A Study on the Sources of Chief Physician Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi's Risãla 'Illat Mathãna: Did Kãtib-zãde Actually Use the Works of European Authors as Sources?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the Eastern and Western authors and physicians quoted by Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi (died 1769), the chief physician of the Ottoman Empire, in his work Risãla 'illat mathãna. The study also aimed to determine whether Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi benefited from the views of the physicians that he mentioned in his treatise and, if so, from which works he benefited. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a copy of Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi's Risãla 'i rãbi' fî al-mathãna, with the registration number T 3796/4 in the Turkish manuscripts section of the Istanbul University Rare Books Library, was examined. Eastern and Western physicians mentioned by Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi in this work were first identified; then, a literature search was conducted regarding these authors and their works. RESULTS: In his Risãla 'illat mathãna, Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi mentions the names of eminent Eastern physicians and quotes from their works. For example, he mentions Ibn Sînã (980-1037) and his work al-Qãnun fî al-Tibb, Najîb al-dîn al-Samarqandî (died 1222) and his work al-Asbãb wa l-'alãmãt, and Ibn Mãsawayh (died 857). He also mentions the names of Western physicians and their works. For example, he mentions Lazarus Riverius (1589-1655), Ioannes Fernelius (1497-1558), Petrus Forestus (1521-1597), and Amatus Lusitanus (1511-1568). CONCLUSIONS: Regarding sources, Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' Efendi refers to The Canon of Medicine and a commentary on al-Asbãb wa l-'alamãt written by al-Kirmãnî in his work. His main Western source was Lazarus Riverius's Praxis Medica. More specifically, he draws on the section of Praxis Medica titled "Dysuria seu ardoris urine curatio." Kãtib-zãde Mehmed Refî' also refers to other Western physicians, including Ioannes Fernelius, Petrus Forestus, and Amatus Lusitanus. These physicians are actually the physicians mentioned and quoted in the section of Lazarus Riverius' work mentioned above.

Personal Experiences of Chief Physician Emir çelebi on Kidney and Bladder Diseases: A Brief Review in Anmudhaj al-Tibb.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to review the kidney and bladder disease sections in Emir çelebi's book called Anmudhaj al-Tibb by presenting and discussing his own experiences with these issues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A copy of Anmudhaj al-Tibb registered in Istanbul Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, Mihrisah Sultan Collection, no. 342/1, and a printed copy of al-Mujaz fi al-Tibb in Arabic, as well as a copy of the Turkish translation of this work by Sururi registered in Ankara National Library, A1437, were examined. We examined the findings in light of the literature. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We discovered that the sections on kidney and bladder diseases in Emir çelebi's Anmudhaj al-Tibb are actually Turkish translations of relevant sections of Ibn al-Nafis's al-Mujaz fi al-Tibb. In some of these chapters, Emir çelebi has added his own observations and experiences, whereas, in others, he has included quotations from physicians such as Ibn Masawayh and Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi. One of the most intriguing findings was the drug Yad-Allah, which Emir çelebi claimed was very effective in reducing the kidney stone of the Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy Receb Pasha. According to Emir çelebi, Galen and Aflinus [?] both praised this medicine in their own works. However, it has been discovered that Yad-Allah, as described in the literature, is a drug defined by Philagrius.

Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) on Head Wounds in Kitab al-Taysir (Liber Teisir).

OBJECTIVE: To present and evaluate the section concerning head wounds in Kitab al-Taysir (Liber Teisir) by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar). METHODS: In this study, 4 different versions of Avenzoar's work were analyzed. The first 2 versions are in Arabic and titled Kitab al-Taysir fi al-Mudawat wa al-Tadbir; one was edited by Michel Khouri and printed in Damascus in 1983, and the other was edited by Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Rudani and printed in Rabat in 1991. The third and fourth versions are in Latin; one was translated by Paravicius, edited by Hieronymus Surianus, and printed in Venice in 1530, and the other was a manuscript in Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de santé, MS 5119 in Paris and was translated by John of Capua. RESULTS: The titles of the sections are "Wounds due to iron objects" and "Wounds due to stones" in Arabic and "On head injuries from external factors such as blow" and "On head wounds from iron or stone or wood" in Latin. The chapter written by Avenzoar on head wounds is divided into 2 parts. First, he explained the treatment, and subsequently he described his views and related experiences. CONCLUSIONS: The information provided by Avenzoar on head injuries technically reflects the medical and surgical comprehension of his era. In the section that is the focus of this study, he first provided technical information related to head injuries and then offered his opinions on the controversial and problematic issues in treatment such as phlebotomy. This study revealed that Avenzoar approached the subject differently than his predecessors.

