From BibleWiki
—In Bible and Talmud:
The ancient Hebrew regarded health and disease as emanating from
the same divine source. "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I
heal" (Deut. xxxii. 39), said the Lord through His servant Moses;
and therefore they who minister to the health of their fellows are
regarded as the messengers of God, as the executors of His will.
Although Yhwh is the physician of Israel (Ex. xv. 26), yet the
practise of medicine is sanctioned by the Law: "If men strive
together, and one smite another . . . and . . . he keepeth his bed
. . . he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to
be thoroughly healed" (ib. xxi. 18-19). Joseph employed
house physicians (Gen. 1. 2); and Isaiah mentions especially a
surgeon or wound-dresser (Isa. iii. 7). Among the Jews, unlike
other primitive nations, the priests did not monopolize the art and
science of healing. Moses assigned to them only the task of police
supervision in cases of contagious diseases. The Bible does not
mention a single instance of a priest having performed the
functions of a physician. The Prophets, however, practised
occasionally the art of healing. Elijah brought to life a child
apparently dead (I Kings xvii. 17-22); and his disciple Elisha
performed a similar miraculous cure (II Kings iv. 18-20, 34-35). A
man of God restored the paralyzed hand of King Jeroboam (I Kings
xiii. 4-6). Isaiah cured King Hezekiah of an inflammation by
applying a plaster made of figs (II Kings xx. 7).
At a later period physicians were held in high esteem by the
people, as may be gathered from Ben Sira: "Honor a physician with
the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him, for
the Lord hath created him. . . . The Lord has created medicines out
of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. . . . And He
has given men skill that He might be honored in His marvelous
works. . . . My son, in thy sickness be not negligent; . . . give
place to the physician; . . . let him not go from thee, for thou
hast need of him" (Ecclus. [Sirach] xxxviii. 1-12). Afterward the
status of the medical profession became still more exalted. The
court of justice ("bet din") employed in certain cases the services
of a physician ("rofe"), whose expert testimony was decisive in
criminal matters. In cases of assault, for instance, it was his
duty to give his opinion ("umdena") as to the danger to the life of
the assaulted (Sanh. 78a; Giṭ. 12b). Corporal punishment was
inflicted under the supervision of a physician (Mak. 22b). No
physician was permitted to practise without a license from the
local judicial council (B. B. 21a; Mak. 20b). Every city was
required to have at least one physician; and to live in a city that
had none was considered hazardous (Sanh. 17b).
Sources of Medical
Knowledge.
The medical knowledge of the Talmudists was based upon
tradition, the dissection of human bodies, observation of diseases,
and experiments upon animals ("'issuḳ be-debarim"; Ḥul. 57b). When
making their rounds physicians used to take their apprentices with
them (Deut. R. x.). In the majority of cases the art of healing was
transmitted from father to son (Yer. R. H. i. 3, 57b). The numerous
medical aphorisms preserved in the Talmudim and Midrashim, and the
fact that physicians took part in the discussion of many important
religious questions by the Rabbis, indicate that the latter were
not unacquainted with the science of medicine (Naz. 52a; Nid. 22b).
That the demand upon the skill of physicians was considerable may
be adduced from the statute law prohibiting the part owner of a
house from renting his part toa physician on account of the noise
and disturbance caused by the visiting patients (B. B. 21a).
Physicians received for their services comparatively large fees. A
current saying was: "A physician who takes nothing is worth
nothing" (B. Ḳ. 85a).
What was the sum total of medical knowledge possessed by the
ancient Hebrews can not be stated definitely, for the reason that
neither the Bible nor the Talmud contains medical treatises as
such. The Mishnah mentions a medical book, "Sefer Refu'ot," which
was attributed to King Solomon and expurgated by King Hezekiah
(Pes. iv. 9), and the Talmud cites a treatise on pharmacology,
"Megillat Sammanin" (Yoma 38a); but neither of these has been
preserved. Medicine was an integral part of the religion of the
Jews; and medical subjects are treated of or alluded to only in so
far as they concern or elucidate some point of law.
Anatomy.
There are in the Bible but few direct references to the internal
organs. Biblical poetry, however, abounds with expressions in which
the names of such organs are used metaphorically, e.g.:
"His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder,
and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground" (Job
xvi. 13); "His vessels are full of healthy fluid, and the marrow of
his bones is well moistened" (ib. xxi. 24, Hebr.); "I am
weary; . . . my throat is dried" (Ps. lxix.). See Anatomy.
Osteology.
The laws concerning clean ("ṭohorah") and unclean ("ṭum'ah")
afford means for ascertaining in part the familiarity of the
ancient Hebrews with certain branches of anatomy. According to the
Mosaic law (Num. xix. 14), any one who comes in contact with a dead
body or any part thereof, or who remains in a tent wherein a corpse
is found, is considered infected ("unclean") for seven days. The
Mishnah teaches that this tent-infection ("ṭum'at ohel") takes
place in the presence either of a complete corpse, or of an
anatomical unit or member ("eber"),
i.e., a bone covered
with its soft parts. A bone stripped of its soft parts does not
infect.
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i.
et seq.). This law made it imperative that
the number of bones in the human body should be ascertained. Oh.
i.-viii. gives the number as 248; and the following bones are
recognized and named: hand ("pissat ha-yad") 30; forearm ("ḳaneh")
2; elbowjoint ("marpeḳ") 2; arm 1; shoulder-joint ("kataf"),
including shoulder-blade ("kanaf"), 4; foot ("pissat ha-regel") 30;
ankle-joint ("ḳarsol") 10; leg 2; knee-joint ("'arḳub"), including
knee-cap ("piḳah") 5; thigh 1; hip-joint ("ḳoṭlit"), including head
of femur ("buḳa de-iṭma") and innominate bone ("ḳeliboset"), 3;
spinal column ("shedrah") made up of vertebræ ("ḥulyot") 18; ribs
11; breast-bone ("mafteaḥ shelleb") 6; sacrum and coccyx ("'uḳaẓ")
6; and head 9, in which were recognized the vertex ("ḳederah"), two
condyloid processes, the foramen magnum, the fontanels, maxillary
bone, maxillary arch ("gabbot ha-zaḳan"), and the nasal bone
("'eẓem ha-ḥoṭam"). This enumeration gave rise to numerous disputes
as to the number of bones constituting a normal skeleton. The
disciples of R. Ishmael, in order to settle this question, obtained
the body of a young harlot who had been put to death, and, having
subjected it to prolonged boiling ("shelikah"), counted the bones
and found the number of them to be 252 (Bek. 45a). Neither of the
numbers given agrees with modern anatomical knowledge. The
explanation of the discrepancy is to be found in the youthful age
of the subject used, many of the bones not having become completely
ossified; also the prolonged boiling caused them to be separated
into their original component parts, so that the Talmudists counted
the epiphysis and diaphysis as separate bones. As an expert
osteologist is mentioned Theodos, a well-known physician (Naz.
52a).
Myology.
The Bible speaks of muscles under the general term "flesh"
("basar"). The abdominal muscles are mentioned in Job xl. 16. The
psoas muscle is mentioned in the Talmud (Ḥul. 93a); and Rab Ḥisdai
made the remarkable observation that the psoas in all clean
animals, i.e., those that chew the cud and whose hoofs are
cleft, has two accessory muscles whose respective fibers run
longitudinally and transversely (ib. 59a). Tendons are
frequently mentioned under the term "giddim."
The salivary glands or "fountains" (Niddah 55b) are situated in
the cavity of the mouth (Ab. R. N. xxxi.) and under the tongue
(Lev. R. xvi.). The capacity of the pharynx ("bet ha-beli'ah") was
found by experiment to be larger than it seems. A hen's egg can
easily be swallowed whole (Yoma 80a). The esophagus ("wesheṭ") and
larynx ("ḳaneh") have their respective origins in the pharynx. The
structure of the esophagus is composed of two layers ("orot")—an
outer, muscular one and an inner, serous one (Ḥul. 43a). The inner
layer has longitudinal folds throughout its length, except at the
upper part, which is called "tarbeẓ ha-wesheṭ" (ib. 43b).
The lower portion of the inner layer is supplied with hair-like
projections (ib. 44a).
The larynx ("ḳaneh," "gargeret") is composed of a large ring of
cricoid cartilage ("ṭabba'at gedolah"), thyroid cartilage ("koba',"
"piḳah shel-gargeret"), and the epiglottis ("shippuy koba'"; Ḥul.
18b). The trachea is composed of incomplete cartilaginous rings
("ḥulyot"), and membranous ones ("bene ḥulyah").
The alimentary canal of ruminating animals is thus
described:
"The food passes from the mouth into the pharynx, thence into
the esophagus ["isṭomka"], thence into the reticulum ["bet
ha-kosot"], thence into the psalterium ["ha-masas" or "hemses"],
thence into the abomasum ["karsa"], thence into the duodenum ["resh
mayah"], thence into the small intestines ["kerukah ḳaṭṭinah"],
thence into the blind gut ["sanya debe"], thence into the large
intestines ["kerukit 'ubya"], thence into the rectum ["peṭaroka"],
whence it makes its exit through the sphincter ani
["iskutha"]" (Lev. R. iii.).
According to R. Samuel, there are no hair-like projections
("milot") below the pylorus ("meẓar"). The gastro-intestinal tract
throughout its lengthis covered externally with the peritoneum
("ḳerum niḳlaf") except the posterior surface of the lower portion
of the rectum ("ḥilḥolet"; Ḥul. 49b). The peritoneum forms the
greater omentum ("peder"), which is attached to the greater
curvature or "bow" ("Ḳashta") of the stomach (ib. 50a) and
the beginning of the small intestines (ib. 93a).
The liver is attached to the diaphragm ("ṭarpesha") by a fold of
the peritoneum (
ib. 46a). It is united also with the
gall-bladder ("marah") by means of a narrow tube ("simpona";
ib. 48b). The pancreas is considered an accessory organ of
the liver, and is called the "finger of the liver" ("eẓba'
ha-kabed"). Its relations to the abdominal organs are described
correctly (Tamid 31a).
.^ Litherland J, Gibson M, Sambrook P, Lupton E, Beaman M, Ackrill P. Investigation and treatment of poor drains of dialysate fluid associated with anterior abdominal wall leaks in patients on chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
The spleen and kidneys are frequently
mentioned in Talmud and Midrash, but no description is given (see
below).
The Lungs and Heart.
The lungs are composed of two "rows" ("'arugot"), right and
left, divided vertically, by a septum ("ṭarpesh ha-leb") which
rises from the pericardium ("kis ha-leb") and is attached to the
spinal column. The large bronchi ("bet ha-simponot") enter
respectively the inner side of each row (ib. 50a).
Alongside of the bronchi enter also the large blood-vessels
("mizraḳim"; ib. 93b). The number of lobes in each lung is
given correctly (ib. 47a). The pleura is composed of two
layers, an outer, rough one ("ḳerama 'illaya") and an inner,
rose-colored one ("ḳerama tatta'a," "kittuna de-warda";
ib. 46a). The heart is composed of two ventricles
("ḥalal"), the right being larger than the left (ib. 45b).
It is situated to the left of the median line (Men. 37b). Rab
expressed a radical view for his time, namely, that the aorta
("ḳaneh shel-leb") contains blood, not air (Ḥul. 45b). The large
veins are called "weridim"; the small ones, "ḥuṭe dam."
