Medicine, ancient theories

One of the first people to apply science to medicine was the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 b.c.e.). Influenced by the idea that the world is composed of four substances—earth, air, fire, and water—as taught by the Greek philosopher Empedocles (ca. 495-435 b.c.e.), Hippocrates proposed that four fluids are critical in determining a person s state of health. These fluids, known as humors (from a Latin term for moisture), were called blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. According to Hippocrates, an imbalance in these humors caused disease. Later, people associated a specific temperament or personality with these humors, a theory that was one of the earliest attempts to explain moods and emotions. Blood, for example, was associated with an optimistic disposition, while black bile corresponded to depression. 

It is well known that the Arabs had contacts with the Chinese via the Silk Road, the great trade route between China and the Mediterranean. It is notable that the concept of the elixir of lifey a medicine with the power to prolong life, is found in Islamic alchemy, but is entirely absent from its Alexandrian precursor. The transmission of this idea from China is highly likely. It is also possible that the word chemistry is derived from the Chinese word for gold. The best representation for the sound this word made in the early Chinese dialects is probably kimy from which the Arabs could have derived their word al-kimiyOy from which in turn the Europeans obtained the words alchemy and chemistry. An alternative theory is that the Arabs derived al-kimiya from Khemy which means Black Landy and is the ancient name for Egypt. 

George Pearson (Rotherham, 1751-London, 9 November 1828), a pupil of Black, M.D. Edinburgh 1773, F.R.S. 1791, also studied in France, Germany, and Holland, practised as a physician in Doncaster and London, and became head-physician in St. George s Hospital, London. Pearson was one of the first to accept the antiphlogistic theory, and translated the Nomenclature Chimique in 1794 (see p. 481). He introduced the use of sodium phosphate in medicine in 1787. He prepared it from phosphoric acid made from phosphorus and nitric acid, and sold it at what he considered the low price of is. per lb. He investigated James s powder, an Indian wax resembling Chinese pe-la (tree wax) and Indian wootz steel. He analysed ancient copper, iron, etc. 

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