Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-10-12

one of the three forms used by the
ancient Egyptians. The others are
the epistolographic and the HERO
glyphic.
The exact date of the writing OF the
book of which Papyrus Ebers is copy
is not known, but it is believed that it
dates back to 1866 b. c. The docu-
ment itself refers to the eighteenth
dynasty in the sixteenth century b. c.,
but when the papyrus was unrolled,
a calendar was discovered containing
the following inscription:
"In the ninth year of the King OF
Upper and Lower Egypt of
the everlasting" =..-.
Before the last epithet is the framed
name of King whose identity is still
in doubt. Dumchen, recognized au-
thority on Egyptology, believes that
the author Of the calendar did not in
sert the name Of the reigning King
but that Of Bicheres, of the fourth dy-
nasty, who reigned 1460 years earlier.
DR.. Won Klein is of the opinion that
the calendar calls attention to the
date of transcription and that the
original was written much earlier.
Egyptologists agree that between the
twenty-eighth and sixteenth centuries
B. c., the practice of medicine was in
the hands of witchcraft. During this
period the law was so stringent that
person advancing a theory for the
treatment of disease other than that
established by the priests was put to
death. Consequently the work, which
bears the marks of the period of witch
craft, if written at all prior to the
date named in the calendar, must
have been written at least 1900 years
before. This makes it highly proba-
BILE that the original book was written
during the reign of Bicheres, or at
least 1866 B. c. At all events, the
copy of the papyrus is itself the oldest
medical work extant and contains the
historical genesis of medicine.
A large proportion OF the diseases
known to modern medical science are
carefully classified and their symp-
toms minutely described by Papyrus
Ebers. The prescriptions recommend.
ed are in many cases exactly the same
as those given at the present time.
The work mentions 700 different sub
stances, the greater part of which are
taken from the vegetable kingdom.
Some metals and a considerable num-
Der OF animal extractions were also
used. OF the salts only natron, salt
peter, common salt and sea salt are
mentioned. The use of such ingredi-
en,s as lizards blood and pigs teeth
are in some cases recommended.
The discovery of Papyrus Ebers de-
monstrated that the Egyptians as
early as 5000 or 1900 years before
Christ possessed in an astonishing
knowledge of a great variety of reme-
dies, and that their learned men could
make observation of disease, combine
complicated recipes and use them
with judgment. According to this
early writer there were three different
classes of medical practitioners in
Egypt at the date of the manuscript
namely: The real physician, the sur
geon and the conjurers. The relative
standing of the several classes is not
known.
The origin of medicine is certainly
to be looked for in the Valley of the
Nile, and the Papyrus Ebers opens
wide era for the students OF the his
tory of medicine and pbarmacology.
The Egyptian physicians were we'll
advanced in opthalmology. The COL
lection of Hippocrates edited 1000
years later, did not contain more eye
diseases. although more clearly and
more agreeably described. The num-
Der of diseases mentioned in the Papy-
rus Ebers, as we'll as the profusion OF
medicines prescribed, is a source of
wonder to modern physicians. The
ancient Egyptian physicians must
have been experienced diagnoticians,
who commanded knowledge of
prophylactic and cosmetic remedies.
The Egyptian oculist was renowned.
In the third book of Herodotus is the
following passage: "Cyrus sent to
Amasis, B. c., $50, and bade him for
an oculist-the best in the whole land
Of Egypt" Darius also sent thither
for body physician, and in the time
of Tiberius and Nero Egyptian physi-
clans regularly came to Rome, usually
to heal skin diseases. Herodotus tells
us that the Egyptian physicians were
accustomed to practice specialties and
that the country was full of physi-
clans. Some confined their attention
to diseases of the eye or head, others
to the teeth, stomach and intestines.
Greece, long supposed to be the
birthplace of medicine, is now known
to have derived its knowledge from
the Egytians. Praxagoras, alth ough
from Kos, the town where Hippo
crates was born and where the temple
of Esculapius was built, lived in
Egypt. He was the greatest sympo-
mologist and diagnostician of this age.
Hippocrates also went to Egypt for
his medical training, and OIL his re.
turn established q school of Greek
,l,y..o,o~. AlkhDnrh kho fnnpAor of