The brain is not mentioned in the Bible. According to the
Talmudists, it has two coats, an outer (the dura mater)
and an inner coat (the pia mater), the one being hard
("ḳashshish"), the other thin ("daḳḳiḳ"). The spinal cord begins
outside of the condyloid processes (Ḥul. 45a). The Zohar gives a
somewhat more detailed description: "The skull contains three
cavities in which the brain is lodged. From the brain issue
thirty-two paths. These paths spread over the body connecting it
with the brain" (Zohar on Lev. xxvi.).
The Generative Organs.
From the laws relating to circumcision, flux, menstruation,
etc., which are discussed at length in the Bible and especially in
the Talmud, may be gathered some idea of the knowledge which the
ancient Jews possessed concerning the anatomy of the generative
organs. Of the male genitals the anatomical parts are mentioned as
follows: The scrotum ("kis")is divided by a septum into two sacculi
(Bek. 40a); the testes ("beẓim," "ashakim") have two coats (Ḥul.
45a); each testicle has an appendix, the epididymis ("ḥuṭe beẓah";
Yeb. 75a); it is supplied with blood-vessels ("gide paḥad"; Ḥul.
93a) and nerves (ib. 45b), and it contains a viscid fluid
(Yeb. 75a). It was held that the spermatic fluid and the urine had
each a separate canal for their exit (Bek. 44b).
Besides the uterus only the visible parts of the female
generative organs ("reḥem"), there being many synonyms, are
mentioned in the Bible. The Talmud mentions the following: Mons
veneris (Hebr. "kaf tappuaḥ"; Yer. Yeb. 1-2); vulva
("'erwah"); rima pudendorum ("bet ha-setarim"; Niddah
66b); vestibulum vaginœ ("bet ḥiẓon"; ib. 41b);
orificium urethrœ ("lul"; ib. 17b);
hymen ("betulim"); ostium vaginœ ("bet
shinnayim"; ib. 46b); vagina ("bet toref," "bet
ha-reḥem"; Shab. 64a); septum vesico-vaginalis ("gag
prosdor"; Niddah 18a); septum vagina-rectalis ("karka
prosdor"; ib.); uterus ("reḥem"; ib.);
canalis cervicis uteri ("maḳor; ib. 41a);
cavum uteri ("ḥeder" [ib. 17b]; "bet herayon"
['Ar. 7a]).
Embryology.
According to the Mosaic law (Lev. xii. 2-5), a woman after
giving birth to a male child remained unclean for seven days
thereafter; in the case of a female child, fourteen days. Then
followed a period of purification—for a male thirty days, and for a
female sixty-six days. According to the Mishnah, miscarriages fell
under the same law, provided, however, the fetus ("shefir") was
completely formed ("meruḳḳam") and its features were well
differentiated ("mi-ẓorat adam"). Monstrosities and all fetuses not
viable were exempt from the above-named law (Niddah iii.). This
interpretation of the Biblical law served as an impetus to the
Talmudists for the diligent study of embryology.
The esteem in which were held those who occupied themselves with
this study is shown in the legend that King David devoted a great
deal of his time to these investigations (Ber. 4a). R. Samuel, it
is said, was able to tell the exact age of a fetus (Niddah 25b).
The fetus, it was held, is completely formed at the end of the
sixth week. Aba Saul, a grave-digger by occupation, but also an
embryologist, describes an embryo at the end of the sixth week as
follows: "Size, that of the locust; eyes are like two specks at
some distance from each other, so are the nostrils; feet like two
silken cords; mouth like a hair. . . . The soles are not well
defined." He adds that the embryo should not be examined in water,
but in oil, and only by sunlight (Niddah 25b). R. Samuel
(l.c.) contended that it was impossible to differentiate
the sex before the end of the fourth month, which, by the way, is
the opinion of modern embryologists. At certain autopsies it was
found that the male embryos were completely formed at the end of
the forty-first day, and the female embryos at the end of the
eighty-first day. The Rabbis contended that the autopsies had not
been free from error (Niddah 30b). The soft parts are formed first,
then the bones (Gen. R. xiv.). Monstrosities like cyclopia,
monopsia, double back with double spinal column, and artresia
œsophagi ("wesheṭ aṭum"), etc., are mentioned (Niddah 23b,
24a, b).
Physiology.
The Bible identifies the blood with the soul (Gen. ix. 4). The
Talmudists regard blood as the essential principle of life (Ḥul.
125a). The relation between strength and the development of muscles
is mentioned in the Bible (Job xl. 16). The Talmudists noted the
fact that the muscles change their formwhen in motion (Ḥul. 93a).
Respiration is compared to burning. Expired air can not sustain
life (Sanh. 77a). The life of all the organs of the body depends
upon the heart (Yer. Ter. viii. 4). Each gland secretes a fluid
peculiar to itself, although all the glands derive their material
from the same source (Num. R. xv.). The difference in the structure
of the teeth in herbivorous and carnivorous animals is noted (Ḥul.
59). Saliva, besides moistening the tongue, adds to the
palatability of food (Num. R. xv.). The stomach performs a purely
mechanical function, that of churning the food; it is compared to a
mill. Digestion proper ("ikkul") is carried on in the intestines.
The time occupied in digestion is not the same in all individuals.
The end of the digestive period is made manifest by the return of a
desire for food (Bek. 52b). Eating when the bowels are full is
likened to the making of a fire in a stove from which the ashes
have not been removed (ib. 55a). Normal defecation hastens
digestion. Birds digest their food rapidly (Shab. 82a); dogs,
slowly (Oh. xi. 7). The reasoning faculties are lodged in the brain
(Yeb. 9a). The movements of the body depend upon the integrity of
the spinal cord (Ḥul. 58). Rabbi Isaac holds that the liver
elaborates blood (Shab. 82a).
There are numerous references to the influence of climate,
customs, trade, etc., upon the development of the organism as a
whole, and upon certain groups of muscles (Ab. R. N. xxxi.; Yeb.
103a; M. Ḳ. 25b).
The phenomena preceding the period of menstruation are described
in detail (Niddah xi. 8).
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Absence of
menstruation indicates sterility. Fear and cold may arrest the flow
(
ib. 66).
Pathology.
.^ Chazot C, Chazot I, Charra B, Terrat JC, Vanel T, Calemard E, Ruffet M, Laurent G. Functional study of hands among patients dialysed for more than 10 years.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
It is indeed remarkable
that the Rabbis seem to have been the first to recognize
practically what is at present the prevailing theory, namely, that
the symptoms of all diseases are merely outward manifestations of
internal changes in the tissues—a theory never advanced by their
contemporaries,
e.g., Hippocrates and his disciples, and
only vaguely hinted at by Galen ("De Locis Affectis," i., ch. ii.).
Their pathological studies were a direct outgrowth of the law
concerning the "flesh that is torn of beasts in the field," which
becomes unfit ("ṭerefah") for food (Ex. xxii. 30 [A. V. 31]).
Certain rules concerning this infection are enjoined upon those who
come in contact with the flesh of an animal that "dieth of itself
or is torn with beasts" (Lev. xxii. 8). The Talmudists went a step
further, and declared that the word "unfit" included the flesh of
animals afflicted with any disease which would have sooner or later
caused the death of the animal (Ḥul. iii. 1).
In order, therefore, to determine the condition of the internal
organs, each slaughtered animal was subjected to an autopsy; this
is the practise even to-day. The pathological changes of the lungs
have been most diligently studied as to color, consistency,
cavities, and vegetable growths. Redness of the lungs indicates
hyperemia (Ḥul. 47b), a condition which is not fatal (
ib.
46b); blue and light-green discoloration is not considered
dangerous (
ib. 47b); black indicates that the object has
begun to disintegrate ("laḳah"); and the part of the lungs thus
affected can not return to its normal state. Bright yellow
("yaroḳ") is considered the color indicative of the most fatal
condition. If, on inflating the lungs, it is found that air does
not enter into a certain part of them ("oṭem bere'ah"), it is then
important to find out whether the obstruction is caused by pus or
mucus ("mugla") in the bronchi, which might have been expelled by
coughing, or is due to thickening of the tissues. In the latter
case the animal is unfit for food. Caseous degeneration ("re'ah
she-yabeshah"), "in which there is no blood and it crumbles under
the nail," makes the flesh of the animal unfit for food. Softening
of the lung ("re'ah she-nitmasmesah") is fatal.
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A
pitcher-shaped cavity in the lung ("re'ah she-nishpekah ke-ḳiton"),
filled with fluid, renders the animal unfit for food. An empty
cavity ("re'ah shenimmoḳah") is not dangerous to life
(
ib.). The Rabbis speak of vegetable growths ("ẓemaḥim")
on the lungs in connection with adhesions of the lung to the thorax
("dofen"); and they describe several forms, all of which are not
considered dangerous.
Perforation of the outer coat of the brain is not fatal; but the
slightest perforation of the inner coat is.
.^ A citation may appear in more than one category.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
iii. 1). A sheep that
dragged its hind legs was diagnosed by Rabbi Yemar as suffering
from ischiagra, ("shigrona"); but Rabina contended that it was a
paralysis due to the solution of continuity of the spinal cord. The
sheep was killed, and the diagnosis of Rabina was corroborated
(Ḥul. 51a). This is the only case on record in ancient literature
where a diagnosis was made during life and was verified at a
post-mortem examination.
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Abaya said that such cases were not
fatal, but the patients lost their reproductive functions
(
ib.).
Perforation of the heart is considered fatal. No other
pathological changes of the heart are mentioned.
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Longitudinal wounds in the
trachea heal quickly (
ib. 45a, 54a, and 57b). Loss of
substance is not considered fatal (
ib. 18b). Perforation
of the esophagus is fatal, since the food may escape into the
mediastinum (
ib. 45b). Volvulus is considered fatal
(
ib. 56b). Perforation of the stomach or of the intestines
is fatal. Extirpation of the spleen in animals and in man is not
consideredfatal (Ḥul. 2). Rupture or wounding of the spleen is
considered fatal. Ablation of the uterus is mentioned and is not
considered fatal (Bek. vi. 4). Atrophy and abscess of the kidney
are fatal (Ḥul. 55a, b). Accumulation of transparent fluid in the
kidney is not fatal (
ib. 53b).
The pathological changes in the liver mentioned in the Talmud
are: that in which the organ becomes dry and bloodless and
"crumbles under the nails"; abscess; and stone-like hardening.
Extirpation of the liver is not considered fatal if there is left
intact the part which surrounds the biliary duct and "that place
from which the liver receives its vitality." Absence of one
testicle is mentioned, and the subject is considered sterile (Bek.
vi. 6). Hypertrophy and atrophy of the testicles (ib.
40b), scrotal hernia ("ruaḥ ba-ashakim"), and elephantiasis
scroti (the sufferer being called "me'ushkan"; ib.)
are also mentioned. Various forms of hypospadias and epispadias are
described (Niddah 13a; Yeb. 76a). The Mishnah enumerates 140
pathological conditions which in the eyes of the Law make a man a
"cripple" ("mum") and therefore unfit to perform any religious
service in the Temple. Fifteen of these describe various osteologic
deformities of the head, spine, and extremities (Bek. vii.). The
rare cases of individuals having a tendency to hemorrhage are
related, and the fact that this affection is hereditary is noted
(Yeb. 64b).
