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Honors Theses
Honors College
Spring 5-11-2012
Aristotelian Methodology in Renaissance Science:
Analyzing Andrea Bacci’s Treatise on Rabies
Laura Sumrall
The University of Southern Mississippi
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Theses. Paper 64.
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The University of Southern Mississippi
Aristotelian Methodology in Renaissance Science:
Analyzing Andrea Bacci’s Treatise on Rabies
by
Laura Sumrall
A Thesis
Submitted to the Honors College of
The University of Southern Mississippi
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degrees of
Bachelor of Science
in the Department of Biological Sciences
and
Bachelor of Arts
in the Department of Foreign Languages
April 2012
Approved by
______________________________________
Mark Clark, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Classics and History
Mississippi State University
Advisor
______________________________________
Leah Fonder-Solano, Ph.D., Chair
Dept of Foreign Languages and Literatures
______________________________________
David R. Davies, Ph.D., Dean
Honors College
ii
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Table of Contents
I: Introduction
Chapter 1: Problem Statement…………….…………………………........................ 1
A Note on Formatting…..……….…………….....…….………………..…… 3
Chapter 2: Context
Literature Review…………….………………..…….………………..…….... 5
An Aristotelian Foundation……………….….….……..….….………..……... 8
Andrea Bacci and De Venenis…………………….…………………..…….... 13
II: Analysis
Chapter 1: Evidence in Contemporary Interpretations
Leoniceno and a Humanist Approach…………..……………………..……... 15
Zabarella and an Aristotelian Method……….…………….…………............. 18
Chapter 2: Rabies as Poison
The Corruptive Force of Poison …..…………………….…………………… 20
Identifying the Cause of Rabies …………….………….…………..……...…. 23
Treatment: Removing a Transformative Force.………..…………...………… 26
III: Conclusion
Chapter 1: Closing Remarks.………………………..……........................................... 29
Acknowledgements .…………………………..…...…..................................... 31
Chapter 2: Works Cited.………………………..……................................................... 32
Appendix: Andrea Bacci’s Canis Rabidi Morsus ………………………….....……… 34
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I: Introduction
Chapter 1: Problem Statement
The terms “poison” and “disease” typically carry much different connotations.
However, even within modern medical understandings, poison and disease cause an
undeniably analogous destructive effect in the human body. Their equally mysterious
methods of operation would, for sixteenth-century scientists, more than justify a study of
the uncertain connection between the two. In some cases, such a study resulted in the
identification of a causal relationship in which the outbreak of disease was inexorably
intertwined with the destructive power of poison. Asserting that disease results from the
operation of poison places an unavoidable emphasis on understanding the cause of
disease, as well as understanding poison’s manner of operation, drawing a considerable
amount of theoretical science and natural philosophy into a scientific field that most
valued practical applicability. However, Andrea Bacci, among others, saw the need for
understanding the “why” and “how” of disease in order to better attempt a cure. As a
practicing physician with an evidently humanist education, Bacci, like others in his day,
would have looked to the enduring authority of the ancients for a foundation for his own
practice. At this time, Aristotle’s works persisted as the foundation for scientific inquiry.
It is my assertion that Aristotelian science was thus an indispensable tool in developing a
philosophical foundation for the development of practical medicine.
Aristotle’s corpus is a dauntingly extensive one. Among his many works may be
found thorough treatments of physics, biology, and philosophy, all of which he
incorporates into a larger framework devised through theoretical exploration
fundamentally based on reason. In fact, there are some who contend that theoretical
1
science began with Aristotle, whose interest in developing a foundation for more
generalized scientific principles diverged from the practical science studied by his
Hippocratic predecessors.1 This study focuses on three major aspects of Aristotelian
science. The first is an Aristotelian interpretation of change initiated by motion, as
described in Aristotle’s Physics. The second is a framework of causation that describes
the conditions of change, using Aristotle’s four causes. Finally, an Aristotelian approach
to the acquisition of knowledge is considered in a posteriori knowledge derived from a
foundation of a priori knowledge.
In Thomas Kuhn’s construct of scientific revolution, Bacci’s scientific discoveries
would be considered well within the boundaries of Aristotle’s “paradigm.”2 However,
the extent to which Bacci incorporates contemporary interpretations as well as
information from his own observations suggests that, while Aristotle remained dominant
as a scientific authority, new interpretations somewhat changed the spirit of his original
works to better serve the needs of contemporary science. It should be noted, for instance,
that Aristotle’s use of the term “method” did not assign the term the specific significance
that it was later given.3 Some interpretations of Galen’s Ars Parva assert that scientific
method can be simplified to two forms of Aristotelian demonstration, but these
interpretations are highly debatable without any clear methodology presented by Aristotle
himself.4 In spite of this lack of clarity, varied attempts to properly interpret and utilize
Aristotelian science in the Renaissance means that Aristotle appeared in various forms
1
Marjorie Grene and David Depew, “Aristotle and After.” in The Philosophy of Biology: An Episodic
History, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004), 4.
2
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), 97.
3
Neal W. Gilbert, Renaissance Concepts of Method (New York: Columbia UP, 1960), 41.
4
William P. D. Wightman, “Quid sit Methodus? ‘Method’ in Sixteenth Century Medical Teaching and
‘Discovery,’” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences XIX, no. 4 (1964): 367.
2
and to various degrees in Renaissance medicine. Aristotle provided tools that scientists
could use in different ways to serve the ultimate purpose of scientific discovery. Thus,
identifying and separating all the scientific influences at work in a single document such
as this one is arguably impossible; however, finding evidence of Aristotelian ideas is a
worthwhile endeavor, if only to provide insight into the prevalence of Aristotelian
philosophy in late sixteenth century medicine. Understanding how Andrea Bacci utilized
Aristotelian science to explain the efficacy of poisons and pharmaceuticals will further
expand the general understanding of how Aristotelian science was understood by
Renaissance scientists. Thus, a more viable concern than the extent of Aristotelian
influence in Bacci’s work is whether the influence is strong enough (or deliberate
enough) to specifically apply Aristotle’s principles of motion, traced to a foundation in
Aristotelian causation, and ultimately to a fundamentally Aristotelian approach to
scientific inquiry. Specific emphasis will be placed upon poison’s method of operation as
a destructive force. At the very least, it will be shown that Andrea Bacci demonstrates
the lingering influence of Aristotle in medical science that complemented a need for the
theoretical basis of observational evidence, in which Bacci often consulted his
predecessors for guidance.
A Note on Formatting
References to the translation of Canis Rabidi Morsus are formatted thus:
Bacci, “[Section title],” [paragraph number]
in which the untitled first section is referenced merely as “Canis Rabidi Morsus.”
3
The translation itself is formatted with English followed by the Latin in italics, by
paragraph, each of which is numbered within the section. In transcribing the Latin,
unmarked corrections have been made to spacing, capitalization, stylistic spelling, and
punctuation. Where egregious errors have been corrected, they are designated in brackets
using the following format:
L[line number], [original text] = [corrected text].
4
Chapter 2: Context
Literature Review
Brief evaluations of relevant works have been divided roughly into two
categories: those referencing Andrea Bacci and those concerning Aristotelian science.
Works that incorporate both categories are included in both discussions, with relevant
topics discussed separately. Aside from these, Thomas Kuhn is referenced to provide a
framework for this study within the context of his theories on the origins of scientific
revolution, to establish Bacci’s placement among his more revolutionary peers. Some
additional works that reference Bacci are also included to provide a broader
understanding of how thoroughly his works have been studied. Aside from primary
literature (Aristotle and Andrea Bacci), the sources used in this paper are limited to those
published in the twentieth century or later; likewise, this review includes only relevant
sources published within that time period.
Andrea Bacci is referenced occasionally in works written on poisons, disease, or
Renaissance science in general. In volume six of Lynn Thorndike’s A History of Magic
and Experimental Science series, Bacci’s treatise is discussed briefly in a chapter
dedicated to poisons, noting his thorough evaluation of mystical cures and preventatives.5
Bacci later appeared in Cosenza’s Dictionary of the Italian Humanists, wherein De
Venenis was included among others in a considerable list of works.6 De Venenis was also
referenced briefly by Linda Richardson in a 1985 article regarding disease of the total
5
Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science , vol. 6 (New York: Columbia UP, 1953),
484-485.
6
Mario E.. Cosenza, Dictionary of the Italian humanists, vol. 6 (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1967), 359.
5
substance, included primarily to juxtapose the theories of Fernel.7 Richardson mentioned
Bacci’s definition of poison as being the opposite of food and the cause of putrefaction in
the body due to imbalanced temperaments, thus briefly mentioning the topic of this study
.8 In his 2009 Ph.D. dissertation, Frederick Gibbs provided a similarly brief overview of
Bacci’s understanding of poison, ultimately to illustrate a movement away from reliance
upon traditional medical authorities.9 Gibbs also noted Bacci’s discussion of mystical
cures, providing slightly more detail concerning Bacci’s comparison of food and
poison.10 He also mentioned that Bacci provided a method for curing poison rather than
simply listing antidotes, but there is no discussion of Bacci’s own scientific
methodology.11 Primarily, Bacci is referenced to include an example of sixteenth century
scientific thought regarding poison, with the opposition of food and poison receiving the
most attention. However, no specific study of Bacci’s discussion of rabies exists, nor is
there a thorough evaluation of his methodology.
Aristotelian science, on the other hand, has of course received considerably more
attention. Friedrich Solmsen’s Aristotle’s System of the Physical World was published
mid-century as an attempt to present a structured summary and explanation of Aristotle’s
works on the physical world compared to earlier scientific works.12 The book includes
discussion of Physics, Metereologica, and On the Cosmos, among other works, with
Aristotle’s principles of motion providing a connective theme. Solmsen is quite
7
Linda Richardson, “The generation of disease: occult causes and diseases of the total substance,” in The
medical renaissance of the sixteenth century, ed. A. Wear et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985), 191.
8
Ibid., 191.
9
Frederick W. Gibbs, “Medical understandings of poison circa 1250-1600” (PhD diss., University of
Wisconsin, 2009), 217.
10
Ibid., 216.
11
Ibid., 216.
12
Friedrich Solmsen, Aristotle’s System of the Physical World: a Comparison with His Predecessors
(Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1960).
6
thorough, discussing many topics specifically relevant to this study, such as change
initiated by contact.13 Solmsen was used primarily as a reference concerning Aristotle’s
scientific theories; other sources more specifically discuss Aristotle and scientific
methodology. Neal Gilbert’s Renaissance Concepts of Method provides an overview of
method in the Renaissance that includes Aristotelian methodology along with popular
interpretations. Gilbert’s extensive work includes more specific discussions of
Leoniceno’s Aristotelian interpretations of Galen, as well as Galen’s incorporation of
Aristotle.14 William Wightman’s 1964 article on method addressed some perceived
inadequacy in Gilbert’s study, further questioning the specific relevance of scientific
methodology in general to medical practice in the Renaissance, with some emphasis on
interpretations of Galen and Aristotle.15 William Edwards provided a more focused study
of Leoniceno in his 1976 article “Niccolò Leoniceno and the origins of humanist
discussion on method,” wherein he more thoroughly explored Leoniceno’s translations of
and commentaries on Aristotle, specifically related to scientific method, which was used
in this study to research in part the contemporary scientists that Bacci referenced.16
Edwards’s article on Leoniceno is thus useful as a focused study, but Charles Schmitt
provided a broader overview of Aristotelian influence in the Renaissance with Aristotle
and the Renaissance, in which he also thoroughly catalogued Renaissance translations
and commentaries of Aristotle’s works. 17 Among many more focused studies within this
work, Schmitt provided some insight into Zabarella’s interpretations of Aristotle, along
13
Ibid., 355.
Gilbert, 102-104; 13-24.
15
Wightman, 375.
