Drawings and Pharmacy in Al-Zahrawi's 10th-Century Surgical TreatiseHamarneh, Sami Khalaf
History
Drawings and Pharmacy in Al-Zahrawi's 10th-Century Surgical Treatise
Hamarneh, Sami Khalaf
Pharmacy -- Early works to 1800
[Illustration: Figure 17.--A crude form of bulb syringe
recommended for use with children. _Top_, from original
Arabic manuscript (Ali 2854), courtesy Süleymaniye Umumi
Kütüphanesi Müdürlüğü. _Bottom_, from Leclerc, _Abulcasis_.]
The next chapter, on cupping, mentions the use of cups made of horns,
wood, copper, or glass, according to circumstances and the availability
of material. The methods of treatment are divided into two kinds: dry
cupping, with or without fire, and wet cupping (see fig. 19). He
prescribes ointments and aromatic and medicated waters to be applied
before and after cupping to facilitate healing. Only when cupping is not
possible, as on the nose, fingers, and similar parts of the human body,
does he propose the use of leeches for treatment.[30] Evidently this is
an indication that he did not, as generally supposed, encourage the
widespread use of leeches.
[Illustration: Figure 18.--Hooks and forceps used for the
extraction of arrows. _Top_, from original Arabic manuscript
(Tüb. MS. 91), courtesy Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen.
_Bottom_, from Channing, _Albucasis_.]
[Illustration: Figure 19.--Cupping. _Top_, from original
Arabic manuscript (Tüb. MS. 91), courtesy
Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen. _Bottom_, from Argellata
1531, courtesy National Library of Medicine.]
The third and final section, of 35 chapters, deals with the reduction,
luxation, and treatment of injured bones, including fracture of the
pelvis. The advices and warnings in the prelude of this section appear
to repeat some of al-Zahrāwī’s sayings that had been covered in his
previous introductions. The text, however, presents many facets of
interest to the health professions. It elaborates upon the application
of various forms of bandages and plasters in a variety of operations.
Al-Zahrāwī’s detailed description relating to fractures of bones is a
fine anatomical document of historical interest. He illustrates and
describes special methods for tying injured or broken bones, and he
suggests that bandages made of soft linen be less and less tight as
distance increases from the injured place (chapter 1). For the
protection of areas adjacent to the injured part against contact with
edges of splints he advocates padding with soft gauze and carded wool.
In some cases, to guard against swelling, he preferred a delay of one or
more days in applying bandages over splints. Al-Zahrāwī also devised
and depicted many kinds and shapes of splints for use in simple and
compound fractures of the head, shoulders, arms, fingers, etc. (see fig.
20). For example, in discussing the reduction of the humerus, he
recommends a splint consisting of a smooth, thin stick bent in the shape
of a bow with two strings, each attached to one end of the stick (fig.
21). The injured bone is then placed in the middle of the bent splint
for reduction while the patient is seated on a chair. Tying is applied
only when there is no "hot" swelling (chapter 11).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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