Parts
of organs, various secretions and excretions are very commonly used. One
useful method of practice reached a remarkable development, viz., the
art of acupuncture--the thrusting of fine needles more or less deeply
into the affected part. There are some 388 spots on the body in which
acupuncture could be performed, and so well had long experience taught
them as to the points of danger, that the course of the arteries may be
traced by the tracts that are avoided. The Chinese practiced inoculation
for smallpox as early as the eleventh century.
Even the briefest sketch of the condition of Chinese medicine leaves the
impression of the appalling stagnation and sterility that may afflict a
really intelligent people for thousands of years. It is doubtful if they
are today in a very much more advanced condition than were the Egyptians
at the time when the Ebers Papyrus was written. From one point of view
it is an interesting experiment, as illustrating the state in which
a people may remain who have no knowledge of anatomy, physiology or
pathology.
Early Japanese medicine has not much to distinguish it from the Chinese.
At first purely theurgic, the practice was later characterized by
acupuncture and a refined study of the pulse.
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