16
William F. Edwards, “Niccolò Leoniceno and the origins of humanist discussion on method,” in
Philosophy and humanism: Renaissance essays in honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1976).
17
Charles B. Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1983), 10-13; 15-19.
14
7
with some related discussion of humanism. Charles Nauert more directly addressed
humanism in Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe, wherein he describes
the relationship between Renaissance science and the rise of humanism, specifically
regarding critical readings of classical texts.18 Schmitt also addressed the applicability of
Aristotelian science for practicing physicians in “Aristotle among the physicians,” largely
regarding Aristotle’s natural philosophy.19 An expansive pool of resources exists concerning Aristotle, with a somewhat
limited collection of resources addressing his specific influence in the Renaissance. The
sources gathered here represent an incomplete yet adequate selection for the scope of this
study, combined with primary sources addressing more specific aspects of Aristotelian
science and philosophy.
An Aristotelian Foundation
In order to establish a foundation for the analysis of Bacci’s text, I have provided
here an overview of Aristotle’s motion. Understanding Aristotle’s motion is integral to
understanding Bacci’s treatment of rabies, though the explication of this concept of
motion does not present a scientific method intended to apply specifically to medicine.
Rather, the physical explanation of motion illuminates the nature of rabies, its cause, and
its manner of operation. Thus, a study of Aristotle’s Physics provides a framework in
which applied science may operate by explaining the physical properties of physical
substances and, specifically in this case, change in substance that occurs through
18
Charles G. Nauert, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2011), 62-63.
19
Charles B. Schmitt, “Aristotle among the physicians,” in The medical renaissance of the sixteenth
century, ed. A. Wear et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985), 14.
8
movement. In this study’s interpretation of Bacci’s methodology, force as a component
of Aristotle’s motion accounts for the operation of disease.
It is necessary to begin at the base of Aristotle’s physical system, where exists the
formless “substratum,” in which the shifting of qualities results in the formation of a new
substance, not from non-substance but from a contrary. Changes in Aristotle’s science
always occur between contraries, in keeping with cyclical patterns of generation and
corruption.20 Thus movement instigates change, which takes place in the substratum
between contraries. The motivator of this movement is nature, which also accounts for
the source of motion and rest in physical beings.21 The movements of the elements and
natural operations are mechanical in moving out of necessity, such that balance is
maintained by the orderly movement of nature (natural movement). These ordered
movements push the elements to occupy their “natural place” in the Cosmos, distinct
from space in that it is the place in which an element is apt to reside, as opposed to any
place in which it may reside.22
Elemental movement is linear, exhibiting the other half of locomotion (which is a
kind of change in place) that is completed by circular movement, the more perfect
movement that inspires all other movement. Aristotle characterizes the four elements
with different types of linear movement (up and down), with aether being the “divine”
element of circular movement.23 The movement of the elements is restricted by a
tendency to occupy their natural places. Linear movement is further described with the
qualities “heavy and light,” providing a tactile connection between movement and the
20
Aristotle, On Coming-to-Be and Passing-Away, 319a 16-29.
Solmsen, 268.
22
Aristotle, Physics, 211a 1-6.
23
Aristotle, On the Cosmos, 392a 6-31.
21
9
physical elements characterized by it.24 These two primary qualities describe fire and
earth: fire is light and occupies the space directly below the outermost sphere of aether,
while earth is heavy and occupies the center of the cosmic sphere.25 Aristotle describes
air and water as intermediate states of heavy and light, giving air the sphere beneath fire
and giving water the sphere above earth.
Recall that elemental movements are instigated by nature. Thus it is by natural,
ordered movements that the elements occupy their respective spheres. However, this does
not allow for a dynamic mixing of elements or the continued generation of one element
into another; elements that only occupy their natural place do not interact with contrary
elements. The four physical elements must be distinct from divine aether in their ability
to undergo generation and corruption by mutual exchange.26 The additional qualities
accounting for this mixing of elements are hot and cold (active contraries), and dry and
moist (passive contraries), as the perceptible qualities capable of acting upon the
substratum. Each element is characterized by a mixture of these qualities: fire is hot and
dry, air is hot and moist, water is cold and moist, and earth is cold and dry.27 The
changing of one of these qualities results in a change into another element.
As previously mentioned, Aristotle traces all movement to the circular movement
of the outer sphere, referencing any number of cycles in the physical world that reflect
movement in a circle. For example, the approaching and receding of the sun provides
contrary changes for generation and corruption by changing the temperature of the
24
Ibid., Physics, 205b 25-31.
Ibid., On the Cosmos, 392b 1-5, 30-35.
26
Ibid., On Coming-to-Be and Passing-Away, 337a 9-15.
27
Ibid., 330a 30- 330b 9.
25
10
temporal elements (fire, air, water, earth), which results in elemental change (hot to cold,
fire to earth).28 As such elemental changes reflect circular movement.
Aristotle derives any specific theories about living things from this foundation
laid by the principles of motion. While cyclical concepts are generally applicable to
biological processes in the form of generation and corruption, Aristotle emphasizes that
the work of nature is also evident in more specific biological processes in living things.
For the purposes of this study, how Aristotle explains these processes within his scientific
framework is more important than consistency with the specific processes he describes.
What fragments of Aristotle that may have survived in Bacci’s manuscript are likely
limited to the concepts that characterize Aristotle’s foundational theories rather than the
anatomical specifics that were held under fire in the following centuries and into the
Renaissance, when advances in medicine allowed a swift rebuttal to many of Aristotle’s
inaccurate biological speculations.
However, Aristotle’s methodology—that is, his approach to scientific inquiry
based fundamentally on reason—would have persisted far beyond the limited
applicability of his theories involving biological processes. When these erroneous
theories became subject to popular criticism in the seventeenth century, Aristotle’s
influence yet lingered in a legacy of scientific inquiry that spurred the development of
empirical techniques in research.29 However irrelevant a source of scientific knowledge,
Aristotle remained an authoritative source for investigative technique, in spite of his
neglect to delineate any particular methodology for later generations.30 Galen, for one,
used fragments of Aristotle’s scientific ideas in justifying his own medical works, where
28
Aristotle, On Coming-to-Be and Passing-Away, 336b 16-24.
Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance, 5.
30
Ibid., 27-28.
29
11
his interpretations of Aristotle were carried through centuries by the influence of his
work. The Galenic theory of humors employed the Aristotelian concept of qualities, of
which the body is composed in varying mixtures. Galen describes the body as having a
set ratio of these Aristotelian qualities (hot, cold, moist, and dry) that when in balance
indicate health.31 Likewise, an imbalance in these qualities indicates a state of disease.
Galen thus employed Aristotle to some degree to explain the operation of disease;
however, any incorporation of Aristotelian method is less clear.32 Use of Aristotelian
methods can be more generally identified by scientific approaches including a priori and
a posteriori methods of acquiring knowledge and propter quid and quia methods of
demonstration.
Aristotelian causation is relevant here specifically due to references in Bacci’s
text and more broadly due to causation’s role as a foundation for understanding disease’s
method of operation (as an a priori foundation for acquiring a posteriori knowledge).
Causation describes the process of change instigated by movement. Material cause (the
substratum in which the change takes place) and formal cause (the arrangement of said
substratum) determine the substance of change, while final cause (the ultimate outcome,
or purpose of change) and efficient cause (the instigation of change) determine the
manner of change. The instigator of movement, as described earlier according to the
Physics, is either divine in origin (as with linear motion caused by circular motion) or
originating within the substance moved (as with the soul in a living thing). Change here
described may not be limited solely to the changing of qualities, or generation and
corruption, that is distinguished by a more fundamental change of substance (rather than
31
32
Richardson, 177.
Wightman, 366-367.
12
of qualities). Change by contact may occur with the mixing of qualities, as fire burns
what it contacts—similar, in fact, to the manner in which the rabies poison operates by
unnatural force of contact.
Andrea Bacci and De Venenis
The extent to which Bacci relied on Aristotelian philosophy as an adjunct to his
medical practice is questionable, especially when one considers the increasing emphasis
on practical medicine in the late sixteenth century. Regardless, popular curriculum in
Italian schools at the time suggests that Aristotle was important as a foundation in natural
philosophy necessary for medical studies.33 Natural philosophy would have served as a
theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of disease (from a priori to a posteriori
knowledge, according to some interpretations). In this case, approaching the treatment of
rabies within a framework of Aristotelian philosophy allowed Bacci to treat the affliction
by understanding its causes and methods of operation. This is not to say that Bacci’s
education can be determined with any acceptable degree of certainty—rather, that a likely
foundation in Aristotle would be evident in how he understands the operation of poison.
The latter part of the De Venenis manuscript concerns the bite of the rabid dog
(Canis Rabidi Morsus). Bacci treated rabies as a disease caused by a type of poison
transmitted to humans through the saliva of dogs. As a physician, Bacci’s use of
empirical medicine is limited but present, and his evaluation of the disease includes both
an overview of popular understanding and relatively objective observations recorded
from his own encounters with the infected. It should be further noted that, in spite of
33
Schmitt, “Aristotle among the physicians,” 3-4.
13
evidence for Bacci’s humanist influences, he also heavily references prominent Arabic
physicians such as Avicenna and Rhazes.
Bacci thus borrowed from a varied pool of resources, and his approach to medical
treatment sometimes exhibits the variety of his influence. Medicine in such a time of
transition was an odd combination of diagnosis from empirical evidence and treatment
according to superstition and magic. The popularity of theriacs illustrates well the poor
understanding of poisons in Bacci’s era: although he most often ensures the inclusion of
observational verification for the treatments he suggests, he offers no explanation for the
efficacy of theriaca. For a document such as Bacci’s, this blending of more recognizably
scientific technique with a reliance on mysticism was not only likely but also expected.
As much as Bacci attempted to objectively list and assess the various mystical treatments
for poisons (rabies included), his regard for the validity of such treatments is indicative
enough of his professional opinion.
In spite of these occasional tangential inquiries, Bacci maintained a generally
structured evaluation of the operation of rabies as poison. His emphasis on the causes of
the disease as well as its manner of operation as a poison indicates some necessary
utilization of natural philosophy that may be identified with Aristotelian principles.
14
II: Analysis
Chapter 1: Evidence in Contemporary Interpretation
Leoniceno and a Humanist Approach
Humanism did not present a new philosophy opposing the scholastic standard in
academia; it did, however, set a new standard for the critical reading of ancient works,
which had significant impact on all areas of academia, science included. 34 This new
approach to critically reading historical accounts likewise inspired a renewed critique of
Aristotelian texts that challenged his authority as an accepted source of scientific
knowledge.35 What resulted was a number of improved translations as well as numerous
commentaries. Leoniceno, whom Bacci references, translated a number of Aristotle’s
works in the early sixteenth century and wrote accompanying commentary; in addition,
he analyzed Galen’s works in an attempt to reconcile Galenic medicine with Aristotelian
methodology.
Kuhn’s notion of scientific revolution necessitates that change be in part
instigated by the differing world views inherent in the varying methods of contemporary
scientists.36 In this manner, Bacci and Leoniceno both relied on Aristotle as a scientific
authority. This is not to suggest that Bacci produced revolutionary new interpretations;
rather, Bacci’s incorporation of Leoniceno exhibits some reliance on contemporary
interpretation that was itself prominent in scientific debate at the time, shortly before
Aristotle’s authority as a scientist sharply declined. Leoniceno’s translation of Aristotle
34
Nauert, 4.
Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance, 4-5.
36
Kuhn, 4.
