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P. 147
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THIRTEENTH TO EIETEENTH CENTURIES \ A\)
Guv de Chauliac almost cntirt*l\ neglects this subject and limits himself
to sa\ ing that it an\ tooth has become abnormalK" lengthened, it is
necessary to reduce it to the right length with the hie, but operating
"wiseh," so as not to loosen it:
"S'il y a quelque dent augmentee outre nature, soit egalisee et applanie
sagement avec la lime, que ne soit ebranlee."
Gu\- strongh throws doubt upon the efficacy of supposed eradicating
remedies. In regard to this he sa\s: "The ancients mention many
medicaments, which draw out the teeth without iron instruments or which
make them more easy to draw out; such as the milkv juice of the tith\nial
w4th pyrethrum, the roots of the mulberry and caper, citrine arsenic,
aqua fortis, the fat of forest frogs. But these remedies promise much
and operate but little Jtiais ils Jojuinit hraiicoiip Jr proniesses, ct peu
''
d^ operations.
From the book of Guy de Chauliac we can gather a ver\ important
fact, which is worth mentioning here; that is to sa\ , that some surgeons
of that period made use already of anesthetic inhalations, especially for
amputations. Here is what Gu\ says:^
"Some prescribe medicaments which send the patient to sleep, so that
the incision may not be felt, such as opium, the juice of the morel,"
hyoscyamus, mandrake, ivy, hemlock, lettuce. A new sponge is soaked
by them in these juices and left to dry in the sun; and when the\- have
need of it they put this sponge into w^arm water and then hold it under
the nostrils of the patient until he goes to sleep. Then they perform
the operation."
It seems that the narcosis thus obtained was sufficienth intense, since
Gu\ also speaks of the means used to awaken the patient. These con-
sisted in applying another sponge, soaked in vinegar, under the nose, or
in dropping into the nostrils and ears the juice of rue or fennel.
Guy lets us know that other surgeons made the patients go to sleep
by giving them opium to drink; but he decidedly disapproves of such a
practice, as he has heard of patients who through this have died.
Valescus of Taranta (called by the French authors Valescon or
Balescon de Tarente or Tharare), professor at the Universit\' of Mont-
pellier at the beginning of the fifteenth century, wrote a valuable treatise
on medicine and surgery, entitled Philoniurti pharmaceiiticiim et chiriir-
gicum, de medendis omnibus humani corporis ajjectibus. As to the dis-
eases of the teeth, he especialh follows Gu\ de Chauliac, but treats the
' Treatise vi, doctrine i, chap, viii: "Des numbres (|u'il taut amputer," etc., Nicaise,
P- 435-
" According to Joubert several solanaceae had this name, among others Solanuni nigrum
and Solarium somniferum (Physalis somnifera L.), which probably corresponds to the
Strychnos hypnoticus of Dioscorides.
THIRTEENTH TO EIETEENTH CENTURIES \ A\)
Guv de Chauliac almost cntirt*l\ neglects this subject and limits himself
to sa\ ing that it an\ tooth has become abnormalK" lengthened, it is
necessary to reduce it to the right length with the hie, but operating
"wiseh," so as not to loosen it:
"S'il y a quelque dent augmentee outre nature, soit egalisee et applanie
sagement avec la lime, que ne soit ebranlee."
Gu\- strongh throws doubt upon the efficacy of supposed eradicating
remedies. In regard to this he sa\s: "The ancients mention many
medicaments, which draw out the teeth without iron instruments or which
make them more easy to draw out; such as the milkv juice of the tith\nial
w4th pyrethrum, the roots of the mulberry and caper, citrine arsenic,
aqua fortis, the fat of forest frogs. But these remedies promise much
and operate but little Jtiais ils Jojuinit hraiicoiip Jr proniesses, ct peu
''
d^ operations.
From the book of Guy de Chauliac we can gather a ver\ important
fact, which is worth mentioning here; that is to sa\ , that some surgeons
of that period made use already of anesthetic inhalations, especially for
amputations. Here is what Gu\ says:^
"Some prescribe medicaments which send the patient to sleep, so that
the incision may not be felt, such as opium, the juice of the morel,"
hyoscyamus, mandrake, ivy, hemlock, lettuce. A new sponge is soaked
by them in these juices and left to dry in the sun; and when the\- have
need of it they put this sponge into w^arm water and then hold it under
the nostrils of the patient until he goes to sleep. Then they perform
the operation."
It seems that the narcosis thus obtained was sufficienth intense, since
Gu\ also speaks of the means used to awaken the patient. These con-
sisted in applying another sponge, soaked in vinegar, under the nose, or
in dropping into the nostrils and ears the juice of rue or fennel.
Guy lets us know that other surgeons made the patients go to sleep
by giving them opium to drink; but he decidedly disapproves of such a
practice, as he has heard of patients who through this have died.
Valescus of Taranta (called by the French authors Valescon or
Balescon de Tarente or Tharare), professor at the Universit\' of Mont-
pellier at the beginning of the fifteenth century, wrote a valuable treatise
on medicine and surgery, entitled Philoniurti pharmaceiiticiim et chiriir-
gicum, de medendis omnibus humani corporis ajjectibus. As to the dis-
eases of the teeth, he especialh follows Gu\ de Chauliac, but treats the
' Treatise vi, doctrine i, chap, viii: "Des numbres (|u'il taut amputer," etc., Nicaise,
P- 435-
" According to Joubert several solanaceae had this name, among others Solanuni nigrum
and Solarium somniferum (Physalis somnifera L.), which probably corresponds to the
Strychnos hypnoticus of Dioscorides.
