e of the World, but because of the
great Increase of living Creatures, which infect the very Air,
that every way encompasseth us, and Through our Negligence in
ordering our Lives, and That great Ignorance of the Properties
which are in things conducing to Health, which might help a
disordered way of Living, and might supply the defect of due
Government."

What would have been its fate if the mind of Europe had been ready for
Roger Bacon's ferment, and if men had turned to the profitable studies
of physics, astronomy and chemistry instead of wasting centuries over
the scholastic philosophy and the subtleties of Duns Scotus, Abelard and
Thomas Aquinas? Who can say? Make no mistake about the quality of these
men--giants in intellect, who have had their place in the evolution of
the race; but from the standpoint of man struggling for the mastery of
this world they are like the members of Swift's famous college "busy
distilling sunshine from cucumbers." I speak, of course, from the
position of the natural man, who sees for his fellows more hope from the
experiments of Roger Bacon than from the disputations of philosophy on
the "Instants, Familiarities, Quiddities and Relations," which so roused
the scorn of Erasmus.

MEDIAEVAL MEDICAL STUDIES

IT will be of interest to know what studies were followed at a mediaeval
university. At Oxford, as at most of the continental universities, there
were three degrees, those of Bachelor, Licentiate and Doctor. The books
read were the "Tegni" of Galen, the "Aphorisms" of Hippocrates, the "De
Febribus" of Isaac and the "Antidotarium" of Nicolaus Salernitanus: if
a graduate in arts, six years' study in all was required, in other
faculties, eight. One gets very full information on such matters from
a most interesting book, "Une Chaire de Medecine au XVe Siecle," by Dr.
Ferrari (Paris, 1899). The University of Pavia was founded in 1361, and
like most of those in Italy was largely frequented by foreigners, who
were arranged, as usual, according to their nationalities; but the
students do not appear to have controlled the university quite so much
as at Bologna. The documents of the Ferrari family, on which the work is
based, tell the story of one of its members, who was professor at Pavia
from 1432 to 1472. One is surprised at the range of studies in certain
directions, and still more at the absence of other subjects. A list is
given of the teachers in med