. and possessed Of more literary skill
might have been wrought into II work OF per-
mancnt interest and value. But. besides his
failure to properly discriminate between the
trustworthincss Of different authorities. Mr..
Forts arrangement OF his matter Is loose and
ineffective. and we have seldom seen n more
slovcnly and inaccurate dicton in n book OF
equal prctensions. Notwithstanding such
drawbacks. the compilation may be regarded as
n mine from which much useful information
can be drawn in acrudo state. but whose com
ments and deductions must be scanned with n
wary eye to the insufficient premises on which
they are often founded.
A marked change in tho social status of the
medical profession dates from the fourteenth
century Up to that time monks and clercs in
general had been discouraged and often pro-
hibited from studying medicine Mr. Fort
points out that an Introduction to that effect
was published In the year 1880 at General
Council held at Rheims. and the Injunction was
frequently reiterated in Papal decretals. 1t
was not, rs we have said. until the age Of
Petrarch and Boccaccio that the University OF
Bologna obtained dispensation permitting
the matriculatng Of clerics as licentiates to
readings OF medicine. About the same period
the school Of PISA received II like authorization
for the regular attendance Of clerks upon med.
zeal lectures. 1t was. rs Mr.. Fort remarks. un-
fortunate for the development of the
art Of medicine in the medimval pc
riod that the most cultivated minds
were long dcbarred from applying to the
functions and requirements Of physician the
habit of searching criticism and Investigation
which at that time tho scholastic intellect was
alone competent 10 furnish. For Mt least two
hundred yoars after tho curative art had made
some notab" advances in the hands of jewish
and Mohnmmcdan practitioners in southern
Spain and in Sicily. il WAS RELOCATED in tho
greater part Of Europe to tho degrading COM
partnership of ignorance and charlatlnsm
We ShouIu. however Dear IN NINA tnht Wncr-
ever tho lsraelttes had become doncIrd in
the towns o' occidental Europe. many Of them
as early rs the tenth century had embraced the
practice OF medicine. 1t is also to bo noted
that the cures performed by even the most sue
cessful of these Jewish physicinns seldom
awaited to protect them from popular violence.
while II II patient happened to die upon their
hands they were almost certain to be tried for
Po''ohi"s' va "ccouiV' ii"oou' vi ours'ry po-
ing so long subjected to the interdct OF both
civil and occle siastical society and of its com
.o,,.,. ,h,,,,,,,,,, A., t,.t,., 49,, -
ei""''. ""i'""'iho"' W p'ipoiS anu jews
he medieval analysts seldom referred to chi
rurrical operations without contemnt mr. dis
,,,, ,,,,, ,t t., - ,,','.
.usl "htii the science WAS rehapiiitated by
Italian professors. 1t is significant that even
ms late us tho fourteenth century whom tb..
Italian schools hnd done 50 mn"E ,o ~l ,ha .ne
''''i"h Hchooi' htu uohc 81 Hu'H lot inc 70
yival OF tho curative art Patriarch. the most
learned man of his nce in writing IN tbs po
~ p.,;,y Gu. VI, " W. 'o
man i"hti'' .l""ehe VIII hi)ureu MN to
avoid medical treatment of any kind which.
he said even in tho hands n, tba ,nost .r,,non,
h,ii e H. ., N 'n''' ''i''''''
PHYSICIAN oil the time. WAS synonymous
with certain death. Strange to say however
petrarch. himself notwithstanding his .xtr.m.