Abstract
THIS small work of one hundred pages constitutes the eighteenth pamphlet of the Medicinsk-historiske Smaaskrifter edited by Vilhelm Maar and published in Denmark. We have reviewed the other volumes in a previous issue, and regret that an announcement in the present pamphlet indicates that the series, for the present at any rate, has reached a conclusion. The subject of Persian medicine has been dealt with by many historians, and Dr. Christensen has brought our knowledge up to date. He divides the matter into four chapters: the Zoroaster period, ancient Islam medicine, the period of Avicenna, and recent Persian medicine. An appendix with a translation of one of the four treatises of the “Tchahar makala” of Nizami-i-Aruzi (twelfth century) completes the account. The medicine of the Avesta, the original document of Zoroaster's religion, is fully dealt with, and the influence of Ahura Mazda, the all-wise spirit, in maintaining health is analysed. The demoniacal concept of disease and its production through the agency of Anro Maiynus the evil mind is carefully considered. The fall of the Sassanian empire in the seventh century and its conquest by the Arabs has had a profound influence on the subject of medicine, for it was through the Arabs, notably Rhazes and Avicenna, that the great works of classical antiquity were restored to European learning, enriched with the valuable commentaries of these diligent students of the dark ages. Dr. Christensen's researches constitute a distinct addition to our knowledge of this interesting period.
Om Laegekunst hos Perserne.
A.
Christensen
By. Pp. 103. (Medicinsk-historiske Smaaskrifter, 18.) (Kφbenhavn: Vilhelm Trydes Forlag, 1917.)
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Om Laegekunst hos Perserne. Nature 100, 444 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/100444a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/100444a0