The son of this prince having fallen sick, and the queen being anxious to know what should be the issue of the disease, she went to Shiloh to consult the Prophet Ahijah, who predicted the approaching death of her child.* But he who acquired the most reputation by his prophetical cures, was Elias, who restored to life the child of a widow of Zarepphath, who was in a lethargic condition resembling death.† He also foretold to king Jehoram a disease of the intestines in which they were mortified and appeared to be discharged from the body, and he announced his approaching death to Ahaziah.§ Elisha inherited the spirit of the prophet Elijah. He cured the son of the Shunammite woman,|| and relieved Naaman the Assyrian general, of leprosy, by ordering him to bathe in the waters of Jordan. The prophet Isaiah, also, cured king Hezekiah of a glandular affection, by the application of a cataplasm of figs.** When king Asa was attacked with gout, he neglected to consult the prophet, but applied to the ordinary physicians, the Levites; and after languishing for two years, he died, and his death was attributed to his not having called upon the aid of the Lord.tt King Uzziah was also struck with leprosy for attempting to burn incense in the temple, and resisting the priests, who represented to him the consequences of his conduct. The prophet Jeremiah asks, "Is there no physician in Gilead?"§§ and Ezekiel|||| points out the means used in his time for the treatment of fractures: "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and lo! it shall not be bound up, to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword." ** || II. Kings iv. II. Chronicles xxi. ¶ II. Kings v. II. Kings xx. Compare Josephus Antiq. Jud. lib. xc. 12. tt II. Chronicles, xvi. 12. §§ Jeremiah viii. 22. II. Chronicles, xxvi. 19. Ezekiel xxx. 21. S VI. OTHER HEBREW PHYSICIANS. It appears from Isaiah,* that it was incumbent upon the chief men of Israel to be instructed in the secrets of the healing art. "In that time," says he, "a man shall lay hold of his brother, and say unto him, Thou hast clothes-be thou our ruler, and heal us of our ruin. He will reply and say, I am not a physician-do not appoint me the ruler of the people." Jeremiah,† Hosea,‡ and Zachariah,§ confirm this opinion. They express themselves in a manner that proves that ignorance of medicine was almost an exclusion from sovereign power. On the other hand there is no doubt that this science was cultivated by the doctors of the law, of whom Esdras, the scribe, may be considered the chief. The doctors of the law have always been the depositories of it, and esteemed it as appertaining exclusively to their province. Seeing the influence and consideration that their knowledge gave them with the public, they shrouded it in mystery, and took all possible precaution to prevent the admission of other classes of the community. But did they cultivate this science in a methodical manner, and is it evident that what they have done gave it a perceptible progress? We think not; at least they have handed down to us nothing by which we could judge. Nevertheless, according to tradition, Esdras and Nehemiah were very well versed in the virtues of herbs and the qualities of roots. The sentences of Jesus, the son of Sirach, prove likewise the high value given to medicine by the Jewish doctors during the second temple, "Honor the physician with the honor due unto him, for the uses which ye may have of him; for of the Most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honor of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head; and in the sight of great men he *Isaiah iii. 6. Upon reference to the text of Isaiah, we doubt whether the author is borne out by the reference. We have, however, given him a fair translation. Hosea v. 13. § Zachariah xi. 16. † Jeremiah vi. 14. shall be in admiration. The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth, and he that is wise will not abhor them. My son, in thy sickness be not negligent, but pray unto the Lord and he will make thee whole. * Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him."* § VII. THE ESSENIANS. Finally, at this time, an entire sect of the Jews were celebrated for their skill in the treatment of diseases. They were called indiscriminately by the name of Essenians, or by that of Therapeutists, signifying healers-physicians. The most remarkable man among them was Theodore, the physician, a man of great merit, who flourished at Alexandria.