Surgery.
Wounds in different parts of the body, caused by different
weapons—sword, arrow, hammer, etc.—are mentioned in the Bible (II
Sam. ii. 23, iii. 27, iv. 6, xviii. 14, xx. 10; Num. xxv. 8; Judges
iii. 21, v. 24; I Kings xxii. 34; II Chron. xxxv. 23; and often
elsewhere). Inflammation and abscesses (Deut. xxviii. 27, 35),
gangrene and putrid discharges (Ps. xxxviii. 6; Prov. xii. 4, xiv.
30; II Macc. ix. 9) are also referred to. Wounds were treated by
the application of wine or oil, bandages or sutures (Isa. i. 5;
Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11, li. 8; Deut. xxviii. 27). The surgical
operations mentioned in the Bible are those of Circumcision and
castration, the latter being prohibited (Deut. xxiii. 1).
Operations.
During the Talmudical period surgery attained a high degree of
development. Many physicians devoted themselves exclusively to it.
Surgeons ("ummanim"; Sanh. 91b), when operating, used to wear a
tunic over their dress (Kelim xxvi. 5). They used various surgical
instruments (ib. xiii. 2). In major operations the
patients were given an anesthetic or a sleeping-potion ("samme
de-shinta"; B. M. 83b). Venesection was extensively used upon the
healthy and the sick alike. Mar Samuel Yarḥinai went so far as to
recommend its use once in thirty days (Shab. 129b). After the age
of fifty venesection should be employed less frequently (Giṭ. 70a).
It is not to be performed during inclement weather; and a careful
dietetic régime should be followed for some time after the
operation (Shab. 129a). Bleeding by means of leeches ("'aluḳah,"
"nime shel mayim"; 'Ab. Zarah 12b) and by means of cupping (the cup
being called "ḳarna de-ummana"; Shab. cliv. 2) is frequently
mentioned. Dislocation of various joints ('Ab. Zarah 29),
fractures, amputations (Ker. 66a; Sem. 28; Shab. 66a), and
trephining (Ket. 77b) are discussed in the Talmud. Artificial
teeth, made of hard wood, gold, or silver, were used (Shab. 65a;
Ned. 66b). Extirpation of the spleen was successfully performed
upon man ('Ab. Zarah 44a). The following forms of castration are
mentioned: Amputatio membri; extirpatio testiculorum
(Deut. xxiii. 2 [A. V. 1]); subcutaneous stretching or cutting of
the cord (Lev. xxii. 24; Bek. 39b); and obliteration of the
testicle by means of gradual pressure. Intubation of the larynx was
practised upon animals (the tube was called "ḳerumit shel ḳaneh");
and a plate ("ḥidduḳ shel ḳarweyah") was used in a case of loss of
substance of the cranium. A uterine speculum was used (Niddah
66).
The practise was adopted of freshening up the borders of old
wounds in order that union might be effected (Ḥul. 77). The
operation for imperforate anus in the new-born is described (Shab.
134b). Wounds exposed to air do not heal as readily as protected
ones (Ḥul. 46). In an accident in which the abdominal viscera were
protruding through a wound the reposition of the organs was
effected automatically by frightening the patient, which caused the
abdominal muscles to relax; after this the external wound was
closed by sutures (Shab. 82a). Nasal polyps are said to cause
fetor ex ore (Ket. 77). Crutches and various other
orthopedic appliances are mentioned (Shab. 65a). Intestinal
parasites and hydatids are frequently mentioned (Ḥul. 48a).
Extraction of the fetus through an incision made in the abdomen was
an operation known to the Talmudists (Niddah 40b). See Baths,
Bathing; Circumcision; Midwife; Miracles; Health Laws.
Bibliography: J. Bergel,
Die Medizin der Talmudisten,
Leipsic and Berlin, 1885; W. C. Bitting,
Biblical
Medicine, in
Tr. New York Medical Society, 1891,
viii. 367; F. Boerner and S. A. Wagner,
De Statu Medicinæ apud
Veteros Ebrœos, Wittenberg, 1775; Brecher,
Der Aderlass im
Talmud, in
Prager Medizinische Wochenschrift, 1896,
pp.
.^ Maiorca R, Vonesh EF, Cavalli P, De Vecchi A, Giangrande A, La Greca G, Scarpioni LL, Bragantini L, Cancarini GC, Cantaluppi A, et al.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
697, 757, 769, Paris, 1880; Grünbaum,
Medycyna w Talmudzie.
Pan. Towarz. Lek. lxxx. 192, Warsaw, 1884; B. W. Gintzburger,
Disputatio Inauguralis qua Medicinam ex Talmudicis
Illustratam, Göttingen, 1743; Joachim Halpern (of Wilna),
Beiträge zur Gesch. der Talmudischen Chirurgie, Breslau,
1869; J. M. B. Harden,
Notes on the Medicine of Moses, in
Southern Medical and Surgical Journal, iii. 257, Augusta,
1847; F. Hoffmann,
De Diœtetica Sacrœ Scripturœ Medicina,
in his
Opuscula Theol. Phys.-Med. Halle, 1740; J. Hyrtl,
Das Arabische und Hebräische in der Anatomie, Vienna,
1879; A. H. Israels,
Beiträge zur Talmudischen Medizin, in
Janus, ii. 330, 352, Breslau, 1847; idem,
De
Keizersnede by Levenden, Volgens den Babylonischen Talmud,
Amsterdam, 1882; L. Kazenelson,
Anatomiya, Normalnaya i
Patologicheskaya v Drevneyevreiskoi Pismennosti, St.
Petersburg, 1889; S. W. H. Kemper,
Biblical Medicine, in
Indiana Journal of Medicine, 1872-73, iii. 1, 47, 335; M.
Levin,
Analecta Historica ad Medicinam Ebrœorum, Halle,
1798; S. Lizelius,
De Poetis Medicis, Sacrœ Scripturœ
Interpretidus, Commentatis, Speyer, 1743; P. J. Müller,
Biblical Medicine, Strasburg, 1785; J. H. Nebel,
Physiologiœ-Biblicœ, Selecta Quadem Capita Breviter ac Strictim
Illustrata, Giessen, 1711; O. N. Nicolaus,
Meletema de
Servis Josephi Medicis ad Gen. l. 1, 2, Magdeburg, 1752;
Oppler,
Einiges aus der Altjüdischen Medicin, in
Deutsche Archiv für Medicinische Gesch. iv. 62, Leipsic,
1881; G. L. Pasnoligo,
Della Condizione della Medica Scienza
Presso il Popolo Ebreo, n.d.; M. Pholis,
De Questione an
Esau Fuerit Monstrum, Wittenberg, 1669; I. M. Rabbinowicz,
La Médecine du Talmud, Paris, 1880; Rittman,
Die
Talmudische Medizin im Mittelalter, in
Allg. Wiener
Medicinische Zeitung, 1868, xiii. 123; P. Schagen,
Specimen Anatomiœ Biblicœ, Utrecht, 1750; J. D.
Schleunitz,
Philologemata Medica, sive ad Medicinam et Res
Medicas Pertinentia ex Ebrea et Huic Adfinibus Orientalibus Linguis
Decerpta, Halle and Magdeburg, 1758; J. J. Schmidt,
Biblischer Medicus, Züllichau, 1743; J. H. Slevogtius,
Biblical Medicine, Jena, 1699; C. D. Spivak,
Menstruation: A Summary of the Theories of the Aucients with
Special Reference to the View Held by the Talmudists, in
Medical Times, Feb. 14, 1891; M. Steinschneider,
Schriften über Medicin in Bibel und Talmud und über Jüdische
Aerzte, in
Wiener Klinische Rundschau, 1896; J. H.
Walker,
On the State of Medical Art Among the Jews as Recorded
in the Bible, in
Midland Medical and Surgical
Reporter, ii. 163, 243, Worcester, 1830-1831; R. J. Wunderbar,
Biblisch-Talmudische Medizin, 1857; Bumm,
Spuren der
Griechischen Psychiatrie im Talmud, 1901; Bennett,
Diseases of the Bible, 1887; Burrell,
The Insane Kings
of the Bible, in
Am. Jour. of Insanity, 1893, iv.
493; Bombaugh,
The Plagues and Pestilences of the Old
Testament, in
Johns Hopkins Medical Bulletin, 1893,
iv. 64; Carnault,
La Tuberculose Bovine et le Talmud, in
Revue Scientifique, 4th series, vol. xvii., Nos. 3, 75;
Kotelman,
Die Geburtshilfe bei den Alten Hebräern,
Marburg, 1876; Ebstein,
Die Medizin im Neuen Testament und im
Talmud, Stuttgart, 1903; Ellis,
Biblical Obstetrics,
in
The Lancet, i. 874, London, 1875; Preuss,
Der Arzt
in Bibel und Talmud, in
Virchow's Archiv, vol.
cxxxviii. 261; idem,
Materialien zur Geschichte der Alten
Medizin: die Organe der Bauchhöhle nach Bibel und Talmud, in
Allgemeine Medizinische Central-Zeitschrift, 1898, pp.
489, 502, 514, 526; idem,
Die Erkrankungen der Haut, ib.
1903, pp. 431, 455, 474; idem,
Der Tote und Seine
Bestattung, ib. 1901, Nos. 25, 26, 27; idem,
Die Männliche
Genitalien und Ihre Krankheiten nach Bibel und Talmud, in
Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift, 1898, pp. 570, 618,
662, 709, 1194, 1239; idem,
Biblisch-Talmudische Pathologie und
Therapie, in
Zeit. für. Medizin, xlv. 457; idem,
Chirurgisches in Bibel und Talmud, in
Deutsche Zeit.
für Chirurgie, lix. 507; Ravitzki,
Ueber die Lehre der
Superfœtatio und der Entstehungs-Ursache die Fœtus Compressus im
Talmud, in
Janus, vi. 410, 461, 512; Rosenbaum,
Une Conference Contradictoire, Religieuse et Scientifique sur
l'Anatomie et Physiologie des Organes Genitaux de la Femme à
l'Ecole de Rami Fils de Samuel et de Rabbi Yitshac Fils de Rabbi
Yehoudou, à la Fin du Deuxième Siècle, Paris, 1901; Schapiro,
Obstetrique des Anciens Hébreux d'Après la Bible et le Talmud,
Comparée avec la Tocologie Gréco-Romain, in
La France
Médicale, 1904; idem,
Connaissance Medical de Mar
Samuel, in
R. E. J. Paris, lxii., No. 83, p. 14;
Pyasetski,
Medizina po Biblii i Talmudu, St. Petersburg,
1903.
—In Post-Talmudic Times:
During the fifth and sixth centuries of the common era the
sciences languished in the Orient owing in part to disturbed
political conditions, to superstitions, and to the attention which
was being paid to pseudo-sciences. The persecutions of the Jews
under Honorius (in 404 and 419), Theodosius the Great (493), and
Kobad in Persia (520) resulted in the promulgation of laws
forbidding Jews to hold any office, to follow any handicraft or
liberal art, or to practise medicine.