35
15
thus provides some insight into Bacci’s understanding of the text. In one passage, Bacci
suggested a correction to Leoniceno’s translation of De Natura Animalium: where
Leoniceno’s translation suggests that all animals bitten by a rabid dog die except man,
Bacci proposed it should read that all animals bitten by a rabid dog die before man.37
This suggests that, in consulting Aristotle, Bacci used either Leoniceno’s Latin
translation or the original Greek text accompanied by Leoniceno’s commentary and
translation. Bacci’s attempt to correct Leoniceno’s translation betrays a humanist
approach, not only in the works of the man he references, but also in Bacci’s own
apparent familiarity with the original Greek text. Leoniceno’s interpretation of Aristotle
is thus integral to Bacci’s understanding of Aristotle. It should be noted, however, that in
his eagerness to correct Leoniceno, Bacci would not have been unquestionably reliant
upon his interpretations.
The use of Leoniceno does, however, suggest that Bacci’s approach to science
would have been humanist to some extent. Bacci, as stated before, wrote during a
transitional period before the rise of empirical science. His method relies heavily on
ancient authority but sometimes disputes these authorities (as with Leoniceno) when he
presents his own observations. His experimental approach involves observation
grounded in theoretical science. This background, if his reference to Leoniceno is any
indication, is drawn from a mixture of Galen and Aristotle, and Leoniceno’s proposed
reconciliation of Galenic and Aristotelian methodology would have been a likely source
for Bacci’s scientific inquiry.
Leoniceno not only wrote a new Latin translation of Aristotelian works (a
translation that Bacci corrects in Canis rabidi morsus) but also an extensive commentary
37
Bacci, “Problemata et Caussae,” 2.
16
on the prologue to Galen’s Ars medica (that is, the Ars parva).38 This highly contested
prologue was at the center of methodological debate in the Renaissance; the fact that no
clear method could be agreed upon even within Galen’s works is itself indicative of the
vast potential for development of divergent theories of method.39 Leoniceno’s stance on
Galen’s method incorporated Aristotle to compensate for an inherent lack of clarity,
confining scientific method within two forms of Aristotelian demonstration (propter quid
and quia).40 Bacci’s reference to Leoniceno in Canis Rabidi Morsus suggests that he was
familiar with this commentary and would have been at least familiar with Leoniceno’s
fundamentally Aristotelian interpretation of Galen.
The difference in Aristotelian methodology between the foundation of scientific
principles (on which to build the final cause) and the view of a method applicable to the
whole of science is key to Leoniceno for applying the more limited Aristotelian methods
to a more broadly applicable method including Galen.41 He strives to preserve an
Aristotelian approach to the acquisition of knowledge while also reconciling it with more
modern understandings of science—an incongruity that perhaps heralds the movement
away from Aristotle as an unquestionable scientific authority. Zabarella (a contemporary
of Bacci and an Aristotelian) would later refine Leoniceno’s conclusions further into a
two-method system built fundamentally on a logic-based approach to the acquisition of
knowledge grounded in Aristotelian principles.42
38
Edwards, 283.
Wightman, 366.
40
Gilbert, 103-4.
41
Edwards, 284.
42
Ibid., 295.
39
17
Zabarella and an Aristotelian Method
Zabarella, like Leoniceno, placed scientific inquiry in an Aristotelian framework
based on the methods he demonstrated, as a philosophical foundation for attaining
scientific knowledge. He looked beyond Aristotle’s traditional authority to a more
widely applicable foundation of reason.43 However, Zabarella also recognized that
Aristotle had left no clear methodology for future scientists to follow, aside from the
implication that no single methodology could exist for all of science (contrary to
Leoniceno’s interpretations).44 Zabarella instead emphasized the necessity of imitating
Aristotle in a logic-based approach to the acquisition of knowledge.45 To this end,
Zabarella isolated Aristotelian methods of knowing (a priori and a posteriori) as
individual scientific methodologies in and of themselves. In this model, a priori
acquisition of knowledge acts as a theoretical basis for the execution of experimental
research or, more accurately in this case, observational acquisition of knowledge (a
posteriori knowledge). Methodological approaches drawn from Aristotle’s own theories
originate in causation rather than natural philosophy. In this sense, as Zabarella interprets
it, knowledge proceeds through the investigation of the unknown by means of the known.
This employs a posteriori and then a priori, from resolutive to demonstrative, in a causal
relationship.46
It may be remiss to assume Bacci’s familiarity with Zabarella based solely on the
man’s considerable reputation, but in light of their mutual familiarity with Leoniceno,
43
Gilbert, 11.
Ibid., 169.
45
Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance, 11.
46
Gilbert, 172.
44
18
some similarity between their individual understandings of Aristotle would be highly
likely. As a basis for a more specific analysis of Bacci’s scientific approach, this brief
analysis of his methodological influences reveals as follows: that, while relying
significantly on Arabic authorities, he was undoubtedly influenced by humanist
innovation, familiar with Aristotle and Leoniceno’s interpretations of Aristotle, and
reliant on Galenic medicine. Evidence of Aristotelian influence in Bacci’s methodology
should include some use of Aristotelian causation and natural philosophy that perhaps
originated in part from Galen’s incorporation of Aristotle.
19
Chapter 2: Rabies as Poison
The Corruptive Force of Poison
Defining “poison” according to its method of operation is problematic, especially
considering the often transitive nature of drugs and foods that could either help or harm
depending on the conditions of use. The problem of identifying poison is partly
contained in the method by which poison affects the body. Bacci suggested that poison
corrupts the body by force of contact, transforming the substance of the body into the
same corrupted substance of which poison is composed. Thus, in order for a poison to
act destructively (as poisons are expected to do), it must be a thoroughly corrupt
substance. Conversely, in the case of certain drugs, the conditions of use—not, evidently,
the generative or corruptive qualities of the substance—determine whether or not the
drug will have a nutritive or destructive effect.47 This same conditional effect is seen in
food, which is normally associated with nutrition and thus generation. However, if a
substance acting as a force transforms the qualities of the target substance into the same
nature as the acting substance, then said substance must always by its own fixed
properties cause the same change in any substance on which it acts. In accordance with
Bacci’s understanding of poison, I therefore suggest to define poison by its nature of
operation. That is, because rabies as a “poison” acts with consistent signs and results,
then it is a corrupt substance that corrupts the substance it contacts. Likewise, food as the
antithesis of poison must be a generative substance that consistently provides nutrition
rather than being in any sense destructive, recalling an Aristotelian relationship of
generation and corruption.
47
Gibbs, 17-18.
20
Bacci provided an interesting example of this clear separation of food from the
consumption of destructive substances. In describing how dogs are initially afflicted with
rabies, Bacci suggested (along with their particular susceptibility) the tendency of a dog
to consume rotting flesh, which Bacci described as producing black bile.48 Black bile
induces insanity by causing an imbalance in the melancholic humors, already identified
as the means by which rabies corrupts the body. Thus by consuming corrupt substances
of a comparable nature to rabies, dogs are driven to insanity. Certain corrupt substances
in this case operate in the same manner as rabies because they utilize the same pathway,
corrupting the body with the same corrupted substance. In dogs, a natural susceptibility
to rabies induces the destructive action of the poison (taken in, Bacci suggested, from the
air or some other vector) with the intake of similarly corrupted substances. Thus the
rabies poison is perhaps made active in dogs by certain circumstances before it may
thence afflict other creatures (Bacci even suggested that dogs already have rabies poison
inside their teeth).49 Men, who due to a different nature do not develop rabies from the
consumption of putrid substances, contract the activated poison from the saliva of rabid
dogs.50
The way in which rabies is understood to affect the body is rooted to some extent
in its cause. In his diagnosis, Bacci placed a heavy emphasis on Galen’s theory of
humors (ultimately rooted in an Aristotelian understanding of qualities). As stated, rabies
as a particular poison affects the body by causing an imbalance in the humors. This
imbalance is caused by a shifting of the body’s substantial qualities (hot-dry, hot-wet,
cold-dry, and cold-wet). According to Aristotle, a change in one of these fundamental
48
Bacci, “Problemata et causae,” 4.
Bacci, “Iudicia,” 7.
50
Bacci, “Problemata et causae,” 5.
49
21
qualities must be instigated by an outside force, which by movement realizes a
substance’s potential to change into a different substance. It has already been established
that the melancholic humors are the substance with which the body’s substance is
changed into a corrupted substance. Poison, as linear movement in an Aristotelian
framework, instigates this change by acting as a destructive force.
The movement of this destructive force through the body (that is, the progression
of the poison’s effect on the body) is evident in the slowly progressive corruption of the
humors. Bacci described this process as a self-perpetuating cycle of corruption between
faculties of the body and faculties of the mind (animus)—an exchange seemingly unclear
to Bacci himself.51 Fortunately, however, the effects are quantifiable in the manifestation
of symptoms associated with corruption of the humors. Corruption beginning in the
weakest humors quickly spreads through the biles until all the faculties are corrupted.
This final state of corruption is indicated by madness and hydrophobia, which manifested
indicates that the patient is beyond saving.
Bacci more thoroughly discussed the nature of the madness associated with this
corruption earlier in the text, cataloguing the symptoms (or signs) of rabies as they
manifest in dogs and humans.52 The preliminary discussion suggests the delineation of
the symptoms into three parts separated according to severity; however, the subsequent
lists follow this outline unclearly at best. An adequate interpretation groups symptoms
into the following categories:
1. Savagery (angry outbursts, heart palpitations, and hoarseness)
2. Dementia (insomnia, talking to oneself, and self-imposed isolation)
51
52
Bacci, “Iudicia,” 1.
Bacci, “Signa.”
22
3. Hydrophobia (with intense thirst, fever, and hallucinations)
in which each set of symptoms manifests as the disease progresses. The final stage of
madness, as indicated, is characterized by hydrophobia, which Bacci described as one
result of the dehydration of the brain.53 Interestingly, the progression of madness in the
afflicted corresponds in severity to a degenerating perception of self. Indeed, Bacci later
asserted that if a man afflicted by rabies is able to recognize himself in a mirror, he is
considered healthy.54 This recognition demonstrates both the lack of corruption in the
mental faculties and the perception of the self in the uncorrupted body (which thus retains
its natural form and substance).
Identifying the Material Cause of Rabies
As described earlier, Aristotelian causation requires primarily final and then
material causes. Bacci stated explicitly that inducing a melancholic humor is the material
cause (causa materialis) of poison.55 It is unclear, however, whether or not he intended
to stray into the more philosophical terminology of Aristotelian causality, particularly
when he failed to mention the other three causes. Within this framework of causation,
however, identifying the melancholic humors as the material cause suggests some
interesting relationships between the operation of poison and the body’s biological
substance. As the material cause, the melancholic humors in their imbalance acts as the
fundamental substance out of which the final cause is realized. Identifying the final
cause as the total corruption of the body’s substance, the melancholic humors then act as
the corruptive substance out of which this final state arises. Rather than poison being the
53
Bacci, “Signa,” 9.
Bacci, “Iudicia,” 5.
55
Bacci, “Problemata et Caussae,” 6.
54
23
material cause, poison becomes the force that actualizes change in the body by means of
the melancholic humors.
Thus it is by the end result of rabies that the final cause is identified. The total
corruption of the body’s humors, consuming the entirety of the human substance
including ultimately the mind, results in the death of the afflicted. Total corruption is the
final cause because all manner of poison’s operation in the body serves this result.
Rabies is a poison because it shares the same final cause as poisonous substances; the
destructive force of poison is the motion itself and the manner in which change occurs.
Divine cause of disease, however tangentially related as a separate subject of
study, is nevertheless of unavoidable importance to rabies specifically. Efficient cause
must be, not the motion itself, but the instigator of the motion that causes change,
identified later as a divine cause. Bacci’s understanding of how rabies affected the
humors was linked with the nature of the qualities being changed. He described the
affected disposition as being particularly dry and hot (which, he asserted, is why dogs are
primarily affected). This hot-dry nature is made particularly vulnerable during seasons
that compound the qualities of the affected nature. Thus, dogs become more susceptible
to rabies in the hot, dry months. This predisposition for dogs to develop rabies echoes a
Galenic view of vulnerability to disease based upon the natural balance of the humors:
dogs naturally have a hot, dry nature and are thus more susceptible to hot, dry afflictions.
