Certain
"non-naturals," nine in number, preserved the health of the body, viz.
air, food and drink, movement and repose, sleeping and waking, excretion
and retention, and the passions. Disease was due usually to alterations
in the composition of the humors, and the indications for treatment were
in accordance with these doctrines. They were to be evacuated, tenuated,
cooled, heated, purged or strengthened. This humoral doctrine prevailed
throughout the Middle Ages, and reached far into modern times--indeed,
echoes of it are still to be heard in popular conversations on the
nature of disease.
The Arabians were famous for their vigor and resource in matters of
treatment. Bleeding was the first resort in a large majority of all
diseases. In the "Practice" of Ferrari there is scarcely a malady
for which it is not recommended. All remedies were directed to the
regulation of the six non-naturals, and they either preserved health,
cured the disease or did the opposite. The most popular medicines were
derived from the vegetable kingdom, and as they were chiefly those
recommended by Galen, they were, and still are, called by his name.
Many important mineral medicines were introduced by the Arabians,
particularly mercury, antimony, iron, etc.
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