With the spread of Mohammedanism in the seventh century a great
revival of the sciences took place in Asia Minor. The califs opened
colleges which included medical schools at Bagdad, Kufah, and
Bassora, and these were well equipped and were furnished with the
best of teachers. Among both the teachers and the students were to
be found many who bore Jewish names. Science then was free to all;
but in 853 a law was promulgated in Bagdad which prohibited the
Jews from teaching or studying medicine in any language other than
Hebrew or Syriac. The Mohammedans, being able to fill all positions
themselves, were no longer in need of the help of the Jews. The
earliest Jewish physicians mentioned during the golden age under
the Arabs were: Abu Ḥafṣah Yazid (c. 643), physician to
the calif Omar, Mohammed's successor; Masarjawaih (Messer Jawait)
in Bassora about 883, physician to the calif Mu'awiyyah I., whom he
induced to procure translations of works written in foreign
languages, and who himself translated from the Syriac into Arabic
the pandects of Aaron the Archdeacon, upon medicinal plants and
foods; Isḥaḳ ben Amram (d. 799; not to be confounded with the
Kairwan physician of the same name), who wrote a treatise on
poison; Sahl, called "Rabban al-Ṭabari," who lived about 800 at
Taberistan on the Caspian Sea, was an eminent physician and
mathematician, and translated into Arabic the "Almagest" of the
Greek astronomer Ptolemy; his son Ali ibn Sahl ibn Rabban al-Tabari
(Abu al-Ḥasan), who lived at Irak about 850, became a convert to
Mohammedanism, and was court physician to the califs Al-Mu'taṣim
and Al-Mutawakkil.
Bagdad.
Harun al-Rashid (786-809) was the founder of the university at
Bagdad, the most flourishing institution of its time, possessing
hospitals, a medical school, and holding medical examinations. The
professors included Joshua ben Nun (c. 800), a physician
of high repute and translator, one of whose pupils was Yusuf Ya'ḳub
ibn Isḥaḳ (c. 850); much later Hibat Allah Abu al-Barakat
b. 'Ali b. Malka, who lived about 1150 and who pursued his studies
under the greatest difficulties on account of the laws prohibiting
Jews from studying medicine (later he became a convert to
Mohammedanism); Ibn Zakariyya (died at Aleppo 1190); Sa'ad
al-Daulah, court physician to the Mongolian khan Arghun (1284-91)
when in Bagdad (killed in 1291 for not curing his lord). The calif
Ma'mun, Harun al-Rashid's son (813-833), established the
universities of Bassora and Samarcand.
Egypt and Northern
Africa.
After the beginning of the fourteenth century the center of
Mohammedan learning moved westward, and no more Jewish physicians
are met with in 'Iraḳ after that date. The sciences followed the
conquering armies of the Arabs from Asia Minor through Egypt and
the Mediterranean countries of Africa to Spain and southern France,
to Sicily, and thence to Italy. Alexandria, Cairo, and Kairwan
became the seats of colleges with medical schools. At Kairwan about
793 lived the Jewish physician Shammakh, who poisoned the imam
Idris by order of Harun al-Rashid; at Algiers, about 900, Isḥaḳ ibn
'Imran, court physician to the emir Ziyadat Allah II., and Isḥaḳ
ibn 'Imran the Younger, court physician to the last Aghlabite emir,
Ziyadat Allah III. 'Imran the Younger's successor was Isaac ben
Solomon Israeli (c. 832-932), who later became oculist and
physician to the Fatimite calif 'Ubaid Allah al-Mahdi at Kairwan.
Israeli's works written in Arabic were translated into Latin in
1087 by the monk Constantine of Carthage, who claimed them as his
own. In 1515 they were reprinted in Latin in Leyden under the title
"Opera Omnia Isaci Judæi," the subjects treated including fever,
dietetics, urine, drugs, dropsy, therapeutics, and aliments; the
last part appeared in Hebrew under the title "Sefer ha-Mis'adim."
The Leyden edition contains not only Israeli's works, but also
those of other physicians falsely attributed to Israeli
(Steinschneider doubtsif Israeli really existed). Israeli's pupil
was Dunash ibn Tamim (Abu Sahl), also court physician (c.
950), who is said to have been a convert to Islam. Jewish
physicians in Egypt were: Ephraim ibn al-Za'faran (d. 1068),
celebrated through his library; Abu Sa'id ibn Ḥusain (Al-Ṭabib),
about 1050; Abu Manṣur (c. 1125), one of the physicians of
the calif Al-Ḥafiẓ; Nathanael Israeli (the Egyptian), at Cairo
(c. 1150), court physician to the last Fatimite calif of
Egypt and to the great Saladin; Abu al-Barakat (c. 1150);
Abu al-Faḍa'il ibn al-Naḳid (d. 1189), a celebrated oculist; Abu
al-Bayyan al-Mudawwar (d. 1184), also physician to Saladin, and
David ben Solomon (1161-1241), connected with the hospital
Al-Naṣiri in Cairo, both Karaite physicians; the Karaite Sadid b.
Abi al-Bayyan (c. 1160); Abu Ja'far Joseph Nathanael
Israel (c. 1175); and Abu al-Ma'ali, brother-in-law of
Maimonides, also in the service of Saladin.
Maimonides.
In 1166 Maimonides himself (1135-1205) went to Egypt and settled
in Fusṭaṭ. Born at Cordova, Spain, he left his native land on
account of the disfranchisement of the Jews by the Mohammedan
rulers. He became court physician to the sultan Saladin. Of the
descendants of Maimonides the following were physicians: his son
Abraham (1185-1254), his grandson David (1212-1300), also the two
sons of the latter, Abraham Maimonides II. (1246-1310) and Solomon,
all of whom held the office of nagid also. In Aleppo lived a pupil
of Maimonides, Yusuf al-Sabti (d. 1226); while in Fez practised
another pupil of his, Abu al-Ḥayyuj Yusuf. In Cairo lived 'Imran
al-Isra'ili (1165-1239); Samuel Abu Naṣr ibn 'Abbas (c.
1165); Abu al-Ḥasan (d. 1251); Jacob b. Isaac (c. 1250);
the Karaite Solomon Cohen and Al-Asad al-Maḥalli (about the end of
the twelfth century); Ibn Abi al-Ḥasan al-Barkamani and the
pharmacologist Abu al-Muna al-Kuhin al-'Aṭṭar (c. 1325);
in Egypt, the encyclopedist Abu Manṣur al-Haruni (c.
1375); at Algiers, Simon ben Ẓemaḥ Duran (1360-1444); Samuel and
his son Jacob (c. 1425); the Samaritan Abu Sa'id al-'Afif
(c. 1450); Solomon ben Joseph (c. 1481), nagid of
Egypt, and physician to the sultan Al-Malik al-Ashraf.
Spain.
When the Arabs crossed the Straits of Gibraltar the influx of
culture from Arabia into Spain was important. Here again the califs
supported the universities, as those of Cordova, Seville, and
Toledo, and again Jewish physicians are found, e.g.:
Ḥasdai Abu Yusuf ibn Shaprut (915-970), who lived in Cordova, was
appointed physician to 'Abd al-Raḥman III., and became prime
minister to that calif, for whom he translated the works of
Dioscorides into Arabic; Harun at Cordova (c. 975); Amram
ben Isaac (d. 997) at Toledo; Jonah (Abu al-Walid Merwan ibn Janaḥ;
at Cordova 995-1045). The physician Abu Bekr Mohammed ben Merwan
ibn Zuhr (d. 1031 at Talabira) and his grandson, the celebrated Abu
Merwan ibn Zuhr, who lived in Bagdad, Cairo, and Spain, are
considered by many to have been Jews, but this has been frequently
denied, and no positive proof of their Jewish descent has been
presented. Abu Merwan was the most important physician of his time,
opposing the Arabic physician Avicenna (980-1037), who in his
"Canon" gave the "rules of medicine," superseding the works of
Hippocrates and Galen, although he himself adopted the fundamental
ideas of these two great physicians. Other Jewish physicians of
note were: Judah ha-Levi (b. 1085); Sulaiman ibn al-Mu'allim, court
physician to the calif Ali at Seville (1106-45); Abraham ibn Ezra
(1092-1167) at Toledo; Maimonides, mentioned above; at Randa, Elias
ibn al-Mudawwar (c. 1150); in Toledo, Jacob; in Aragon,
Joseph Constantin; in Barcelona, Judah ben Isaac, Judah ben Joseph
ibn al-Fakhkhar, court physician to Ferdinand III.; in Saragossa,
Baḥiel ben Moses and his brother Solomon Baḥiel (c. 1225);
in Madrid, Solomon ben David; in Gerona, Moses b. Naḥman
(1194-1267) and Shem-Ṭob ben Isaac of Tortosa (1206-66). About 1250
lived Judah Moria; Ibrahim ben Sahl; Nathanael ben Joseph al-Maliḥ;
Samuel Benveniste; Jacob ben Shoshan; Joseph ibn Sason (d. at
Toledo 1336); Abner of Burgos (1270-1348), a convert to
Christianity; Samuel Ibn Waḳar (d. c. 1333), physician to
King Alfonso XI.; Todros Abulafia; Abraham ben David Caslari (d.
1349); Vidal Crescas de Caslar (c. 1327); Eliezer Cohen
ibn Ardot; Nissim ben Reuben Gerundi (at Barcelona 1340-80);
Abraham ibn Machir; Abraham ibn Zarzal (d. at Toledo 1362).
Shem-Ṭob ben Jacob; Meïr Alguadez (d. about 1415); Joseph ibn Vives
(Joseph al-Lorqui); Solomon ben Abraham ibn Daud; Jacob of Toledo;
Todros ibn Davor; Isaac b. Solomon; Abraham of Lerida, oculist to
John II. of Aragon (c. 1470); in Catalonia, Gallab
(Galled).
The Arabs had lost Spain forever, and the intolerance of the
Christian rulers forced many Jewish physicians to leave that
country. In 1335 the synod of Salamanca had declared that the
Jewish physicians offered their services only to kill as many
Christians as possible (Döllinger, "Die Juden in Europa," in
"Akademische Vorträge"). In 1412 John II. prohibited Jews from
practising in Spain. Some immigrated into France, e.g.,
Judah ibn Tibbon, Joseph ben Isaac ben Ḳimḥi, Isaac ben Shem-Ṭob,
Solomon ben Joseph ben Ayyub; some into Algiers, as Simon bar Ẓemaḥ
Duran; and others into Italy, as Joshua ben Joseph Ibn Vives
al-Lorqui (Hieronymus de Santa Fé) about 1400.
Portugal.
In Portugal lived Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya the Elder (c.
1300), physician to King Diniz; Solomon ben Moses Solomon; Moses,
the physician to Ferdinand I. and John I.; Profiat Duran
(c. 1400; he emigrated to Palestine); at Lisbon, Gedaliah
ibn Yaḥya the Younger, physician to Alfonso V. (c. 1476;
emigrated to Turkey); Joseph and Rodriquez, physicians to John II.
of Portugal (1481-90), who were members of the commission appointed
to examine Columbus' plans.
Italy.