This also addresses a more traditional understanding of rabies that associates the
prevalence of the disease in August to the prominent position of the constellation
24
containing Sirius (so named for its inducement of madness in dogs).56 This interaction of
the heavenly spheres with biological qualities on the earth likewise suggests a divine
origin of the disease, instigated by the circular motion of the Cosmos.
This divine cause is so called because it is beyond physical cause and immediate
physical effect and thus beyond human understanding (that is, “hidden”), further
implying that rabies has, as Bacci said, “something divine.”57 It was also his
understanding that injuries of the incorporeal mind (animus) precede sufferings of the
body. This reference in Bacci to the unmistakably divine quality of rabies is in “Trials,”
wherein he identified the divine qualities of the disease with hidden causes.58 In the same
passage, he described the disease as corrupting both the body and the mind with the same
heat that leads to dementia and unquenchable thirst. This implies that rabies is at least in
part divine in nature, in order to affect the body as well as the incorporeal mind as animus
(often translated as “soul”). Furthermore, in order for poison in this context to operate by
instigating change through generation and corruption, a complete shift in the substratum
must occur, which in humans would necessarily include both material and immaterial
substances. Unfortunately, Bacci is unclear concerning how exactly corruption of the
immaterial mind is indicated by madness, when physical corruption of the humors is
indicated by the same signs. It may be assumed, however, that more advanced madness
is associated with the unrecoverable corruption of the incorporeal mind.
Furthermore, this divine cause suggests an interaction between divine and
temporal movement, as Aristotle suggests in his discussions of divinely instigated
56
See Pliny, Natural History, 8.152 (rabies canum Sirio ardent homini pestifera) and the following:
Germanicus, Aratea, Frag. 4.41; Vergil, Aeneid, 10.273; Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 967; and Hesiod, Works
and Days, 417, 587, and 609.
57
Bacci, “Iudicia,” 2.
58
Ibid., 2.
25
movement. In this case, circular motion is reflected in the biological cycle of generation
and corruption; a divine cause acts as the efficient cause by instigating the movement of
poison as an unnatural force, thence leading to total corruption of the human substance.
More specifically, the propensity of dogs to develop rabies in August suggests a divine
connection to Sirius, whereby this divine cause instigates the unnatural force of the
poison already residing in the dogs’ teeth. Rabies then develops as a disease resulting
from the fundamental change that this force enacts, leading ultimately to total corruption
of the entire human condition, including the mind.
Treatment: removing a transformative force
Of particular interest is the method by which poison is removed from the body.
Since Bacci considered rabies to be a particular type of poison, contained within saliva
and targeting specifically the melancholic humors of the body, methods of extracting
poison are relevant to the treatment of rabies. Bacci recommended a number of remedies
typically suggested for the treatment of poison. The problem arises, however, whether or
not poison may be extracted from the body if said poison works by a transformative
force.
To this end—that is, the extraction of poison—Bacci recommended the use of
many different medicinal herbs and draughts (of multiple ingredients) that are intended to
draw poison to the exterior of the body. Bacci first stressed the importance of
cauterization, though he failed to describe why this method is particularly effective
against the corruptive power of rabies. The hot, dry nature of the rabies poison suggests
that a treatment of opposing qualities would inhibit the movement of the destructive
26
force. However, a treatment with identical qualities applied to the exterior of the body
(where the bite and thus the point of entry resides) likely is intended to draw the poison to
the outside with the understanding that the more potent cauterizing qualities cause the
poison to coalesce with said qualities, thus drawn from the interior of the body. To this
same end, the herbs and medicines that Bacci suggested are all deliberately extremely
acrid. Often, such herbs are intended to be crushed and applied topically, with the same
purging principle as cauterization (though with less damaging results).
Bacci emphasized more than the once the importance of treating rabies before the
onset of hydrophobia, at which point he deemed corruption to be total and irreversible.
However, the final chapter of Canis Rabidi Morsus proposes treatment of hydrophobia by
exposure to the sea. Bacci admitted that he saw no scientific reason for why bathing in
general should reduce fear of water (except to suggest that it possesses some “hidden
quality”), but he proposed, referencing Aetius, that even viewing the sea can reverse
hydrophobia.59 The distinction here between the sea and other forms of water is foremost
the presence of salt, which may, in one interpretation, represent qualities (dry, if not hot)
opposed to those characterized by water (moist and cold). Additionally, the dry qualities
of salt mirror the dry qualities of rabies, for which Bacci had thus far recommended
treatments of similar qualities. It could be that the infected have a less volatile reaction to
seawater due to the dry qualities within it. In this way, a person may become accustomed
to water little by little, as Bacci suggested, by being introduced to a form of water with
less opposition to the qualities of the disease. Assuming that the efficacy of this
treatment is also contingent upon its ability to draw forth the poison, the ability of salt in
the water to attract like qualities in the rabies poison would in some ways illuminate its
59
Bacci, “Curandi ratio,” 9.
27
use in curing the disease. It is thus that by using substances of qualities similar to the
disease that Bacci suggested drawing the body (and mind) slowly from madness into
health.60
60
Bacci, “Extreme accidentia,” 2.
28
III: Conclusion
Chapter 1: Closing Remarks
Scientific tradition founded in Aristotle carried certain presuppositions, and as
certainly as the humanist movement pushed contemporary Renaissance science away
from scholastic traditions in Aristotle, scientific methodology inescapably reflected its
Aristotelian heritage. The distinction here lay between a newly developing empiricism
somewhat opposed to Aristotle’s theoretical science, based on the growing need for
observational proof over endless logical debate. However, the scientist’s approach to
research and applied medicine bears the mark of Aristotelian intent in scientific inquiry.
Bacci’s methods do of course differ extensively from those employed by Aristotle, but
Bacci’s methodology is grounded in similar assumptions and follows a similar manner of
inquiry. His structured approach to understanding the relationship between rabies and
poison and how they operate is ultimately justified by his approach to curing the disease,
illustrating a clear use of natural philosophy as a basis for practical medicine. The divine
activation of poison, its subsequent movement and transformative force, and the resulting
changes in qualities resulting in disease all recall fundamentally Aristotelian principles
that provide a structured understanding of the operation of poison as the cause of rabies.
Bacci’s evident use of these principles is further supported by contemporary Aristotelian
scientists that he references, revealing the origin of his Aristotelian influence as well as
the presence of said influence revealed in his approach to scientific inquiry.
29
As evidenced in Bacci, Aristotle became, not an authority to reference for
scientific knowledge, but a persisting source of organized methodology that could be
used to better frame an approach to the acquisition of knowledge.61 What is evident in
Bacci’s work is a transitional combination of Aristotelian inquiry, observational testing,
tentative (though sometimes enthusiastic) forays into mysticism, and a habitual reliance
on ancient authorities. Above all, Andrea Bacci was fundamentally an Aristotelian.
61
Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance, 14.
30
Chapter 2: Acknowledgements
I would not have been able to complete this thesis without the aid and exhortation
of many people, among whom I am compelled to name:
Dr. Mark Clark,
Kelli Sellers,
Dr. Alain Touwaide,
Joel Huber,
and Hugh Donohoe.
31
Chapter 3: Works Cited
Aristotle. Aristotle: On Sophistical Refutations. On Coming-to-Be and Passing-Away. On
the Cosmos (Loeb Classical Library, No. 400). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1965.
Aristotle. Aristotle: The Physics, Books I-IV (Loeb Classical Library, No. 228).
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986.
Aristotle. Aristotle: Meteorologica (Loeb Classical Library No. 397). Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1952.
Bacci, Andrea. De venenis et antidotis prolegomena . . . . Cum licentia superiorum.
Romae apud Vinventium Accoltum MDLXXXVI Impensis Ioannis Martinelli.
Cosenza, Mario E. Dictionary of the Italian humanists, Vol. 6 of Biographical and
bibliographical dictionary of the Italian humanists and the world of classical
scholarship in Italy, 1300-1800. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1967.
Edwards, William F. “Niccolò Leoniceno and the origins of humanist discussion on method,” in Philosophy and humanism: Renaissance essays in honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller, edited by E. P. Mahoney, 283-305. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976.
Gibbs, Frederick W. “Medical understandings of poison circa 1250-1600.” PhD diss.,
University of Wisconsin, 2009.
Gilbert, Neal W. Renaissance Concepts of Method. New York: Columbia UP, 1960.
Grene, Marjorie and David Depew. “Aristotle and After.” in The Philosophy of Biology:
An Episodic History, 1-34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago
32
Press, 1970.
Nauert, Charles G. Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Richardson, Linda. “The generation of disease: occult causes and diseases of the total
substance.” in The medical renaissance of the sixteenth century, edited by A.
Wear, R. K. French, and I. M. Lonie, 175-194. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1985.
Schmitt, Charles B. “Aristotle among the physicians,” in The medical renaissance of the
sixteenth century, edited by A. Wear, R. K. French, and I. M. Lonie, 1-15.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Schmitt, Charles B.. Aristotle and the Renaissance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1983.
Solmsen, Friedrich. Aristotle's System of the Physical World: a Comparison with His
Predecessors. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1960.
Thorndike, Lynn. A History of Magic and Experimental Science. Vol. 6. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1953.
Wightman, William P. D. “Quid sit Methodus? ‘Method’ in Sixteenth Century Medical
Teaching and ‘Discovery,’” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied
Sciences XIX, no. 4 (1964): 360-376.
33
Appendix: Andrea Bacci’s Canis Rabidi Morsus
The Bite of the Rabid Dog
Canis Rabidi Morsus
1.
Not enough has ever before been sufficiently explained concerning the history of the bite
of the rabid dog, and because of the magnitude of the affliction, rather the subject has
been hidden away by difficulties. This appendix will be most useful, with its brief
explanation of the source and its causes and the care of such a great disease, and can be
regarded as simultaneously pertaining to the bite of other animals. Thus there are many
headings of major significance: External appearance, the measurement of the afflition,
signs of an animal or a human that has been bitten, the symptoms and an explanation of
the hidden causes, method and present plan for hastening a cure, a ranking of the
protections themselves and what practice has been tried, and other great uncertain
questions we must examine.
De Canis rabidi morsus historia, non satis unqua pro affectus magnitudine explicate, sed
abstrusa potius difficultatibus; utilissima hic erit appendix, unde brevibus, ac perspicuis
causis, curatio tanti flagitii, ac norma simul ad caeterorum animalium morsus haberi
poterit. Nam plura sunt magni casus capita. Species ac modus affectionis, signa tam
animalis quam demorsi hominis, symptomatum, et causarum explication abditarum,
methodus, ac praesentaneum consilium ad properandam curationem, ipsorum
praesidiorum ordo, et quae trita sit praxis, ac alia magna dubia examinanda.
34
[L2, ceusuris = causis; L5, hominus = hominis]
2.
The examples in particular accounts (as noted by Aristotle in “problems”) are usually
welcome to my audience. The epidemic histories of Hippocrates expand our knowledge
of bites as well as the teachings in the Aphorisms. Thus from the many cases which we
have seen of this type and others that we have cured, we will arrive at the great severity
of the bite from a rabid dog by following one example.
Exempla vero, ac historiae particulares (ut ex Aristotile notatur in problematibus)
quoniam gratae esse solent audientibus; nec minus epidemiales historiae hippocratis
amplificant morborum notitiam, quam Aphorismorum doctrina, ideo ex multis, quos
vidimus eiusmodi casus, ac curavimus aliquos, vel hoc uno exemplo summam a canis
rabidi morsu concludemus saevitiam.
3.
