overies with regard to anodyne and anaesthetizing drugs. He
is said to have been the first who taught the sublimation of arsenic.
Unfortunately he left no writings after him, and all that we know of him
we owe to the filial devotion of his son Theodoric.

THEODORIC

This son, after having completed his medical studies at the age of about
twenty-three, entered the Dominican Order, then only recently
established, but continued his practice of medicine undisturbed. His
ecclesiastical preferment was rapid. He attracted the attention of the
Bishop of Valencia, and became his chaplain in Rome. At the age of about
fifty he was made a bishop in South Italy and later transferred to the
Bishopric of Cervia, not far from Ravenna. Most of his life seems to
have been passed in Bologna however, and he continued to practise
medicine, devoting his fees, however, entirely to charity. His text-book
of surgery was written about 1266 and is signed with his full name and
title as Bishop of Cervia. Even at this time however, he still retained
the custom of designating himself as a member of the Dominican Order.

The most interesting thing in the first book of his surgery is
undoubtedly his declaration that all wounds should be treated only with
wine and bandaging. Wine he insists on as the best possible dressing for
wounds. It was the most readily available antiseptic that they had at
that time, and undoubtedly both his father's recommendation of it and
his own favorable experience with it were due to this quality. It must
have acted as an excellent inhibitive agent of many of the simple forms
of pus formation. At the conclusion of this first book he emphasizes
that it is extremely important for the healing of wounds that the
patient should have good blood, and this can only be obtained from
suitable nutrition. It is essential therefore for the physician to be
familiar with the foods which produce good blood in order that his
wounded patients may be fed appropriately. He suggests, then, a number
of articles of diet which are particularly useful in producing such a
favorable state of the tissues as will bring about the rebirth of flesh
and the adhesion of wound surfaces. Shortly before he emphasizes the
necessity for not injuring nerves, though if nerves have been cut they
should be brought together as carefully as possible, the wound edges
being then approximated.

Probably the most interesting feature for our generation of the great
t