At the time the Jewish Arabic physicians were practising in
Egypt, they are found in Sicily also. Shabbethai ben Abraham ben
Joel (Donnolo) (913-982), who wrote a small work on pharmacology,
which has been republished by Steinschneider, lived in Oria. From
Sicily they came to southern Italy and settled in Salerno. The
ancient University of Salerno is said to have been founded by the
Benedictine monks of Monte Cassino in the sixth century, the monks
being priests and physicians, as therabbis of old. But it was not
until the ninth century that it rose to prominence and became for
the Occident what Bagdad had been for the Orient, the leading
medical school. In 848 Joseph taught there, and in 855 Joshua, both
Jewish physicians. In the eleventh century lectures are said to
have been delivered in Greek, Arabic, Hebrew (with Elinus as
teacher), and Latin. The medical school of Salerno became
celebrated under the name of "Civitas Hippocratica." Elinus'
successor as teacher of Hebrew was Copho, the editor of the
"Compendium Salernitanum," the first medical encyclopedia. It is
not known positively that both were Jews—Steinschneider thinks they
were not—but tradition ascribes to them a Jewish origin, as it does
to Coplio II. (who wrote a book on the "Anatomica Porci"—which
certainly makes the ascription dubious, dedicating it to Robert,
eldest son of William the Conqueror). He was followed by Hillel ben
Samuel of Verona (1220-95), who translated into Hebrew Brunó's work
on surgery, known only under the title "Chirurgia Bruni ex Latina
in Hebræam Translata."
From Salerno the Jewish physicians can be traced through Italy.
From this school proceeded: Hananeel of Amalfi; Abu al-Hakim of
Turin; and Faraj ben Salim (Faragut), who lived in Salerno about
1250. The last-named was physician to Charles of Anjou, King of
Sicily, and was one of the first physicians who translated—not into
Hebrew, but into Latin. Other physicians of note were: in Rome,
Nathan ha-Me'ati, a noted translator, who rendered the "Canon" of
Avicenna into Hebrew in 1279; Isaac, the court physician of Pope
Boniface VIII.; Zerahiah ben Isaac ben Shealtiel of Barcelona
(c. 1275); several members of the Anaw family (Benjamin,
Abraham, Judah, Zedekiah, Jekuthiel, Menahem Rofe [about the
fourteenth century]); Manuele and Angelus Manuele, physicians to
Boniface IX.; Judah ben Solomon Nathan (En Bongodos); and Moses ben
Isaac (Gajo) of Rieti (1388-1460); at Naples, Samuel ben Jacob of
Capua, court physician to Charles II., and Isaac, court physician
to King Robert of Anjou; at Palermo, David; at Verona, Michael ben
Abraham; at Padua, Gentili da Foligno (died of the plague 1348); at
Venice, Leo (c. 1330), and the following members of the
Astruc family: Judah Solomon, Isaac Solomon, Abraham Solomon, Jacob
Rofe, and many others.
As the school of Salerno grew in importance it was able to rely
on its own pupils for teachers, and could, as Bagdad had done
before it, discard Jewish assistance. The connection of the Jews
with its further development diminished; in later years they did
not exercise a great influence on the history of medicine in Italy,
and their rôle became insignificant.
France.
While the University of Salerno was flourishing, certain Jewish
schools, where medicine also was taught, are said to have existed
in the south of France.
Montpellier.
About the year 1000 Rabbi Abon was principal of the Jewsh school
at Narbonne; and one of his pupils founded the Jewish medical
school at Montpellier (
c. 1025). Independent of these
unimportant schools, however, were the beginnings of the great
universities of France—Paris, Narbonne, and Montpellier—which soon
were to compete with Salerno. In Paris, always a seat of Orthodox
Christian theology, a few Jewish physicians are met with at the end
of the thirteenth century: Copin and Moses, Rabbi Isaac and his son
Vital. In 1301 this school was closed to the Jews. In Montpellier,
where the earliest professors are said to have taught at first in
Arabic and Hebrew, the use of Latin was introduced in the twelfth
century only, when the fame of that university was at its zenith.
.^ Selective activator of cGK (also known as PKG) Iα, Iβ, and type II as well as of cGMP-gated ion channels.- Chemicals 15 September 2009 5:17 UTC www.scbt.com [Source type: Academic]
Moses ibn Tibbon (1230-85), and
Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon, called Profatius Judæus, dean of the
medical faculty about 1306 (this family produced three generations
of eminent physicians; see Ibn Tibbon); and Abraham Abigdor (b.
1350).
.^ Allegra V, Mengozzi G, Vasile A. Iron deficiency in maintenance hemodialysis patients: assessment of diagnosis criteria and of three different iron treatments.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
Philip of
Arlois expelled Jewish physicians altogether from Montpellier in
1306. At the school of Marseilles were Shem-Ṭob ben Isaac of
Tortosa (1206-66) and his son Abraham b. Shem-Ṭob. In southern
France practised also Isḥanan Yarḥuni, Nathan ben Samuel, and the
oculist Abraham of Aragon at Toulouse; in Narbonne, David Caslari
(
c. 1275); at Avignon, Israel Caslari (
c. 1325).
The councils of Avignon (1326 and 1337) and that of Rouergue also
declared against Jewish physicians.
Recall of the Jews to
France.
In 1350 the Jews were permitted to return to France; but a law
was passed whereby only graduated and licensed physicians could
practise. Again some names of Jewish doctors, especially as court
physicians, are to be found, e.g.: Samuel and Meshullam
ben Abigdor again at Montpellier; Elias of Arles (c. 1407)
at Valence; Jacob Lunel and the surgeon Dolan Bellan at
Carcassonne; Nathan Tauros (c. 1446) at Tarascon;
Jekuthiel. Judah ben Solomon and Moses ben Joshua (Maestre Vidal
Blasom; died after 1362) at Narbonne; Crescas Salannas, Ḥayyim
Bendig, Abraham Abigdor (c. 1402), Bendig of Caneto,
Bellanti (c. 1415), Solomon Mordecai (c. 1431),
Moses Carcassonne (c. 1468), all at Arles; Abraham ben
Solomon and Abraham Astruc (c. 1446) of St. Maxim; Cohen
(c. 1446) at Marseilles ("Revue des Etudes Juives," April
and June, 1904, pp. 265 et seq.).
From France the Jewish physicians passed into Belgium, where in
the fourteenth century are found Abraham le Mirre, Magister Sause,
Lyon, Ely, Isaac of Amessi, and Jacob of Chambery.
In England at this time only three Jewish physicians call for
mention: the young physician who was the last victim of the
massacre at Lynn in 1190; Isaac Medicus of London (Jacobs, "The
Jews of Angevin England," pp. 114, 340, London, 1893); and Abraham
Motun of London (1260-90).
Germany.
In Germany the influence of Jewish physicians at this time was
small. Harun al-Rashid's great contemporary was Charlemagne, in
whose dominion are said to have practised the physicians Meshullam
ben Kalonymus, Joseph ben Gorion, Moses ben Judah, Todros of
Narbonne, and Joseph ha-Levi. Under Louis the Bald a certain
Zedekiah was court physician. They were probably from the Orient.
Many Jews were living in Germany, a number of whom had migrated
from Spain and France; but the universities were founded
comparatively late, and they were not open to Jews. The Jews
therefore studied Talmud and Cabala, and took no part in the
renaissance of science. Horowitz says that there are no records of
the Frankfort community before 1241; and this is the most important
German community. That there must have isted Jewish physicians is
shown by the decree of the Council of Vienna of 1267 forbidding
Jews to treat Christian patients. During the ravages of the plague
in 1348 and 1349 Jewish physicians were accused of having poisoned
the wells; and at Strasburg a Jewish surgeon named Balavignus was
executed in 1348 for an alleged crime of this nature. The Jewish
physicians of this period included the following: Jacob of
Strasburg at Frankfort (c. 1378); Baruch (c.
1390); the city physician Solomon Pletsch of Ratisbon (1394), who
received as stipend 36 florins and six yards of cloth and was
required to treat the servants of the city council and the sick
Jews; his successor, Isaac Friedrich, who received only 20 florins;
in Speyer, Lembelin; in Schweidnitz, Abraham; in Bohemia, Simon; in
the Palatinate, Godliep; at Basel, Jossel, who held the office of
city physician at an annual stipend of 25 silver pounds; Gutleben,
his successor, who received only 18 pounds; at Würzburg, Seligmann
(c. 1407), physician to Bishop John I.; his successor,
John II., permitted a woman named Sarah to practise medicine in the
bishopric of Würzburg, who, with the Jewess Zerlin (c.
1475), oculist at Frankfort-on-the-Main, was the earliest Jewish
woman physician in Germany of whom there is record.
In addition to those above mentioned there were: in Tirol,
Rubein (c. 1432); in Graz, Niklas Unger (c.
1439); in Würzburg, Heylmann (c. 1450); Jacob ben Jehiel
Loans, physician to the emperor Frederick III. (c. 1450),
who, with Obadiah Sforno, was Hebrew teacher of Reuchlin; Michael,
surgeon to Frederick III.; at Frankfort, Solomon of Zynonge
(c. 1450); his son Joseph (c. 1500); and Moses of
Aschaffenburg.
In the opening years of the sixteenth century persecutions of
the Jewish physicians began. In 1509 appeared Victor of Carben's
"Opus Aureum ac Novum," the third part of which treats of Jewish
physicians. In 1505 Lorenz of Bibra prohibited Jews from practising
in Würzburg (the edict was reenacted in 1549). Up to 1517 the
physicians who wished to practise in Vienna had to acknowledge
under oath their belief in the "immaculate conception."
In 1422 Pope Martin V. in a bull exhorted all Christians to
treat the Jews with kindness, and permitted the latter to practise
medicine. But at the end of the fourteenth and at the beginning of
the fifteenth century Jewish physicians found the greatest
difficulty in practising medicine. Papal decrees and Church
councils (as at Basel, 1434) decided against them. The Arabian
influence in southern Europe had disappeared.
Retrospect from 622 to
1492.
Hippocrates and Galen ruled supreme in the medical world up to
the thirteenth century. The Arab physician Avicenna (980-1037)
wrote his celebrated "Canon," which work took rank next to the
writings of Hippocrates and Galen. But their works were translated
into Arabic, a language which, in Europe, was known only to the
Jews, who retranslated them into Hebrew and Latin, and thus held
the key to medical science. Learning from these great scholars, the
Jewish teachers and physicians wrote works of their own. They
excelled in surgery and medicine (including ophthalmology), in
therapeutics, pharmacology, and toxicology. The connection of the
Jews with the drug-trade of the East helped them to contribute also
to a practical knowledge of pharmacology at a time when every
apothecary posed as a doctor; but with these branches of the true
science of medicine there was during the first millennium of the
common era combined also a knowledge of pseudo-science, astrology,
and Cabala. Superstition was still an important factor. Against
these pseudo-sciences Maimonides wrote. Astrology was to him not
based on science, but on superstition; and in his works he warns
against its use.
—In Modern Times:
.^ McMahon LP, Dawborn JK. Subjective quality of life assessment in hemodialysis patients at different levels of hemoglobin following use of recombinant human erythropoietin.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
The
Jewish and Mohammedan religions and the Christian Church were all
opposed to a desecration of the human body such as proper
anatomical investigations would have required. The German emperor
Frederick II. (1212-56) permitted dissection; but Pope Boniface
VIII. prohibited it.
Luigi Mondino de' Luzzi, professor at Bologna (d. there 1326),
dissected three female bodies.