A certain weaver named Jacob, who was living across the Tyber River, outside the
church of the Holy Spirit, had forgotten about a little bite of a dog, which now he had
received early in the morning a month past, and had over the course of three days, healed
negligibly. After this unusually troubled month, he had become depressed, loathing
himself, and summoned me according to counsel. That no one according to his own
report finding the cause, unless unusual apathy, as well as weakness of life and spirit, and
consulting how he might best begin to care for himself with the best treatment, and
35
drinking wine liberally, once or twice responded he was unable to eat nor to drink.
Hence, led by a certain supposition, I made a trial of that impotence of drinking, and
placed a cup next to him and finding no cause for this when I opened his mouth, I asked
him whether perchance during several preceding days he had been bitten by some dog,
and he confirmed this strongly from his heart. When I ordered him to be of good
courage, I saw some way to protect from the impending danger his wife and those in his
vicinity. Citing the ineffectiveness of the cure, I ordered them to bring him into the city
and submerge him from a boat into the Tyber, and with his consent having submerged
him thus to bring him out three to four times. Later, when he had been cauterized with a
hot burning iron, when I was not sufficiently sure of his outcome, and with antidote
applied as the occasion offered, around evening, he began to go mad, and seized by an
insatiable thirst and fever and fearing water itself, I ordered him bound, such as he
demanded, with a very strong rope to his bed. Then when I was about to see him again
early in the morning (which I attribute to the grace of God the Savior alone), when all
were terrified and standing about, approaching his bed, it scarcely failed but that he
nearly broke the ropes by his fury, and with the bed dragged along with him, the sick man
nearby flew into the face of the unsuspecting physician, and he gave out a howl as though
it were from a barking dog, and he told me by name to leave here, in a louder and louder
voice, shouting to avoid me being bitten and gasping with his mouth open when water
was brought to him, which they had brought in a cup. The whole night, to those standing
next to him and the doctor, it was as though he was thrown into hellfire, tortured by
infernal wounds, and he lay dead on the thirty-sixth day in respect to the magnitude of the
effect.
36
Iacobus quidam textor, qui habitabat trans Tyberium, extra aedes sancti Spiritus, iam
oblitus canis morsiculum, quod iam per mensem summon mane acceperat, ac triduo
sanatum pro nihilo habuit, quado post mensem plus solito tristis, ac maestus esse caepit,
seipsum fastidiens me accersivit in consilium. Qui nullam ipso referente inueniens
causam, nisi insolitum lanquorem, ac debilitatem vitae, et animae, consulensque ut
optimo curare se instaurare regimine, et vini ptu liberali, semel et bis respondent se non
posse nec comedere, nec bibere, hinc certa equidem ductus coniectura, ac illam bibendi
impotentiam, poculo ei propinato expertus, nec ullam apertis faucibus causam
innieniens; sedulo ipsum percontatus an forsan per aliquot antea dies fuerit a cane
aliquot commorsus: idque ab imo corde affirmantem, ac iussum esse bono animo,
seorsum protextatus sum uxori, ac adstantibus imminens periculum. Ideo exusans
curationis incommodum, ut eum transmitterent in urbem, ac ex navicula imergerent in
Tyberim, ipsum iam id assentientem, ac ter et quarter immersum, reducendum iussi. Ubi
inusto Paulo postea, nec satis tamen consisus, cadenti ferro vulnusculo, exhibitisque;
prout occasion tulerat antidotis, circa vesperas furere incipientem, ac infatiabili
correptum siti, ac feevre, et tamen abhorrens aquam ipsam, ac potum, ligandum iussi,
quod ipsemet postulaverat, fortissimo sune ad cubiculu. Porro ipsum mane diluculo
visurus accelerans, (quod in solam gratiam Dei seruatoris hic refero) ac in corona
multorum adstantim, omnibus perterritis, ad lectum accedens; Vix desuit quin fractis
furore sunibus, ac tracto secum cubili, ut in faciem mordicus incauti medici aduolarit, ac
edito quasi a cane latran te ululate, arguensque me nomine recede hinc, recede; in
maiorum, ob evitatum in me morsum rabiem excandesces, inhiansque ac clamitans
apertis faucibus ad aquae potum, quam ex scyphone longem intolerant, conterritus ipse,
37
et adstantes simul, ac medicus, ac tota noctem, quasi in ignis gehennam coniectus,
paenisque infernalibus cruciatus, secundo post rabiem, ac tricesimo sexton a morsu die
his miserandis modis interemptus iacuit.
[L13, exhibitsq = exhibitisque]
4.
From this account, we will elicit some common description of this most violent disease,
from its symptoms, and the many different difficulties which will be attached to it, noted
by the authorities, and show some method for diagnosis and a useful treatment of such a
great affliction.
Ex qua historia commune quandam eliciemus infensissimae pestis huius descriptionem,
ex cuius notis, ac differentiius permultae enodabuntur difficultates, quae ab auctoribus
notantur, ac aliquam praestant methodum ad iudicium, et curationem tanti affectus
utilissimam.
5.
The bite of a rabid dog, in its whole type, is poison beyond nature, which from some part
of the body even a small wound infects a melancholic humor immediately, from which it
has a slow progress, the most serious symptoms, and induces sufferings of the mind, with
a universal appearance, and it drags the sum of the humors into destruction. In the
manner of other melancholic afflictions, first it attacks the imagination and then the
thinking part of the person. Then with it stirred up on every part, foremost, particularly
38
in the heart and in spiritual members of the most violent temperance, it leads at last to the
fury of a man thirsty with intense fever, and also madness, with execrable thirst and
desire for water, and yet tormenting the worst at the name of water. While the patient
with gaping mouth and gnashing teeth, like barking dogs, seeks someone he may bite and
devour, there are the most horrible accidents; even the next day, due to the fear of water,
forgetting himself and his own family, he dies frenzied. Not only the bite, but also the
saliva on whomever he spit, is contagious. We gather from these unique problems types
of causes, various signs, and also trials and the nature of treatment.
Canis rabidi morsus est venenum toto genere praeter naturam, quod ex quacunque
corporis parte, minimo etiam vulnere, humorem statim pro materia obsedit
melancholicum, ex quo lentos habens progressus, gavissima symptomata, ac permolestas
animi passions inducens, universam complexionem, ac molem humorum trahit in
corruptionem, ac caeterorum melancholicorum affectuum more, imaginativam primum,
ac ratiocinatricem offendit virtutem. Tumque excitata in omnibus partibus principibus,
praesertim in corde, et in membris spiritualibus summa intemperie calida, et sicca cum
intense tandem febre hominem perducit in furorem, ac maniam, cum execrabili siti, ac
desiderio aquae, et tamen ad aquae nomen pessime excrucians. Donec inhians ore
patiens, ac frendens dentibus, latratu canum quaerens quem mordeat, ac devoret,
horrendissimis accidentibus, vel postero die a timore aquae, sui oblitus, ac domesticorum
suorum, furibundus moritur. No morsu tantum, sed et saliva, in quem conspueret,
contagiosus. Ex quibus singularia problemata, causarum genera, signa varia, ac ludicia,
et curandi rationem colligemus.
39
Causes, and Questions for Debate
Problemata et Causae
1.
It is first asked whether some other animal may be drawn into madness. And because
many may be equally afflicted, again it is asked how Galen, around chapter seven of De
Locis Affectis, affirms that only the dog may be affected. This is an apparent error, or an
error in writing, unless perhaps he may understand it as “for the most part.” This
explanation still does not satisfy, particularly when Aristotle, in chapter eight of De
Historia Animalium, affirms that camels, horses, mules, and wolves may be drawn into
madness, as Avicenna says. Or you may have said, it is because only dogs have the
particular disposition of a dog, which is neither true; on the contrary, authors observed at
a later time that also the madness of foxes, weasels (said witnesses), and apes have been
proven. Add also (and with wisdom, frequently), both that I am a witness, and that I saw
a Frenchman affected for three days by madness to have died.
Quaeritur primum, An ut canes sic caetera animalia trahantur in rabiem? Et cum multa
pariter afficiantur, rursus quaeritur, et quomodo Galenus vj. de lo. aff. circa simul afferit
solum canem affici? Qui manifestus est error, vel scribentis mendum. Nisi fortasse
intellexerit, ut in pluribus. Quae tamen expositio non satisfacit: quando praesertim
Aristoteles viij. de histo. animal. Affirmet, quod et cameli et equi trahantur in rabiem, et
muli et Lupi. Avicenna. Vel dixeris, quia solum canes per se propriam habent
dispositionem ad rabiem, caetera vero animalia afficiatur per contagium a cane, quod
40
nec verum est; immo observatum est a posteris auctoribus, quod et Vulpes, mustelae,
martires dicti, simiae rabie tentantur. Adde et catos frequenter, et ut ego testis sum, et
Gallum vidi rabie affectum triduo interemisse hominem.
2.
We read of similar difficulties in Aristotle (in chapter eight of De Natura Animalium)
who has said, “all animals that have been bitten by a rabid dog die, with the exception of
man.” The text in Leoniceno’s translation will be corrected where, when it is read plin
(that is, “excepting” or “besides”), plin antropon will be restored before “man.” As the
understanding is, both rabid dogs and other animals that have been bitten are usually
affected and die more quickly than men, who for the most part die after a month to fifty
days, often however for one or two years, it is written elsewhere, after being seized by
swift madness.
Similis difficultas in Aristotele legitur viij. de natu. animal. cap. 22. Qui dixerit, omnia
animalia demorsa a cane rabido interire, excepto homine. Ubi textus corrigendus
Leoniceno interprete, dum legitur πλιν, hoc est excepto, vel praeter, plin antropon
reponendum .i. prius homine. Ut sensus sit, tam canes rabientes, quam caetera animalia
demorsa, citius soleant affici, ac interire, quam homines, quos ut plurimum post mensem
ad quagraginta dies saepe tamen ad annum, vel biennium, alios scriptum est, post festina
rabie correptos.
[L5, fesitenium = festina, correplos = correptos]
41
3.
Why then are dogs especially affected by rabies, and then by themselves affected?
According to Aetius, because dogs are of a hot and dry nature, whence whatever cause or
time, or of surrounding air, and of a hot region and also hot food, are insane on account
of excessive intemperance, and this insanity is called rabies. And therefore they become
wilder, because, raging, they are seized by a vehement thirst, though they do not allow
drinking.
Cur praecipue ergo, et per se canes rabie afficiuntur? Ex Rufo in qui Aetius, quia canes
natura calidi, et sicci sunt, unde quacunque ex causa sive temporis, sive ambientis aeris,
et regionis calidae, ac cibariis calidis, ob immodicam intemperantiam insaniunt, et haec
insania rabies vocatur. Eoque magis feroces evadunt, quia insanientes, ac siti vehementi
correpti, potum tamen non admittunt.
4.
In these cases before purification they induce also hunger, which may be proven to drive
dogs to madness. Especially with corpses, they even devour rotten flesh, because these
chiefly produce the humor of black biles, the foremost foundation of insanity. And
likewise they will drink water if it is putrefied, no less delightful to puppies, which may
be nourished by condiment of pepper and heat, which happens in my house.
In caussis his pro catharticis adducunt et inediam, qua proritentur canes ad rabiem.
Praesertim cum cadaverum, ac putridas devorant carnes, quia haec maxime
42
atrabiliarium gignunt humorem, primum insaniae fundamentum. Et ite si putrefactas
biberint aquas. Et catelli deliciarum non minus, qui pulmentis ex pipere, ac calidis
alantur, quod cotigit in meo domestico.
[L1, procatarticis = pro catharticis]
5.
However, it is always to be supposed to every natural cause towards such a particular
type of affection and inclination, which dogs, besides other animals, possess according to
madness, which is truly felt in aforementioned rational parts. There are besides many
animals, not only the lowest wolf, but also men, who continually eat hot and putrid foods,
or unreservedly drink contaminated waters; however they are not thus affected by
madness. And this is likewise the distinction to be held, which they draw starvation into
causes towards madness.