† The Essenians, distinguished for their pure and amiable morality, cultivated medicine not only to make themselves more acceptable, but to discover the means of perfecting the mental qualities, by rendering the body most healthy. Apostles of their doctrines, they confirmed them by a great number of remarkable cures. The members of this sect were esteemed as saints and physicians, who could by faith and words alone, heal diseases. This plan of driving unclean spirits from the body of the diseased by their conjurations, was also pursued at that time by the Pharisees. Josephus relates a case of which he was an eye witness, of the cure of one possessed with an unclean spirit, produced by a certain Eleazer, in the presence of the emperor Vespasian. The physician introduced into the nose of the sick person, a root recommended in similar cases by king Solomon, which God had endowed with this property: he pronounced, besides, the name of this ancient king of Israel, and the magical formula which he had laid down. Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 1--15. Mischna. Treatise Bechorotth, cap. iv. 4. § VIII. AKIBA AND ISMAEL. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, did not affect learning much among the Jews. Medicine particularly, was then taught with great care. They enriched it with many important discoveries, reported by various ancient authors. Celsus, among others, refers to two medicines of the Jewish physicians.* Among the physicians of the Jews, there were two particularly distinguished, Akiba and Ismael. These two doctors were one day walking in the public places of the holy city; a stranger came and placed himself near them. Soon afterwards they were addressed by a sick person, in these words: "My masters, I beseech you to give me the remedies to relieve me of my disease." They advised him of a remedy. "Take this," said they, "until you are entirely cured." The patient had hardly departed, when the stranger, who had placed himself near the physicians, asked of them, "Who had afflicted this man with such a disease?" "God," replied they, when he forthwith commenced the following conversation:"You say God, and you assume to yourselves a thing which does not belong to you; He afflicts and you profess to heal." "What is your occupation?" said the physician. “I am a husbandman, as this reaping hook shows." "Wherefore do you appropriate to yourself a thing that does not belong to you? He created the earth, and you reap the fruits." * A. C. Celsus, De re Medica Lib. V., cap. 19 and 22. These are both plasters. One for fracture, and should consist of the following ingredients: salt, scales of red copper, calcined copper, ammoniacum, thymiama, soot of frankincense, dry resin, calophonian resin, wax, veal suet, vinegar and oil. This, Celsus calls Judeus' plaster. The other is a composition also by Judeus, formed of two parts of lime and a pound of the reddest nitre, which are mixed with the urine of a young boy, till they be of the consistence of strigment. The parts on which this is spread, must be moistened. Vide Dr. Greives' Translation of Celsus, London, 1838, p. 228, 237. TRANSLATOR. "But see, if I had not labored, sowed, manured and weeded, the earth would have produced nothing." "True, sir, but one of your occupation ought to remember what says the scriptures, 'the life of man is as an herb, it flourishes as a flower of the field;' besides the plant will not grow unless it is manured and cultivated, and even if it does grow, it will die if it is not refreshed with water and otherwise atttended to. In the same manner, the body of the patient is the plant, the compost is the medicine, and the laborer is the physician." "Excuse me; I hope you will not be offended; I am satisfied." "The whole body is dependent on its respective parts; one cannot exist without the other. When they become weakened, it decays and dies, like a house with four walls-one of which giving way, the whole house tumbles into ruins."* § IX. DESCRIPTION OF A MAD DOG. The progress which medicine made at that time in the Jewish schools, is evident by the description of many diseases which they have left us. We refer among others, to that of a mad dog described in the following manner.† The signs which mark a mad dog, are the following: His mouth is open; the saliva issues from his mouth; his ears droop; his tail hangs between his legs; he runs sideways, and the dogs bark at him; others say that he barks himself, and that his voice is very weak. A German servant of the Rabbi Jehowda, was bitten by a mad dog; they gave him the diaphragm of a dog to eat, but it did him no good; and no man has appeared who could say that he has seen a man live who was bitten by a mad dog. It is proper in this place to reply to Severin Pineau, who endeavors to prove in his excellent treatise on the separation of the bones of the pelvis, (which he published in 1579,) by a passage * Medrasch, Samuel, chap. IV. Medrasch. Themura, chap. II. Talmud. Treatise Berachoth, chap. v. |