.^ NCI studies show lack of activity against tumors and AIDS. An interesting metabolite which has received little attention in modern times.- Chemicals 15 September 2009 5:17 UTC www.scbt.com [Source type: Academic]
.^ Slow-binding and active site-targeting inhibitor of DPP IV with little activity against DPP II, DPP III, DPP VIII, DPP IX, FAP, or APP. .- Chemicals 15 September 2009 5:17 UTC www.scbt.com [Source type: Academic]
Many of
these Jews became converts to Christianity, among them Josiah Lorki
of Spain, physician to Benedict XIII.Josiah took the name of
"Hieronymus de Santa Fé," and became a great enemy of his former
coreligionists, who gave him the name "the Calumniator." He
persecuted especially Jewish physicians and apothecaries.
Italy.
There were, however, some important Jewish physicians in Italy,
namely: Elijah Delmedigo (1460-97), professor at Padua and
Florence; Obadiah Elias ben Judah at Tivoli; Isaac d'Albadi (1450)
at Barletta; Joseph ha-Levi of Naples; Messer Leon of Mantua; his
son Messer David of Naples; Judah (Laudadeus) de Blanis at Perugia
(c. 1520); Abraham de Balmes (d. 1523) at Padua; Solomon
Vidal of Venice at Corfu; Vidal Balso at Reggio; Vitale
(c. 1550) and Bonajuto (c. 1610) Alatino at
Spoleto; and Teodoro de Sacerdoti at the court of Julius III. Popes
Paul II. and Alexander VI. favored Jewish physicians through
privileges, e.g., Samuel Ẓarfati and Isaac Ẓarfati
(c. 1530), physicians to Pope Clement VII., whom Isaac
saved from burial alive; Joseph ha-Kohen, physician to the doge
Andrea Dorea of Venice (c. 1540); Obadiah Sforno (d. 1550
at Bologna), the Hebrew teacher of Reuchlin; Judah ibn Yaḥya at
Bologna; Benjamin, also at Bologna; Raphael at Sarzena. Several
important physicians were included in the Portaleone family,
e.g., Benjamin at Naples, his grandson David of Pavia, his
great-grandson Abraham (1542-1612) at Mantua, and Isaac Cohen at
Sienna. From these names it may be seen that while Jewish
physicians were more or less prohibited by the popes from
practising in the east of Europe, in Italy they flourished.
Bonet de Lates of Provence, when the Jews were expelled from
that district in 1498, went to Rome as physician to Pope Leo X. He
is well known also through the part he took during the Pfefferkorn
persecutions. From Spain emigrated Judah Abravanel and Jacob
Mantino. Judah Abravanel (Leo Hebræus) was minister at the court of
Ferdinand and Isabella; expelled from Spain in 1492, he went to
Italy. His brother lived as physician in Ferrara about 1549. Jacob
Mantino settled in Rome as court physician to Pope Paul III. He
acted also as ambassador of Charles V. at Venice. Paul IV. (1558)
was a great persecutor of the Jews, enacting laws against them,
some of which were repealed only in the nineteenth century, and on
account of which many Jews emigrated to Turkey. During this period
lived Juan Rodrigo de Castel-Branco, surnamed "Amatus Lusitanus"
(1511-68), at Ancona and Salonica; David d'Ascoli, who defended the
Jewish physicians in an essay published at Strasburg in 1559; David
de Pomis (b. 1525 at Spoleto; d. at Venice 1588), also a great
defender of his colleagues ("De Medico Hebræo Enarratio Apologica,"
Vienna, 1588). These were succeeded by the following: Moses ben
Samuel Cases (c. 1600); Kalonymus ben Judah (c.
1575), Joseph Ḥameẓ, and Jacob Lombroso at Venice; Samuel Meldola
at Mantua; David Ḥayyim Luria and three Cantarinis at Padua
(Kalonymus, 1593-1631; Isaac Ḥayyim, 1644-1723; Judah, 1650-94);
Ezekiel de Castro at Verona; Moses ben Jacob Cordovero at Leghorn;
Jacob ben Isaac Zahalun at Ferrara, celebrated through his "Oẓar
Ḥayyim" ("Thesaurus Vitæ") at Venice (1683); Hananiah ben Menahem
Cases at Florence (c. 1700); Isaac Cardoso, emigrated to
Italy from Spain, where he had lived as a Marano; Manuele di
Cesena, physician to Pope Sixtus V.
To the eighteenth century belong: Shabbethai Vita Marini of
Padua; Isaac Lampronti (d. 1756); Isaac Borgo. Mordecai Zahalun;
Jacob Heilprin; Aaron Cases (d. 1767); Israel Gedaliah Cases (d.
1793), all of Ferrara; Solomon Levi and Isaac Levi Vali, of Verona;
at Mantua, the Konia family: Joseph, Solomon, Moses Benjamin, Wolf,
and Israel; at Leghorn, Isaac Foa, known also as a printer; Elias
Concile; Adam and his sons Jacob and Azariah Ḥayyim Bondi; at
Friaul, Isaac Luzzatto, 1730-1803; his brother Ephraim (b. 1729),
who practised for more than thirty years in London, and died (1799)
while traveling in Lausanne; Graziado Nepi (1759-1836), rabbi and
physician at Cento, who belonged to the great French Sanhedrin of
1806.
France.
In France are to be found very few Jewish physicians during this
period, as unbaptized Jews were allowed only in papal Avignon:
Pierre de Notre Dame (a baptized Jew) at Arles (1500); Joseph Colon
at Perries; Mordecai Nathan and Joseph de Noves at Avignon; Elias
Montalto (d. at Paris 1615), court physician to Maria de Medici, by
whose order his body was embalmed and sent to Holland for burial in
a Jewish cemetery; his son Isaac, at Paris; at Bordeaux, John
Baptist de Silva (1686-1742), who had the best consulting practise
in Europe, and was physician to Louis XIV., by whom he was
knighted; at Nancy, Isaac Assur and Jacob Beer (c.
1775).
Though Jewish physicians were not allowed to practise in France,
their skill was so well known that Francis I. (1515-47) during a
severe sickness asked the Emperor of Germany for a Jewish
physician. When one arrived the king, thinking he was a Christian,
sent him back. The king then asked the Sultan of Turkey for another
Jewish physician, who cured him (Cabanis, "Révolution de la
Médecine," p. 128, Brussels, 1844).
In the Turkish Dominions.
While the Mohammedans lost Spain, they captured Constantinople
(1453), and Jewish physicians were allowed to practise in Turkey,
as in the other Mohammedan possessions. From Spain, Portugal,
Italy, and France Jews emigrated to Turkey. Among them were the
following: in Constantinople, Solomon Almoli (c. 1517);
Joseph Hamon; his son Moses (1490-1567), physician to Sulaiman the
Magnificent; and his grandson Joseph (d. 1578); Ibn Yaḥya; Abraham
ha-Levi ibn Migas; Abraham Nahmias; Leo Siaa (c. 1636);
Israel Conegliano (c. 1680); Ephraim Penseri; Abraham ben
Yaish; Abraham Samuel Solomon; and Isaac Jabez (c. 1700);
at Salonica, Samuel Uzziel (c. 1550); Abraham Cohen
(c. 1700); at Jerusalem, Elijah of Ferrara (c.
1460); David ibn Shoshan, head of the Sephardic yeshibah in 1552;
Jacob ibn Amram; Jacob Aboab; and Samuel ha-Levi (c.
1625); the physician Jacob Ḥayyim Ẓemaḥ was chief rabbi in 1645. In
Corfu lived Samuel Valerio (c. 1550); in Zante, Jacob ben
Uzziel (c. 1600); Abraham Cohen (1670-1722).
In the Netherlands and
England.
In the Netherlands, which during this period was mostly under
Spanish rule, Jewish physicians were few: Abraham Zacuto (Zacutus
Lusitanus), an emigrant from Portugal about 1600; at Amsterdam the
Bueno family (Abraham, Ephraim Hezekiah, Jacob, Joseph, and
Solomon); Balthazar de Castro (1620-87); somewhat later Joseph
Israel Mendes; Samuel de Silva; Samuel Jeshurun; and Samuel de
Mercado (c. 1650); Samuel de Misa (c. 1725);
Johanan van Embden and Naphtali Herz (c. 1750).
In England during this period there were very few Jewish
physicians, e.g., Sabot Elias (c. 1410); Rodrigo
Lopez (b. 1525 in Portugal), court physician to Queen Elizabth
1580, for attempting to poison whom he was executed in 1594. When
Cromwell permitted the Jews to settle openly in England there
immigrated thither Abraham de Mercado about 1655; Joseph Mendes
Bravo about 1675; Ephraim Isaac Abendana, in Cambridge and Oxford
(d. 1710), and his brother Jacob (1630-95); David Nieto, in London
(c. 1710); Jacob de Castro Sarmento, in London
(1692-1762); Fernando Mendez (d. 1724); Isaac de Sequera Samuda (b.
1721); Israel Lyons (1739-75); Samuel Nunez (c. 1750);
Joseph Hart Myers (1758-1823); Abraham Nonski (c. 1785;
writer on vaccination); the three Schombergs (Isaac, d. 1781; Meïr
Löw, d. 1761; and Ralph, d. 1792); Isaac Henriques Sequera
(1738-1816); Abraham van Oven (d. 1778); Joshua van Oven
(1766-1838); Solomon de Leon (c. 1775); George Gompertz
Levisohn (d. 1797); Elias Friedberg; and a Doctor Jeremias
(c. 1775).
Germany.
While before 1500 there had been very few Jewish physicians in
the German-speaking countries, in the later centuries many were to
be found, among whom were especially the under-mentioned—in
Frankfort-on-the-Main: Joseph bar Ephraim Levi (d. 1532); Abraham
ben Joseph Levi (d. 1581); Jacob ben Samuel and Aaron (c.
1600); Shelomoh (d. about 1631); his son Löw Leo Shelomoh; Isaac
Heln (d. 1654); Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (b. 1591 at Candia;
practised in Candia, Cairo, Lithuania, Hamburg, Amsterdam,
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Worms, and Prague, where he died 1655); his
son-in-law Solomon Bing (b. about 1615); Jonas ben Moses Bonn;
Abraham ben Isaac Wallach; Leo Simon; Abraham Heln (c.
1650); Benjamin Levi Buchsbaum (1645-1715); his sons Gutman Wolf
(1678-1770) and Lipman (b. 1677); Amshel Gutman (d. 1743), son of
Gutman Wolf; Issachar Bär Liebman (d. 1753); Anselm Schloss Beifuss
(d. 1793); and Adolf Worms (d. 1812). In Hamburg are to be
mentioned: Rodrigo de Castro (1550-1627), an eminent gynecologist;
his sons Benedict de Castro (1597-1684), court physician to Queen
Christina of Sweden, and Daniel (Andreas) de Castro (b. 1599),
court physician to King Christian IV. of Denmark; Jacob Rosales,
who practised in Hamburg from 1637 to 1645; and Benjamin ben
Immanuel Musaphia (1606-75). At Schaffhausen lived the physician
David (c. 1550); at Mühlheim, Solomon ben Boaz; at Colmar
and Rappoltsweiler, Judah Carmoly (1700-85); at Colmar, Anshel
Meyer (c. 1750); at Coblenz, Emanuel Wallich (c.