Semper tamen ad omne causa supponenda est naturalis ad talem affectum proprietas, ac
inclinatio, quam habent canes praeter caetera animalia ad rabiem. Qui sensus est verus
in praedictis sapientum locis. Alioqui plura sunt animalia, et non Lupi solum, sed et
homines, qui calidis iugiter cibariis, et putridis vescuntur, vel aquas non raro bibunt
contaminatas; non tamen ita rabie afficiuntur. Ac eadem distinctio habenda est his, qui in
caussis ad rabiem adducunt inediam.
[L1, tame = tamen, supponeda = supponenda]
43
6.
Why are dogs drawn into madness principally in summer, autumn, or out of a great
winter, actually approaching cold weather? Because this is, I say, the material cause, in
which it is established (as it is said) the poison of the rabid dog by means of a
melancholic humor, which during summer accordingly becomes hot, during strong
weather truly congested, for which Section 27.2 is an explanation and with problems is
well-known, because black bile is not only very cold, but also grows hot in accordance
with a more vehement affection. Galen likewise attests concerning disease in chapter
fourteen of Methodi.
Cur aestate potissimum in autumnum, vel a magnis hiemis algoribus adventante vere
canes in rabiem trahuntur? Quoniam haec inquam causa materialis est, in quo fundatur
(ut dictum est) venenum canis rabidi, humor .s. melancholicus, qui per aestatem
excandescit, per hiemem vero constipatur fortius. Quae ratio et in problematibus celebris
est, Sectione 27.2. nam atra bilis, ut frigidissima est, ita ex affectu vehementius servescit.
Galeno quoque teste in Cancro xiiij. Methodi.
7.
Likwise it is further the reason that this slow disposition is stirred, since black bile is not
only very slow in nature and slowly stirred, but also slow according to the disposition of
suffering, or is affected more slowly, and furthermore it affects slowly. Similarly
because the infected will attack everything indiscriminately, and furthermore may bite
family members, and their master. Since this is the affection of insanity, and of humor
44
and of melancholy, while it may injure the senses, no less may it corrupt the integrity of
the imagination.
Eadem porro causa est, quod haec affectio tardi sit motus. Quoniam atrabilis, ut suapte
natura tardi, ac lenti motus est, ita pro dispositione patientis tardius, aut lente magis
afficitur. Et tarde etiam afficit. Similiter quod indiscriminatim invadant omnes, ac
mordeant etiam domesticos, et dominum suum. Quoniam is est affectus insaniae, et
humoris melancholici, ut ledat sensus, et corrumpat virtutem imaginativam.
[L2, motusest = motus est; L2, etia = etiam]
8.
Hence they expel urine, now both thick and turbid, and also black from the humors as
though suffering an abundance of black cholera, which therefore separated through urine,
is thus considered an indication of health.
Hinc et urinas mingunt, modo crassas, et turbidas, modo nigras, ex humoris .s. fero si et
cholerae nigrae copia, quam per urinas excerni, salubre idcirco habetur indicium.
9.
Why might they finally incur the swiftest fear of water? Paul, and all bear witness that it
is the aberration of dryness of the brain, and corruption of the same particular humid
substance in the opposite inner state. Therefore no more than one who came into this
affection, or a second one have learned from history, not to such an extent from the rabid
45
dog, but having gained that disease from the bite of a man, when clearly the violence of
the poison is considered diminished. But they report many saved before the fear of
waters may descend, even having been bitten by a rabid dog.
Cur Aquae demum timorem incurrant pernicissimum? Paulus ex Rufo, et omnes
attestantur, ob excessum siccitatis cerebri, et corruptionem quandam humidae eius
substantiae in contrarium penitus habitum. Quare unum duntaxat, qui in hunc affectum
devenerint, aut alterum incolumen evasisse, ex historia didicimus, eosque non a cane
rabioso, sed ab homine demorso id vitium adeptos, quando videlicet eam veneni vim
diminutam censetur. At antequam aquas timor ingruerit, a rabioso etiam cane demorsos,
servatos memorant multos.
[L1, aqnae = aquae, pernicisissimu = pernicissimum; L5, antequa = antequam, aqus =
aquas]
46
Signs
Signa
1.
The signs of an affliction so great must be distinguished into three parts, differing
according to the severity of the incident. Signs of the dog if it is seized by madness are
disorganized movement, slanting of the ears, a relaxed tail, savage appearance, resisting
food and drink, frothing and producing an excess of saliva, barking without biting, not
only at dogs and beasts, but also at its family members and master, and also internal
horror before its own shadow, fleeing to the wall where it might have been bitten; aside
from a certain amount of pain from the wound, it causes no annoyance.
Signa tanti affectus trifariam distinguere oportet. Alia ex parte vulneris, alia ex gravitate
accidentium. Canis signa si rabie correptus sit, motus incompositus, demissae auriculae,
cauda relaxata, toruo aspectum, cibum et potum aversatur, saliva edit copiosam, ac
spumantem, sine latratu mordens, non canes modo, et bestias, sed etiam domesticos, et
dominum, et prae interno horror propriam etiam ad parietem fugiens umbram, ubi
momorderit, praeter aliquem ex vulnere dolorem, nihil adfert molestiae.
2.
Oribasius, whom others also follow, specifies signs from the region of the wound,
whether it may be the bite of a dog or of any other wild animal. If the fruit of a walnut
47
tree is placed on and triturated upon the bite, the very same fruit may be scattered to the
hens for food afterwards; thus the following day, the hens themselves die. Secondly, if
blood flows from the wound, it may be soaked into bread and offered to the other dogs,
for the dogs will shrink back, nor will they taste the bread.
Signa ex parte vulneris, An Canis morsus vel alterius animalis sit rabiosus, ponit
Oribasius, quem sequuntur caeteri alii. Si imposita iuglande nuce, ac trita super
morsum, eadem postea gallinis proiiciatur in escam; nam Gallinaceos ipsos sequenti die
interire. Alterum, si manante ex vulnere sanguine, intingatur in eo panis, et porrigatur
alii canibus, nam canes abhorebunt, nec gustaverint illum panem.
3.
Further signs are to be observed on the part of the person and of incidents, which give
indication of madness, both by the hour and in the course of days. Unaccustomed
treatment provokes weakness to spread, with unexpected trembling, tension of the joints,
palpitation about the chest, promptitude of wrath, redness of the face, the eyes moving
around towards darkness, a change of the voice as though hoarse, and finally a passing
recollection of having been bitten, either a conception retained of the dog, or of that rabid
man.
Signa porro ex parte personae, ac accidentium, quae rabiem minantur, et quae ab ipsa
hora, et in progressu dierum sunt animadvertenda. Insolita ad motum debilitas pandi
curatio, tremor ex improviso, ac artuum distentio, palpitatio circa pectus, promptitudo in
48
iram, faciei rubor, tenebrae oculis ob versantur, mutatio vocis quasi raucae, et tandem
praeteriti morsus recordatio, et informatio habita canis, vel hominis illius rabiosi.
4.
Other essential signs which accompany the disease into advancement all attest to the
melancholy humor, because patients, without any other cause, clearly begin to be touched
in the mind. Thus the injured first with their imaginative faculties remain pensive: they
spend time shaking and struggling in sleep, and gnashing their teeth. Remaining awake,
they actually murmur in opposition with themselves; they run away into the wilderness,
fear everything and themselves, and scorn the light.
Signa alia quae in progressu consequuntur essentialia, omnia humorem attestantur
melancholicum, quia patientes absque alia causa manifesta incipiunt tentari mente. Nam
laesa primum imaginatrice facultate, cogitabundi manent, somnum agunt cum horrore, et
labore, frendentque dentibus, vigilantes vero obmurmurant secum, fugiunt in solitudinem,
omnia timent, et seipsos, et lucem fastidiunt.
5.
Should they run for safety before the fear of water, there shall be three signs, according to
Rhazes. If a lot of blood pours forth from the wound (having been producing black as
well as blood-stained urine), if they do not pursue other accidents, and if the wound is
superficial, it will strike neither artery nor nerve.
49
Salutis antequam timorem aquae inccurrant, tria praecipua erunt signa, Rhazes ex Rufo.
Si multus sanguis ex vulnere manaverit, Mictus urinae nigrae, etiam sanguinolentilae, si
alia non instent accidentia. Et tertium si vulnus superficiale sit, nec arteriam, aut neruum
offenderit.
6.
Signs of an impending corruption of the humors and temperament, in addition to grief
and uncharacteristic fear, are terrible dreams, dryness assailing the throat and tongue,
hoarseness, intense thirst, overcoming fever, sobbing; in the event of spasms of the
stomach, there is urinary incontinence and variable urine, which is murky, red, and black,
until there is either blood or a piece of the flesh.
Signa vero instantis iam corruptionis humorum, et temperamenti, Ad moerorem, ac
timore insomnia habet praeter consuetudinem terribilia, siccitteas ingruit, faucium et
linguae, raucedo, sitis intensa, superveniens febris, singultus, sive spasmus stomachi,
urina variabilis sit, turbida, rubra, nigra, donec et sanguinem, et frustum carnium
videntur mingere parvis canibus similia.
[L2, siccitteas = siccitas, raucedo = raucitas; L4, frustula = frustum]
50
Extreme Cases
Extrema Accidentia.
1.
We have seen cases, which follow the confirmed affliction, comparable to infernal
punishments, especially the fear of water, which the afflicted abhor merely looking at, as
though they were to be thrown into a burning furnace. They shout to the heavens with
clamor and the howls of a dog, and though bound to the bed with the strongest cords,
they may drag the bed covering with them as though to destroy the house, and those they
might have stood by, they mistrust.
Accidentia, quae sequuntur confirmato affectu, vel poenis infernalibus comparanda
vidimus, praesertim ex timore aquae, quasi solo conspectu perinde abhorrent, ac si in
fornacem coniciendi essent ardentem. clamoribus, ac ululatibus canum ad coelum
missis,ut ligati etiam fortissimis funibus, non cubile solum, et stragula lecti secum
trahant, sed quasi pessundare illam domum, et qui adstiterint suspicentur.
2.
Is there a spectacle more pitiable? Although they abhor water, they gape for water to
quench the intolerable thirst and fire, which they feel to burn them, with throats opened
all the way into the chest, or like the infernal three-headed Cerberus, until water is poured
in, projected through a straw from a distance. You might say there is no place in heaven
51
or on earth for them, so much do they burn, so greatly do they toss about, and rend
themselves to pieces until as though they were dead, or fall down dead struck by an evil
genius. A little later when their spirits awaken from madness, they rise up for the same
pain and suffering.
Quod miserandum magis spectaculum? Quamquam abhorreant utcum maxime aquam;
pro intolerabili tamen siti,ac incendio,quo se comburi sentiunt, inhiantes ad aquas, ac
apertis usque in praecordia faucibus, vel instar infernalis cerberi trifaucis, dum proiectas
per siphonem longe aquas ingurgitant, neque caelo, neque terra locum invenire dixeris,
adeo excandescunt, adeo se iactant, ac lancinantur, donec ceu mortui, aut percussi a
cacodemone concidant, quamdiu excitatis Paulo postea a rabie spiritibus, ad casden
insurgent poenas, et cruciatus.
[L2, incedio = incendio, inhiates = inhiantes; L3, syphonem = siphonem]
3.
It is apparent that the fire they feel, while they burn intolerably inside and out, is the
cause of their irascibility and burning fever: unless like fire in iron, the affect is hottest in
the substance of the iron, so also is the affect in the melancholy humor. And so once it
takes hold, it brings a more vehement heat, and those it attacks more slowly, it affects the
worst of all.
