Ancient Egyptian medicine

For the main part of her work, the translation of the Latin text into German, Lieberknecht has used the Valgrisius edition (Venice 1561) which incorporates a commentary of Mondinus (1275-1326) and an interpretation of Sylvius (Jacques Dubois, 1478-1555). In cases of uncertainty she compares this edition with the Venice and Padua (?) incunabula of 1471, a selection of eleven manuscripts and commentaries. The appendix gives the Latin text, which makes a comparison of her translation possible. The text itself consists of four main sections. The first one stresses the importance of the rules of treatment and shows the criteria for judging whether a drug is suitable for use. Touch, smell and taste are of particular importance in order to determine the characteristics of a drug, but colour, age, durability and location of a herb give additional information. Certain drugs specifically act on different humours and on different organs. In the second section instructions are given on how to improve drugs that are too weak or too strong, avoid harmful side effects and direct the drugs to the organ intended. This is done by adding certain substances to the drug itself. The second strategy is to change some of the characteristics of the drug by skilled preparation, especially cooking, washing, soaking or grinding. The third section describes the circumstances under which cathartics can harm the body, and gives recommendations for treatment. The first condition is when a purgative only stirs up a humour but does not eliminate it from the body, the second is when other humours than intended are purged or painful purgation, and the third is excessive purgation. The fourth section deals with the treatment of harmful conditions after purgation, such as fever, headache, vertigo, loss of eyesight, loss of stomach function, thirst, hiccups, stomach pain, bowel lesions, loss of blood, necessity of defecation, weakness and convulsions. The large number of manuscripts, above all in Latin, but also in Italian and Hebrew, and the early (and expensive) printings show the importance of the Canones down to the seventeenth century. According to various comments of doctors and apothecaries, the Canones were very useful for them. The need for further investigation is evident throughout the book, not only on the authorship of the Canones. A comparison with the Arabic sources, if available, would show the ways in which the transition of medical knowledge from Arabic to the Latin-speaking world, with all its translations, interpretations and commentaries, changed the understanding of the subjects concemed. The Latin text exemplifies the observation that, if detached from the Arabic sources, only a partial comprehension of the Arabic original can be provided. It is the merit of Sieglinde Lieberknecht that the Canones are now accessible in a modem language as a stimulus to further research.