of Paris, 1618,
where it may be found on pp. 866, 867. See also, in spite of the special
pleading of Giraldi, the Benedictine Hist. Lit. de la France, tome xvi,
p. 98.

VI. NEW BEGINNINGS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE.

In spite of all these opposing forces, the evolution of medical science
continued, though but slowly. In the second century of the Christian
era Galen had made himself a great authority at Rome, and from Rome had
swayed the medical science of the world: his genius triumphed over
the defects of his method; but, though he gave a powerful impulse to
medicine, his dogmatism stood in its way long afterward.

The places where medicine, such as it thus became, could be applied,
were at first mainly the infirmaries of various monasteries, especially
the larger ones of the Benedictine order: these were frequently
developed into hospitals. Many monks devoted themselves to such medical
studies as were permitted, and sundry churchmen and laymen did much to
secure and preserve copies of ancient medical treatises. So, too, in the
cathedral schools established by Charlemagne and others, provision was
generally made for medical teaching; but all this instruction, whether
in convents or schools, was wretchedly poor. It consisted not
in developing by individual thought and experiment the gifts of
Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen, but almost entirely in the
parrot-like repetition of their writings.

But, while the inherited ideas of Church leaders were thus unfavourable
to any proper development of medical science, there were two bodies of
men outside the Church who, though largely fettered by superstition,
were far less so than the monks and students of ecclesiastical schools:
these were the Jews and Mohammedans. The first of these especially had
inherited many useful sanitary and hygienic ideas, which had probably
been first evolved by the Egyptians, and from them transmitted to the
modern world mainly through the sacred books attributed to Moses.

The Jewish scholars became especially devoted to medical science. To
them is largely due the building up of the School of Salerno, which we
find flourishing in the tenth century. Judged by our present standards
its work was poor indeed, but compared with other medical instruction
of the time it was vastly superior: it developed hygienic principles
especially, and brought medicine upon a higher plane.

Still more important is the rise of the School of Montpellier; this
w