had
studied all kinds of natural curiosities and was in close touch with
important political events; he possessed enormous industry, great
practical sagacity, and unbounded literary fluency. At that time there
were numerous sects in the medical profession, various dogmatic systems
prevailed in medical science, and the social standing of physicians was
degraded. He assumed the task of reforming the existing evils and
restoring the unity of medicine as it had been understood by
Hippocrates, at the same time elevating the dignity of medical
practitioners.

In the explanation and healing of diseases he applied the science of
physiology. His theory was based upon the Hippocratic doctrine of
humours, but he developed it with marvelous ingenuity. He advocated that
the normal condition of the body depended upon a proper proportion of
the four elements, hot, cold, wet and dry. The faulty proportions of the
same gave rise, not to disease, but to the occasions for disease. He
laid equal stress upon the faulty composition or dysaemia of the blood.
He claimed that all diseases were due to a combination of these morbid
predispositions, together with injurious external influences, and thus
explained all symptoms and all diseases. He found a name for every
phenomenon and a solution for every problem. And though it was precisely
in this characteristic that he abandoned scientific methods and
practical utility, it was also this quality that gained for him his
popularity and prominence in the medical world.

However, his reputation grew slowly. His opinions were in opposition to
those of other physicians of his time. In the succeeding generation he
won esteem as a philosopher, and it was only gradually that his system
was accepted implicitly. It enjoyed great, though not exclusive
predominance until the fall of Roman civilization."

"_Thomas Sydenham_, (1624-1689) was well acquainted with the works of
the ancient physicians and had a fair knowledge of chemistry. Whether he
had any knowledge of anatomy is not definitely known. He advocated the
actual study of disease in an impartial manner, discarding all
hypothesis. He repeatedly referred to Hippocrates in his medical
methods, and he has quite deservedly been styled the English
Hippocrates. He placed great stress on the 'natural history of disease,'
just as did his Greek master, and likewise attached great importance to
'epidemic constitution,' that is, the influence of weather and oth