Incendii, quod sentiunt, dum uruntur intus et extra intolerabile, et excandescentiae, et
ardentis febris causa, nulla alia videtur: nisi ut tanquam ignis in ferro, pro substantia
52
ferri ferventissimus sit, sic affectus iste in humore melancholico, adeoque contumaci
fundatus, vehementiorem non dubie inducit fervorem, et quos tardius, hos pessime
omnium afficere.
4a.
But from where is the source of that fear of water, for which they gape in inexhaustible
thirst? The aversion is greatest in this savage disease, such that they may at once desire
what they simultaneously abhor. Doctors alter the diagnosis, since the faculties of the
mind are corrupted, one after another, all brought to a depraved disposition; the entire
mind and all the forces of the unwilling mind are drawn into that repugnance, so they
shrink back from water, which they earnestly desire because of the fire. On the other
hand, it is not rare that because of the immeasurable desire, they are strangles by stomach
cramps in the very act of drinking.
Sed unde est ille timor iu extremo aquae, ad quam tamen inhiant siti inexhausta? Maxima
haec antipathia est in saevissimo morbo ut idem simul ac semel desideret, quod
abhorteant. Causam mutant medici, quoniam corruptae animae facultates, una post
alteram, ac omnes in pravam dispositionem conversae, tota anima, et omnes simul
animae vires trahuntur invitae in illa repugnantiam, ut aquam abhorreant,quam pro
incendio enixe desiderant. Immo non raro pro immensa bibendi aviditate, in ipsa
sorbitione, et spasmo ventriculi strangulantur.
[L2, abhorteant = abhorreant; L5, no = non]
53
4b.
For instance, the best authorities insist that in cases of the fear of water a cause cannot be
made, but rather, concerned when the disease progresses, treatment is necessary.
Quare optima quidam boni auctores, commonere de Caussis timoris aquae non esse
curandum, sed potius urgens morbo solicitum oportet ad curationem.
[L1, quida = quidam; L2, urgente = urgens]
54
Trials
Iudicia
1.
Since mind follows bodies (as Aristotle said) and bodies in turn follow mind, it is not
surprising that in afflictions of a rabid dog, injuries of the mind precede sufferings of the
body. It is reasonable, nevertheless, that consistent with the humor of black bile, and
harm caused to it, the disease may make a slow impression. First it affects the weakest
humors, and those easily alterable, then the life-giving humors and finally the natural
ones. When all faculties are thus harmed, total corruption by association will follow, and
patients are thrown into open madness. When they begin to fear water, a cure is
altogether hopeless.
Animae quoniam sequuntur corpora (ut loquitur Aristoteles) et corpora vicissim
sequuntur animas; non mirum quod in affectibus canis rabidi laefiones animi praecedant
passiones corporis. Nam consonum rationi sit, ut quanquam, pro ratione humoris
melancholici,et pro eius contumacia, lenta, ac tarda fiat impressio; primum tamen
spiritus animales tanquam tenuissimi, ac facile alterabiles afficiantur, deinde vitales,
ultimo naturals. quando, sic omnibus laesis facultatibus, sequitur totius complexionis
corruptio, trahunturque patientes in manifestam rabiem, et cum incipiunt timere aquas,
desperata omnino salus est.
55
2.
There is doubtless something divine in the most powerful afflictions, and a coincidence
of hidden causes. In the first stages, they burn with an unexhausted thirst and fever, not
only the whole body, within and without, but they burn, limb after limb, in all the
humors, and the mind appears to burn to the utmost degree, with the patient deranged and
frenzied, being driven alike into corruption, gygateos having attempted to escape.
Dubium vero non est, in his maximis praesertim affectibus quiddam esse divini, et
occultas concurrere causas. quando in ipso statu extremorum accidentium, non solum
uruntur toto corpore, intus, et extra, siti excrucian tur inexhausta, ac febre ardentissima;
sed incenses etiam, pars post partem, omnibus spiritibus, et animus ipse videtur corripi
maximo incendio, cum delirat,ac furibundus trahitur pariter in corruptione, gygateos
exerens conatus.
3.
Is it true that the patient urinates little dogs or imagines seeing dogs in water? Some
assert that they urinate, according to Avicenna. There is no doubt that they imagine. I
myself have seen them shrink back from dogs in a pot, and shouting that dogs should be
driven from the bed chamber, which Aetius also mentions.
An sit velum, quod mingant in urinis catulos, vel imaginentur videre canes inaquis? quod
minxerint, affirmant aliqui, Conciliator differ. 79. et Gentilis super Avic. Quod
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imaginentur, non est dubium. vidi ego tales abhorrere in poculo canes, ac abigendos ex
cubiculo exclamare. Quod etiam ex Rufo meninit Aetius.
4.
Some mention the testing of a certain philosopher, who was healed. When he saw the
image of a dog in the water, he thought it was impossible; he said, ti koinon kuna en
balneo, “What is a common dog doing in the bath?” He threw himself into the bath and
was healed, so I think this happens more often than this reported core. If he actually
thought as proposed, that is an indication that the disease was not confirmed or that it had
not seized that part of his mind. I think it is the same concerning the weaver, who calling
loudly, summoned a doctor, yet had not been bitten, or God himself had preserved him.
Alioqui sanatum quendam philosophum idem attestantur. qui conspecta in aquae balneo
canis imagine, ac meditatus id esse impossibile, intrepide dicens ti koinon kuna en
balneo, quid cani et balneo? se proiecit in balneum, et sanatus est. ut reor, saepius
eodem repetito praesidio. Et quia, si meditatus sit, ut proponitur, id indicio est, non fuisse
affectum adhuc confirmatum, nec qui occupaverit illam sedem animae. Idem censeo et de
textore, qui increpans arcessivit medicum, non momordi. vel Deus ipse servavit.
[L3, proriecit = proiecit]
5.
Avicenna is a witness that if anyone is mad and, while observing himself in a mirror,
recognizes himself, that is a sign of health. Likewise it proved that the rational power is
57
unhurt, but thus remained safe, unoccupied by the poison.
Avicenna testis est, quod si quis rabiens, et in speculo faciem suam inspiciens se ipsum
agnoscat, id salutis signum esse. quod idem arguit non laesam, sed adhuc incolumen
manere ratiocinatricem virtutem, nec veneno occupatam.
6.
Galen mentions in chapter six of De Locis Affectis that the saliva of those suffering
rabies; Themison by chance had seen a case. Dioscorides reports about him a
conversation with a friend afflicted by rabies, that he contracted madness without having
been bitten. This is due to one of two causes: either he may have taken saliva from
someone’s food, or—what I have judged is not difficult—that…
Salivam rabidorum contagiosam meminit Galenus vj. de lo. aff. qualem forte habuit
causam Themison, quem refert Dioscorides ex familiari conversatione, quam habuit cum
amico rabie affecto, sine morsu rabiem contraxisse. Ob alteram duarum causarum: vel
quia is salivam illius ex aliquo edulio sumpserit, vel, quod non difficile arbitror, quia
7.
He contracted madness from breathing itself, like other contagions of the air. Some say
that the saliva of a rabid dog is hot and dry, or that there is a natural aptitude of the dog
towards madness, which it has particularly in the teeth and hence in the saliva. In fact,
the bite of a raving man when he is hungry is more harmful, and, unless chicken dung is
58
immediately applied, solidification is difficult.
Ex Respiratione ipsa communi, ceu alia contagia aeris, potest contrahi rabies. quidam
dicunt, quod saliva canis rabidi sit calida et sicca, seu potius quia naturalis aptitudo
canis est ad rabiem, quam in dentibus habet praecipua, deinde in Saliua. Hominis vero
rabiosi morsus, ieiuni magis noxius est, Albusasi, et nisi illi stercus Gallinae statim
imponatur, difficilis sit consolidationis.
59
Methods of Treatment
Curandi Ratio
1.
Since treatment is of great importance, the remedies we have gathered from authors
should be divided into three parts. One remedy necessary in the beginning is to open and
cauterize the wound at once with a hot iron. The other from the first to around the
seventh day is to make an effort with every means to draw the poison to the outside, and
not to permit it to spread toward the veins. When it has finally diffused by its own force
and has an impetus to invade principal parts, it should be dried with every effort, even
blindly, to draw away and purge the poison by diversions, blood letting, and drugs, even
serious and harmful ones, before the poison induces fear of water. Keep in mind that, as
Aetius warns, no one of these escapes who is not properly treated.
Curatio, quam, ut magni momenti, exactissimam ab auctoribus collegimus; trifariam
partienda est. alia in principio necessaria, quae est locum statim candenti ferro inurere
ac aperire. alia a primis diebus ad septimum circiter, quando omni ingenio studendum
est, venenum ad exteriora attrahere, nec permittendum dilatari ad venas. demum cum
diffusum sua vi, ac impetum habens ad partes principes occupandas, antequam timorem
aquae inducat, omni conatu, ac temere aliqua experiri oportet, ut per diversiones, per
sanguinis missionem, et per pharmacha etiam gravia, ac deleteria, ad comunientem
60
quanque viam distrahatur, ac purgetur. Hoc certo sciens (ut ex Rufo monet Aetius) quod
nullus ex his, qui non probe curati sint, evadit.
2.
Therefore, cauterization, if it is less readily used in burning at first, should be
supplemented, in the meantime, with an easily obtainable defense; for example, raw
wheat chewed and ingested, peahen, fava bean, lentils, almonds, nuts, juice of siccae with
honey, sap of the fig tree, ground garlic, onion, water germander, or meal of chick pea
with honey, which is called Galen’s three-part ungent of lythergryo, vinegar and oil, or
yet theriaca from vinegar or anointing oil.
Cauterium ergo, sive in ustio si minus a principio in promptu habeatur; supplere interim
oportet curationem praesidiis de facile parabilibus. quale proditum est Triticum crudum
commansum , et impositum, buccella pavis, faba fressa dentibus, lentes, amygdalae,
nuces, sicus siccae cum melle, lac ficulneum, allium contritum, caepe, scordium. farina
orobi cum melle Gal. unguentum ex lythargyro, aceto, ac oleo, triapharmacum dictum.
Theriaca ex aceto, vel oleo illita.
[L3, amigdalae = amygdalae]
3.
Therefore a bite wound, even if it is small on the surface, should undergo treatment as
quickly as possible: for unless it is immediately burned entirely on the first day,
otherwise after the second or on the third (as Albucasis advices concerning cautery),
burning shall be applied in vain—indeed, with great harm to the patient. In fact, if it is
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burned as quickly as possible, the wound requires another treatment, in order that it may
not solidify nor close. It ought to be held open for some time, for as many as forty or
more days. If it closes, apply to the wound: Scylla, cooked or somehow stronger than
raw, or other bitter things, onion, garlic, things smelling of garlic, horse radish, or
crushed gentian, sharpened sorrel, sprinkled with the powder of the bone of a burned calf.
For another bitter salve, there is theriaca from vinegar or oil. Indeed, if a sudden ulcer
seems to be dry, Rhazes advices that a piece of salted fish be placed upon the wound,
which they call Tunnus, sprinkled either with ground salt or with sharp vinegar, and
never soaked with water, but rather drenched in undiluted wine, according to Paul. Or,
he says, if it is hot, poultice from the water of chamomile and sorrel may be poured over
the wound, to raise the blood, after suction has been applied or the wound was agitated by
hand or by scarification from an attached leech.