1750); at Bingen, Abraham Bing (c. 1550), father of
Solomon Bing of Hamburg; at Mayence, Selkeles Grotwahl (c.
1675) and his son Meier; Lippmann Levi and Phoebus Cohen
(c. 1775); at Bonn (also at Neuwied), Benjamin Croneburg
(c. 1750); Wolf and his two sons Heinrich and Solomon
(also at Düren); at Düsseldorf, Gottschalk Lazarus van Geldern
(1726-95) and his son Joseph (1765-96), Heine's grandfather; at
Cologne, Naphtali ben Joseph Levi (c. 1625); at Metz,
Isaac (c. 1650); Naphtali Herz; Solomon ben Baruch; Mayer
and Isaac Wallich (c. 1700); Jacob Wallich; Marcus Cosman
Gompertz Wolf; and Enoch Levin (c. 1750); the two brothers
Willstadt (c. 1775); Elkan Isaac Wolf; and Jacob Aronsohn
(c. 1790); at Hanover, Meier Cohen and Jacob Marx
(c. 1775); at Bamberg, Adalbert Friedrich Markus
(1753-1816). In the principalities of the Hapsburg family were only
a few Jewish physicians; at Innsbruck, Lazarus (c. 1560);
at Vienna, Isaac (Günzburg?) and his son Judah Löb Winckler
(c. 1625; both left Vienna 1670 and settled in Posen);
Joseph Oesterreicher (1756-1832). At Prague were: Isaac ben Joshua
(c. 1550); Abraham Kisch (1720-1803); Jonas Mischel
Jeiteles (1735-1806) and his son Benedict (1762-1813); at Berlin,
Lippold (c. 1535), court physician to the elector Joachim
II.; Hector, executed 1573 for having poisoned his master; Löbel
(c. 1693); the dentist Veit Abraham (c. 1699);
Marcus Eliezer Bloch (1723-99); Aaron Solomon Gumperz (1723-69);
Markus Herz (1747-1803), husband of Henriette Herz; Georg Levison
(d. 1797); at Königsberg, Isaac May and Michael Abraham
(c. 1550); at Breslau, Zadok (c. 1775); at Lissa,
Mordecai Rofe.
Medical Education of German
Jews.
Although at the beginning of the eighteenth century conditions
in Germany were not favorable for Jewish physicians, at the middle
and end of the same century most of the Jewish practitioners
received degrees from German universities. In 1700 the universities
of Rostock and Wittenberg counseled Christians against employing
Jewish physicians, who, they declared, were incompetent (meaning
that they had not received a university education). In 1725 King
Frederick William I. of Prussia prohibited Jews not having diplomas
from practising medicine, and in 1745 appeared at Frankfort a book
by Johann Helfrich Pfeil exposing the ignorance of Jewish
physicians.
In Poland.
When the kings of Poland permitted Jews to settle in some parts
of their dominions, physicians appeared there also. At Cracow lived
Ezekiel (c. 1503); Isaac Jacob (d. about 1510), physician
to King Sigismund I.; Solomon ben Nathan Ashkenazi (1520-1602),
physician to Sigismund II. and to the sultan Sulaiman II.; Solomon
Luria in Lublin; Tobias Cohn (1652-1729), who practised in Poland,
Adrianople, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, and was court physician
to five Turkish sultans; Jonas Casal (c. 1675), physician
to John Sobieski; Philipp Lubelski at Cracow (1788-1879); Elias
Pinschow (c. 1775); at Thorn, Morgenstern (c.
1567); at Posen, the Wincklers (the father Leo [Judah Löb]
emigrated from Vienna about 1670); his sons Jacob and Isaac and his
grandson Wolf, all four important physicians and leaders of the
community; Levi Elias Hirschel (1741-72).
Russia.
In Moscow practised Magister Anton (Ehrenstein). The first
Jewish physician in that city probably came from Rome. He was court
physician under Ivan III. and was executed in 1485 by the servants
of Prince Karakucza, whose son he had failed to cure. He was
succeeded by Leo, who was executed in 1490, also for not having
cured one of Ivan's sons. In the fifteenth century lived Solomon
Calvaire; Stephan von Gaden, also court physician (executed in
1682). At St. Petersburg lived the court physician Antonio Ribeiro
Sanchez (1699-1783). The greater number of Jewish physicians are
found in the larger communities, e.g., at Hasenpoth,
Issachar Falkensohn Behr (b. 1746), Judah ha-Levi Hurwicz, Jacob
Löbschutz, David Abrahamson (c. 1775), Aaron Solomon
Tobias (d. 1782), Lazar Isaac Kume (c. 1800); at Wilna,
Löb Gordon (c. 1725); at Mitau, Elrich (d. 1809); at Bausk
and Odessa, Eliezer Elias Löwenthal (c. 1775); also at
Bausk, Lachmann.
Review (1495-1800).
The foregoing lists of physicians are certainly not complete.
There probably lived many a good Jewish practitioner whose name has
not been recorded. With very few exceptions the Jewish physicians
of the period 1495-1800 did not excel. They were usually general
practitioners, very often combining the offices of rabbi and
physician. A few are cited as great consulting physicians, as the
above-mentioned John Baptist de Silva of Paris and the gynecologist
Rodrigo de Castro of Hamburg. Only a few left important medical
works. As a rule their influence upon medicine was only slight.
They suffered with their brethren expulsion from many countries.
They were very often prohibited from practising among Christians
and were allowed to follow their profession among their brethren
only. The universities were often closed to them; and popes and
princes issued edicts against them.
—In Recent Times:
The French Revolution brought a great change in the status of
Jewish physicians. Jews were admitted to citizenship in nearly
every country of western Europe, and were permitted to study at all
universities and to practise their profession. Even in Russia
to-day (1904) there are many Jewish physicians to be found; but it
is especially in Germany, Austria, and the United States that Jews
have become prominent as general practitioners, specialists,
university professors of medicine (since 1848), and medical
journalists. It is only possible to enumerate some of those who
have obtained prominence in medical circles during the nineteenth
century, beginning with those who have died.
General Practitioners.
Physicians: Solomon Ludwig Steinheim (Altona, 1789-1866);
Bernhard van Oven (London, 1797-1860); Martin Steinthal (Berlin,
1798-1892; at his death the oldest physician in Germany), reeditor
of Hufeland's "Macrobiotik"; Daniel Peixotto (London, 1800-43);
Hananeel de Leon (ib. c. 1825); J. L. Levinson
(ib. 1800-74); Raphael Kosch (Berlin, 1803-72); Jonathan
Pereira (London, 1804-53); Maximilian Heine (St. Petersburg,
1805-79), brother of Heinrich Heine; Johann Jacoby (Königsberg,
1805-77); Jonas Grätzer (Breslau, 1806-89); Moritz Rapoport
(Lemberg, 1808-80); Isaac A. Franklin (London, 1812-80); David
Gruby (Paris, 1810-98), known through his free public lectures;
Eleazar Meldola (London, 1810-79); Ludwig Güterbock (Berlin,
1814-95); Moritz Adolph Unna (Hamburg, 1813-88); Julius Barasch
(Bucharest, 1815-63); Sigismund Sutro (London, 1815-86); Jacob
Eduard Polak (Vienna, 1818-91), court physician at Teheran to the
Shah of Persia; Ferdinand Falkson (Königsberg, 1820-1900), known
through a lawsuit which was due to his marriage to a Christian
woman; Samuel Kristeller (Berlin, 1820-1900); Hermann Hirschfeldt
(Colberg, 1825-85), to whose memory a monument was erected at
Colberg; Henry Behrend (London, 1828-93); Wilhelm Lubelski (Warsaw,
1832-90); Ernest Abraham Hart (London, 1836-1898); and L. G. Gold
(Odessa, d. 1902).
Deceased Specialists.
Anatomists: Fiiedrich Gustav Jacob Henle (Göttingen, 1809-85),
one of the leading anatomists of his time; Jacob Herz (Erlangen,
1816-71), whose monument is to be seen in Erlangen—one of the three
monuments erected to Jews in Germany, the other two being those of
Moses Mendelssohn at Dessau, and Hermann Hirschfeldt at Colberg;
Ludwik Maurycy Hirschfeld (Warsaw, 1816-1876); Siegmund Spitzer
(Constantinople, 1839-1894), physician to Sultan 'Abd al-Majid.
Physiologists: Simone Fubini (Palermo, 1841-98), friend and
pupil of Moleschott; Ernst Fleischl von Marxow (Vienna, 1846-91);
Moritz Schiff (Geneva, 1823-96); Gabriel Gustav Valentin (Bern,
1810-83), one of the leading physiologists of his age.
Microscopists: Gottlieb Gluge (Brussels, 1812-1898), one of the
pioneers of microscopy; Ludwik Mandl (Paris, 1812-81).
Embryologists: Robert Remak (Berlin, 1815-65), the first Jewish
privat-docent in Prussia, admitted to the Berlin faculty in 1847,
and well known through his discoveries in neurology, embryology,
and electrotherapy; Leopold Schenk (Vienna, 1840-1892), well known
through his theory.
Pathologists: Karl Friedrich Canstatt (Erlangen, 1807-50),
founder and editor of the well-known "Jahresbericht über die
Fortschritte der Gesammten Medizin Aller Länder," begun in 1841 and
continued after his death by Virchow; Julius Cohnheim (Leipsic,
1839-84), author of the theory of emigration of white corpuscles as
the origin of pus and of inflammation, and demonstrator of
"Cohnheim's areas"; Felix Victor Birch-Hirschfeld (Leipsic,
1842-99); Moritz Heinrich Romberg (Berlin, 1795-1873), the eminent
neurologist; Simon Samuel (Königsberg, 1835-99); Solomon Stricker
(Vienna, 1834-98), the founder of microtomy; Karl Weigert
(Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1845-1904).
Clinicians: Jonas Freund (London, d. 1880), founder of the
German Hospital, London; Heinrich Jacobson (Berlin, 1826-90);
Hermann Lebert (Lewy) (Breslau, 1813-78); Ludwig Traube (Berlin,
1818-76), the father of experimental pathology; Daniel Maduro
Peixotto (New York, about 1850).
Surgeons: Michelangelo Asson (Venice, 1802-77); Leopold von
Dittel (Vienna, 1815-98), who performed over 800 operations for
calculus; Joseph Gruber (ib. 1827-1900); Aaron Jeiteles
(Olmütz, 1799-1878); Michel Lévy (Paris, 1809-72); Germain Sée
(Paris, 1818-96); Lewis Oppenheim (London, 1832-1895); Julius Wolff
(Berlin, 1836-1902); Paul Güterbock (Berlin, 1844-97).
Gynecologist: David Haussmann (Berlin, 1839-1895).
Pharmacologist: Hermann Friedberg (Breslau, 1817-84).
Aurists: Joseph Gruber (Vienna, 1827-1900) and Solomon Moos
(Heidelberg, 1831-95).
Ophthalmologists: Isaac Hays (Philadelphia, 1796-1879), editor
of the "American Journal of Medical Science"; Ignaz Hirschler
(Budapest, 1823-91); John Zechariah Laurence (London, 1828-70);
Aaron Friedenwald (Baltimore, 1836-1902); Max Landesberg (New York,
1840-95); Ludwig Mauthner (Vienna, 1840-94), to whose memory a
monument was erected in the arcades of Vienna University, the only
monument dedicated to a Jew in Austria.
