The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-25
The Doctors Were at
 It Even in Those Days
Oldest Medical Prescription Calls for
 Powdered Gems for Hysteria

The oldest medical prescription ir America, so far as any one knows has been found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art It is at least 3,5OG years old. and is listed in the Museum as Accession Mo- 9SS.''
 ''It is written on small piece of limestone,' says The Journal of the American Medical Association, about 3 1-2 inches by inches in it's present somewhat injured condition, carefully smoothed for the purpose, forming what is called an 'ostracon.'
 ''The writing was done with a brush and some sort of black ink or paint, for pens did not come into use in Egypt until the Roman time The substance employed was well adapted for its purpose, for the writing is still ou1te plain, except near the edges of the stone, where Augmentation has occurred.
 The inscription is in the old cursive hieratic writing, somewhat similar to that of the old Ebers papyrus, which dates from about 16OO B. c. It is written on both sides of the stone with what Psychologists would probably call typical Egyptian neglect of such details, from above down on the long, CT measurement of the stone on one side, but across on the other side, as some ladies of the present day, after
 
 ter paper turn it over and write cross wise on the back of it.
 Unfortunately, it is not known whence this specimen comes. It was noticed in the museum some years ago by Max Muller, who recognized it's medical character and translated the inscription, though rather unsatisfac- torlly. An effort was then made to find the place of it's origin, but the specimen had come with a number of other antique finds of many kinds gathered from various portions of Egypt, and its exact provenince, to use the archaeologic term, could not be determined
 ''The prescription as written seems to be copy, because portions that in the ordinary medical writings of the time are abbreviated are here written out completely, just as copies of prescriptions written out by drug gists today have the abbreviations en- larged
 "The ingredients called for in the are mainly precious stones. These were to be ground up. to be used for Immigration. Prof. von Oefele, an authority on ancient Egypt | an medicine, suspects the case was | one of hysteria, though there is no | indication. of this on the prescription | tself &
 IeC1OuS SlOHeS were faVOr- | te remedies for hysterical manifesto ions. They were used for fumiga- ion whenever the ball in the throat, ,ur globus Mysterious, was promi- lent symptom.
 Indications on the prescription show hat various classes of precious and emi- precious stones were used for 'atients of differing degrees of wealth. Tor the very wealthy a valuable stone Ike sapphire was used. For those f moderate wealth a more modest tone would do. For the poor maIach- te, which was rather common, suf- ced. The remedies which cure the ervous affections of ordinary people eem never to have been capable of reducing the same effect on the neu- ot1c symptoms of the wealthy, for Ihom something quite different, and bove all, much more costly, is re- uired
 Further study of the specimen will oubtless bring out more interesting etails with regard to the medicine of le time"