Vulnus ergo morsus, etiam si parvus in superficie sit, quam celerrime curationem
aggredere: nam nisi statim inustum sit, vel prima in totem die; alioqui post alterum, vel
tertium diem (ut admonet Albucasis de cauteriis) nequicquam adhibebitur: immo cum
maiori patientis detrimento. Paul. Inustum vero quo ad fieri potuit opportune, alteram
exposcit curam, ut non consolidetur, nec claudatur; sed apertum aliquandiu tenendum
est, ad quadraginta, vel amplius dies, adhibitis super locum, si coalescat, scylla seu
cocta, seu quae fortior cruda, vel aliis acribus, caepe, allio, scordeo, heleenii radice vel
gentianae contrita, lapathium acutum, pulvis ex osse combusto vituli inspersus. Theriaca
ex aceto, vel oleo, unguentis aliis acribus. Immo si quale ulcus, ac exiccari videatur,
monet Rhazes Piscis saliti frustum imponendum, quod Tunnum dicunt, vel sal contritum,
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vel acri aceto conspergendum, et nunquam aqua per fundendum, Paul. sed meraco vino.
vel si calidis inquit fomentis ex aqua chamaemelo, et lapatho per fundatur ad
provocationem sanguinis, suctu praemisso vel valida per manus agitatione,
scariphatione, hirudine applicita.
[L2, vei = vel; L7, lapatium = lapathium; L9, qualens = quale; L10, cotritum = contritum;
L12, scarificatione = scariphatione]
4.
For the purpose of drawing forth the venom from the interior to the exterior, Rhazes
rightly precautions that after the first day, an amulet should be applied which strengthens
the limbs and prevents diffusion of the poison. For blood-letting was not proper at that
time, nor should purgatives be applied lest they drive out and direct the poisons to the
interior. For this nothing is better than the best theriaca, at the least the weight of a
drachnea, in three days. This expells the harmful substance to the skin and drives it out
through the sweat, a way that is most comfortable. Then there is Mithridates’ antidote, or
that which is specialized for the rabid dog, named Diatessaron in chapter two of De
Antidotis.
Ad eam vero intentionem trahendi virus ab interioribus ad exteriora, optime cauet
Rhazes, post primum diem Amuleta exhibenda quae .s. corroborent principalia membra,
prohibeantque veneni dilatationem. Nec phlobotomiam idcirco tunc conuenire, nec
medicamenta purgantia, ne.s. exagitent, proritentque vim veneni ad interiora transire,
quo incensu nihil melius optima Theriaca, tribus saltem diebus drachmae pondere: quae
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expellit vim noxiam ad cutim, exigitque per sudorem, quae via per sudorem est
convenientissima. deinde Mithridatis antidotus, vel quae propria ad rabiem canis
Diatessaron nuncupatum. ii. de Antido.
5a.
On account of this single thing, Galen says in chapter nine of De Simp. Medicament.
Facultatibus chiefly three things for having in secret a bite from a rabid dog: first water
germander, then the inferior centaury, and finally Prasium. However he substitutes it, I
myself may first recommend Lemnian earth, always safe for use, with which all future
generations wholly consent, furthermore preventing fear of water.
Ex simplicibus, Quidam, inquit Galenus ix. simpl. tria maxime ad Canis rabiosi morsum
habebat in arcanis, Scordeon inprimis, deinde Centauream minorem, ultimo Prasium.
ego vero subdit, primam laudem tribuo terrae Lemniae, semper secure usus. qui cum et
tota posteritas consentit. prohibens etiam aquae timorem.
5b.
Galen also recommends ashes for all afflicted by the river disease, or from that antidote
of Oribasius, out of the ashes of the disease with half the root of gentian, a third part of
frankinsense, and a drachnea’s weight of wine, to be taken for forty days.
Cancrorum fluviatilium cinerem Galenus, et omnes conmendant. Vel ex eo Antidotum
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Oribasio, ex cinere cancrerum par.i. gentiamae rad. dimidium, thuris tertiam. sumen
dum ex vino drach. pondere, ad quadraginta dies.
5c.
It is the saying in Greek (as some Arabs attest) that the special properties of melanthion
heal the bite of the rabid dog. This is more appropriate for the etymology of “alysso,”
which concerning madness, it is said apo ton lusson. Dioscorides mentions a small shrub
with round leaves growing wildly in the mountains, which is hitherto still not adequately
recognized. Even so, a few plants of this name may have this property. It would have the
properties of asclepias, Galen prefers for it to have the appearance of a green gem (as it is
said). It is either the Heraclean species of sideritis (according to Paul), or otherwise
scordium, chamaidris, polion, Cretan dittany, Myrrh (most highly esteemed), or
Balsamum Peruvianum, which imitates the oil of Myrrh.
Melanthion, graeca voce sic dictum est (ut testantur quidam Arabes) a proprietate
sanandi morsus canis rabidi. quae tamen etymologia alysso potius convenit, qui a rabie,
apo ton lusson dicitur. frutex Dios. exiguus, Aparinae affinis, folius rotundis, in
montibus, et asperis nascens, hactenus tamen non satis recognitus. vel alicuius platae
cognomen, quae eam habeat proprietatem, qualem ex Asclepiade Galenus voluit esse
prasius speciem, unice (uc dictum est) laudatam. vel sideritis specie herachleae Paul.
Scordeon item, Chamaedris, Polium, Dictanus Myrrha optima probatur, et quod Myrrae
Stacten aemulatur, Balsamum Peruvianum.
[L6, syderitis = sideritis; L7, Perunianum = Peruvianum]
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6.
If experienced physician suspects over the course of some days that the force of the
poison thus far has not been overcome but is in greater danger of diffusing towards the
inmost regions; then regular treatment for other severe diseases and corrupted humors
must be used; first through discharge of the blood if it may be particularly abundant and
about to incite great fever, and then with medicine that cleanses the corruption of humors,
by means of either black or white hellebore, according to Paul and Rhazes; or the seeds
of catapuca (which I understand is castor, from silimarites to the dogs’ castor), or
cucumber sap, which today we prepare as a purgative from about three cucumbers heavy
with boiled broth and all the proper drugs that cleanse the melancholic humors.
Quod si suspicio in progressu dierum sit prudenti medico, ex accidentibus pensitatis,
adhuc veneni vim non esse superatam, sed diffundi potius periculum sit ad partes
intimas; tunc vel regulari cura caeterorum acutorum morborum, et humorum
corruptorum utendum est, primum per sanguinis missionem, si copia praesertim ad sit,
ac magna sebris excitata sit. deinde et purgantibus ipsam humorum corruptelam
medicamentis, cum elleboro vel nigro, vel albo ex Paulo, et Rhaze, vel Catapuciae
seminibus (quam hic intelligo ricinum, a similitudine ricini canum) vel cucumeris asinini
succo, quod hodie paramus Elaterium, tribus circiter gravis ex iusculo, vel decocto
proprio. et omnino proprius pharmacis, quae humorem purgent melancholicum.
[L3, acurorum = acutorum]
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7.
Indeed, Rhazes and John of Damascus, the most esteemed of physicians, advise to turn
back the poison to the outermost limits before the fear of water arises, by drinking an
antidote from the Spanish fly prepared thus: with the wings, head, and feet removed and
poured into milk, vinegar, and lentil flour, and dried through the night and day into a
lozenge with the weight of one scrupuli from wine. The lozenge may be produced for
many days, for although the patient may urinate blood, drinking fresh milk will adjust the
pungency, and indeed he will be freed, spared thus from the fear of water.
Vel, quod rursus repetimus, Extremis extrema. Antequam aquae superveniat timor,
monent Rhazes, et Ioannes Damascenus, probatissimi medici, antidotum propinandum ex
Cantharidibus sic praeparatis. Abscisis alis, capite, ac pedibus, infusisque pernoctem et
diem in lacte ebutyrato et acetoso, mox exiccatis, ac lenticulae farina exceptis in
trochiscum pondere scrupuli unius ex vino. Exhibeatur trochiscus ad multos dies. nam
tametsi patiens minxerit sanguinem, lactis recentis potu attemperabit acrimoniam, immo
assertus sic a timore aquae, liberabitur.
[L4, trochiscos = trochiscum; L5, eminxerit = minxerit]
8.
Similarly with food, when they endure fever and other symptoms, to overcome the power
of poison and draw it out to the exterior they urge using bitter things: onion, garlic, leek,
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figs, rue, or nuts. Never shall all be used without regard to harm. Also with the river
disease, it is recommended as an antidote food that is vinegary and acidic as well as fruity
and using herbs. According to Oribasio, they should refrain from meat and flesh for forty
days. Indeed they may consume drink and foods without looking at them, because they
may become extremely frightened. Inducing sleep will at times be permitted as well as
the drinking of water, in which a red-hot iron is thus extinguished, according to Aetius.
Some secretly employ wood sorrels, not only from those prepared of food but also from
dye in drink. Either the wound should be cleansed, or the liver of the dog itself must be
eaten in small portions.
In cibis, quantum febris, ac alia accidentia tolerant, ad vim veneni huius superandam, ad
exterioraque extrudendam, acribus similiter utendum commonent, caepe, allio, porris,
ficubus, ruta, nucibus. Citria mala nunquam erunt omitenda omni usu. nec non Cancri
fluviales, qui ut foris, et in antodotis, ita et in cibis commendantur. Aceti, et acidorum
tam fructuum, quam herbarum usus. Ex oribasio, abstineant per quadraginta dies a
carnibus, et a venere. potiones vero, ac escas quas sumant, non aspiciant, quoniam peius
expavescunt. Samniferis interdum licebit uti, et aquae potu, in qua candens ferrum sic
extinctum: Aetius ex Rufo. Quidam sola oxalide in arcanis utuntur, tum cibarius ex ea
paratis, tum de cocco in potu, et vulneri abstergendo. et Hepar ipsius canis in pulmentis
comedendum.
[L4, horbarum = herbarum]
9.
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In the final position we place seawater bath. This protection against the bite of a rabid
dog is not a fixed custom, but might have been used commonly in antiquity, particularly
by those who live in coastal regions, and similarly it appears to have entered use up to
following times, as those who are long absent from the sea may visit either a lake or
rivers or springs. Indeed, Oribasius says that baths should not be used before the
twentieth day, another before the fortieth, which Avicenna allows for prevention. Bright
objects should be avoided, and they may not gaze upon anything present that is potable.
They should be forced, however, to grow accustomed to water. Hence there is no reason
among scientists (according to the third chapter of a book on baths where these particular
customs are discussed) that those afraid of water should be helped except by bathing,
unless perhaps due to some hidden property. Such was the example of the philosopher in
the writings of Aetius, in which swimming or even the view of the sea alone abolished
from the mind deceptive imagination and the resistance to water. The order in which I
have arranged the indispensible remedies is cauterization, then application of a suitable
antidote, and third, a regular regimen for living, and finally, so that the whole treatment
may not fail, transmission to the waters of the sea.
Ultimo loco ponimus balneum aquae maris: nam eius praesidius ad Canis rabidi morsum
non habetur certum institutum, sed vulgaris potuis usus fuit antiquis, eorum praesertim,
qui maritima habitant loca, idemque videtur invasisse usus ad posteriora tempora, ut qui
longe absunt a marinis, vel laces, vel suvios, vel fontes adeant. Immo Oribasius negat
ante vigesimum tentanda balnea, alius ante quadragesimum, in declinatione admittit
Avicenna, vitandas res lucidas, et ne aspirant quae exhibentur poculenta., sed cogendi
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tamen, ut assuescant ad aquam. Quare nec nos in iii. de Thermis libro, qui locus erat
proprius instituti huius, ullam habuimus in physicis rationem, unde timentes aquam per
balnea iuvari possint, nisi forsan ex occulta proprietate, qualis in proposito constat
exemplo philosophi apud Aetium ex Ruso ut natatu,vel conspectu solo maris, vanam illam
abolerent ex animo imaginationem, repugnatiamque ad aquas. Quos curavi praemissis
necessarius praesidius, inustione primum, deinde antidotis opportune exhibitis, ac
regulari instituta victus ratione, demum, ut nequit deesse et ad integram curationem, et
ad marinas aquas transmisi.
[L5, exnibentur = exhibentur; L7, rarionem = rationem; L12, nequid = nequit]
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