Laryngologists: Jacob Gottstein (Breslau, 1832-1895); Abraham
Kuhn (Strasburg, 1838-1900); Johann Schnitzler (Vienna, 1835-93);
Elias Heyman (Stockholm, 1829-89); Karl Stoerk (Vienna, 1832-1899);
Louis Elsberg (New York, 1836-85); Isaac Michael (Hamburg,
1848-97); G. Ash (New York, d. 1902).
Neuropathist: Oscar Berger (Breslau, 1844-85).
Dermatologists: Moriz Kapósi (Kohn) (Vienna, 1837-1902); Oskar
Simon (Breslau, 1845-82); Hermann von Zeissl (Vienna, 1817-84),
defender of the dual theory of syphilis.
Psychiatrist: Ludwig Meyer (Göttingen, 1827-1900).
Hygienists: Nikolaus Heinrich Julius (Hamburg, 1783-1862);
Michel Lévy (Paris, 1809-72); Levi Ali Cohen (Groningen,
1817-89).
Electrotherapist: Moritz Meyer (Berlin, 1821-93).
Balneologist: Gottfried Schmelkes (Teplitz, 1807-1870).
Biologist: Ludwig Lewin Jacobson (Copenhagen, 1783-1843).
Encyclopedists: Friedrich Jacob Behrend (Berlin, 1803-89);
Samuel Guttmann (Berlin, 1839-93).
Miscellaneous: Authority on forensic medicine: Johann Ludwig
Caspar (Berlin, 1796-1864). Hydrotherapist: Ludwig F. Fränkel
(Berlin, 1806-1872). Dental surgeon: Ludwig Heinrich Holländer
(Breslau, 1833-97), one of the German pioneers of scientific
dentistry.
Medical History and
Journalism.
Historians of medicine: August Hirsch (Berlin, 1817-94), still
an undisputed authority; Abraham Hartog Israels (Amsterdam,
1822-1883); Franz Romeo Seligmann (Vienna, 1808-79).
Journalists: Louis Posner (Berlin, 1815-68), editor of the
"Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift"; Leopold Wittelshöfer (Vienna,
1818-89), editor of the "Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift"; Paul
Guttmann (Berlin, 1833-93), editor of the "Journal für Praktische
Aerzte"; Julius Grosser (Prenzlau, 1835-1901), editor of the
"Deutsche Medizinal-Zeitung"; Louis Waldenburg (Berlin, 1837-81),
editor of the "Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift"; Johann Jacob
(Joseph Isidor) Sachs (Nordhausen, 1803-46), publisher and editor
of medical journals. The champion of homeopathy in Austria is Emil
Altschul (Prague, 1812-65), who founded and published (1853) the
first homeopathic magazine in Austria.
Of living physicians, the following list gives the names of some
of the more important, especially of those who have held official
positions:
Austria:
Living Physicians in
Europe.
The alienist Arnold Pick; the physiologist Sigmund Mayer; the
pathologists Philipp Joseph Pick and Alfred Pribram, all four of
Prague; the aural surgeon Adam Politzer; the electrotherapists
Moritz Benedikt and Gustav Gärtner; the pathologist Anton
Weichselbaum; the pediatrists Alois Epstein and Max Kassowitz; the
clinicians Moritz Heitler, Leopold Oser, Alois Pick, Wilhelm von
Winternitz, Emil Zuckerkandl; the dermatologist Isidor Neumann; the
ophthalmologist Isidor Schnabel; Samuel von Basch, body-physician
to the emperor Maximilian of Mexico; the journalist Alexander
Fränkel; Leopold von Seligmann, retired colonel-surgeon of the
Austrian army, all of Vienna; the balneologists Enoch Heinrich
Kisch of Marienbad and Josef Seegen of Carlsbad.
Denmark:
The pathologist Karl Julius Salomonsen of Copenhagen.
England:
The ophthalmologist Richard Liebreich; the laryngologist Sir
Felix Semon; the pathologist Bertram Abrahams, all three of London;
to these may be added the bacteriologist Waldemar Haffkine of
Calcutta, India.
France:
The inventor of color photography Gabriel Lippmann; the
bacteriologist Alexander Marmorek; the physician Anselme Weill; the
surgeon Marc Sée; the clinicians Julius Goldschmidt, Georges Hayem,
and Louis Mandl; the laryngologists Benjamin Benno Loewenberg,
Louis Lucien Dreyfus-Brisac, all of Paris; the neurologists
Hippolyte Bernheim of Nancy and Max Nordau of Paris.
The number of Jewish physicians in Germany is
very great: the anatomist Gustav Schwalbe of Strasburg; the
physiologists Julius Bernstein of Halle, the brothers Hermann and
Immanuel Munk and Nathan Zuntz of Berlin, Isidor Rosenthal of
Erlangen; the histologist Gustav Jacob Born of Breslau; the
pathologists Ludwig Brieger and Oskar Israel of Berlin; the
clinicians Imar Boas and Wilhelm Ebstein of Göttingen, Albert
Fränkel and Julius Lazarus of Berlin, Ludwig Lichtheim of
Königsberg, Martin Mendelsohn of Berlin, Oscar Minkowski of
Strasburg, Carl Posner, Ottomar Rosenbach, Hermann Senator, Georg
Anton Solomon, all of Berlin; the dermatologists Gustav Behrend,
Heinrich Köbner, Oskar Lassar, Georg Richard Lewin, all likewise of
Berlin, Albert Neisser of Breslau, Paul Gerson Unna of Hamburg; the
surgeons Robert Kutner, James Israel, William Levy, all of Berlin;
the pediatrists Adolf Baginsky and Livius Fürst of Berlin and
Eduard Heinrich Henoch of Dresden; the gynecologist Ernst Fränkel
of Breslau, Leopold and Theodor Landau of Berlin, Julius
Schottländer of Heidelberg, Paul Zweifel of Leipsic; the
neuropathists Hermann Oppenheim, Emanuel Mendel, Albert Moll, and
Ernst Julius Remak, all of Berlin; thebacteriologist Paul Ehrlich
of Frankfort-on-the-Main; the orthopedist Leopold Ewer of Berlin;
the ophthalmologists Julius Hirschberg of Berlin, Hermann L. Cohn
of Breslau, Ludwig L. Laqueur of Strasburg, Max Solomon of Berlin,
Leopold Weiss of Heidelberg; the pharmacologists Max Jaffé of
Königsberg, Oskar Matthias, Eugen Liebreich and Louis Lewin of
Berlin; the otologists Ludwig Katz and Ludwig Löwe of Berlin; the
laryngologists Paul Heymann and B. Fränkel of Berlin; the
encyclopedist Albert Eulenburg of Berlin; the forensicist Adolf
Lesser of Berlin; the hygienist Ernst Levy of Strasburg; the
historian Julius Leopold Pagel of Berlin; the anthropologist
Abraham Lissauer of Berlin.
Hungary:
The neuropathist Otto Schwartzer von Babarcz; the oculist
Nathaniel Feuer; the clinician Friedrich Korányi, all of
Budapest.
Italy:
The specialist of forensic medicine Salvatore Ottolenghi of
Sienna; the clinician Beniamino Luzzatto of Padua; the great
alienist Cesare Lombroso and the pathologist Pio Foà, both of
Turin.
The Netherlands:
The clinician Samuel Siegmund Rosenstein of Leyden.
Rumania:
The physician Karpel Lippe.
Russia:
Isaac Dembo of St. Petersburg, author of "Ha-Sheḥiṭah
weha-Bediḳah"; the ophthalmologist Max (Emanuel) Mandelstamm; the
hygienist and court physician Joseph Vasilievich Bertensohn and his
nephew Lev Bertensohn of St. Petersburg; the physician Joseph
Chazanowicz of Byelostok, founder of the Abarbanel Library at
Jerusalem; the clinician W. Manassein of Kasan; Isidorus Brennson
at Mitau. Of the physicians at present practising in Courland 19.2
per cent are Jews.
Switzerland:
The pathologist Moritz Roth of Basel.
Turkey:
Elias Cohen Pasha of Constantinople.
United States:
The first Jewish physician mentioned in colonial times in the
United States is Jacob Lumbrozo, who practised about 1639 in
Maryland.
In the United States.
.^ Each year, increasing numbers of people with irreversible end stage renal failure are treated under the United States Medicare ESRD (End-Stage Renal Disease) programs.- Morbidity and Mortality of Dialysis (CBM 93-4) 6 February 2010 12:34 UTC www.nlm.nih.gov [Source type: Academic]
Bibliography: Carmoly, Histoire des Médecins Juifs,
Brussels, 1844 (a book full of material, but often unreliable);
Hyrtl, Das Arabische und Hebräische in der Anatomie,
Vienna, 1879; Münz, Ueber die Jüdischen Aerzte im
Mittelalter, Berlin, 1887; M. Horovitz, Jüdische Aerzte in
Frankfurt-am-Main, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1886; Landau,
Gesch. der Jüdischen Aerzte, Berlin, 1895; Hirsch,
Biog. Lex.; Pagel, Biog. Lex.; Steinschneider,
Wissenschaft und Charlatanerie Unter den Arabern im Neunten
Jahrhundert, in Virchow's Archiv, xxxvi.; idem,
Constantinus Africanus und Seine Arabischen Quellen, ib.
xxxvii.; idem, Die Toxicologischen Schriften der Araber bis
Ende des XII. Jahrhunderts, ib. iii.; idem, Ueber Medicin
in Bibel und Talmud und über Jüdische Aerzte, in Wiener
Klinische Rundschau, 1896; idem, Hebr. Uebers.; idem,
Donnolo, Berlin, 1868; idem, Hebr. Bibl.; idem,
Die Arabische Literatur der Juden, Frankfort-on-the-Main,
1902; Wüstenfeld, Die Academien der Araber und Ihre
Lehrer, Göttingen, 1837; idem, Die Uebersetzungen
Arabischer Werke in das Lateinische, seit den XI. Jahrhundert,
ib. 1877; idem, Die Geschichtsschreiber der Araber und Ihre
Werke, ib. 1882; Haeser, Lehrbuch der Geschichte der
Medizin und der Epidemischen Krankheiten, Jena, 1882; Aaron
Friedenwald, Jewish Physicians and the Contribution of the Jews
to the Science of Medicine, in Publ. of the Gratz College,
1897, Philadelphia, 1897; Vogelstein and Rieger, Gesch.
der Juden in Rom, Berlin, 1895-96; Berliner, Gesch. der
Juden in Rom, Frankfort-on-the-Main. 1893; Joseph Jacobs,
The Jews of Angevin England, pp. 114, 340, London, 1893;
idem, Jewish Year-Book; Kayserling, Zur Gesch. der
Jüdischen Aerzte, in Monatsschrift, vii. 165;
Kaufmann, Un Siècle de l'Existence d'une Famille de Juifs de
Vienne et de Posen, in R. E. J. xx. 275; Döllinger,
Die Juden in Europa, in Akademische Vorträge,
vol. i., Nördlingen, 1890; Revue des Eludes Juives, xli.
77-97, xlvii. 221-254, xlviii. 48-81, xcvi. 265-272.
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