A Study on Head Wounds in Kitab al-'Umda fi Sina'a al-Jiraha by Ibn al-Quff.

The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge on head wounds contained in the Kitab al-'Umda fi Sina'a al-Jiraha, written by Ibn al-Quff in the thirteenth century. This study was based on a copy of the Kitab al-'Umda fi Sina'a al-Jiraha, printed in 2 volumes in Da'ira al-Ma'arif al-Uthmaniyya in Hyderabad in 1356/1937-38 and reprinted by the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. This printed copy was compared with the manuscript of Istanbul University Rare Works Library, Arabic Manuscripts, A 4749. Relevant chapters were translated from Arabic to English, after which they were thoroughly examined. Obtained knowledge is presented in the Results section and is compared in the Discussion section with other reports of this subject. The first chapter classified head wounds into 6 types: the first 3 types are conservatively treated and the remaining 3 types are surgically treated. This chapter also presents information on how to proceed when there is a head wound-related hemorrhage, which medications should be used, and which are the adequate treatment protocols. The second chapter discusses the symptoms and signs that follow head blow and fall injuries. The characteristics and noteworthy circumstances of skull fractures as well as the surgical treatment methods are included in the fifteenth chapter, which is concluded with surgery-related complications. The present study shows that Ibn al-Quff benefited from his predecessors' knowledge and made some considerable contributions to this subject.

Did Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) Postulate Before Vesalius That Liquid Collects in Ventricles in the Hydrocephalus?

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to present and evaluate the part of Avenzoar's Liber Teisir that pertains to hydrocephalus. Avenzoar was an Andalusian physician prominent in the history of medicine because of the broadness of his observations and original methods. His most important work is recognized to be the Al-Taysir fi al-Mudawat wa al-Tadbir (On Preventive Regimen and Treatment), and its Latin version, Alteisir scilicet regiminis et medelae, which was in use for centuries in Europe. METHODS: The Arabic (Rabat, Morocco, in 1991) and Latin (Venice, Italy, in 1530) versions of Avenzoar's work were perused, relevant sections were separately translated into English, and both translations were then compared. An English version was prepared and is given in our results. RESULTS: The location of liquid collection was described as the anterior ventricles of the brain and around the brain. CONCLUSIONS: Avenzoar might have noted one of the earliest records on the clinical state called idiopathic adult hydrocephalus and postulated liquid collection in the ventricles of the brain in hydrocephalus before Vesalius.

Medieval times' influencing figure Rhaze's approach to head injuries in Liber Almansoris.

OBJECTIVE: To present the chapter "On wound of the head and fracture of the head bone" of Kitab al-Mansuri / Liber Almansoris, which was one of the early works of Rhazes. METHODS: Both Arabic (Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, Ayasofya collection, Nr. 3751 and Millet Library, Feyzullah Efendi collection, Nr. 1327) and the Latin (Basileae, 1544) texts of Kitab al-Mansuri / Liber Almansoris were studied, and the 26th section of the 7th chapter, entitled "Fi al-shajja kasr al-'azm al-ra's / De plagis capitis et fractura cranei / On wound of the head and fracture of the head bone" was translated into English and English text created. RESULTS: Rhazes underlined removing bone fragments in depressed and separated fractures of cranium along with protection of the dura, but he did not describe any surgical technique in this chapter. CONCLUSIONS: Galen's contemplation for the care of the dura with its integrity and as well his proposal to remove the bone fragments for preventing the dura from injury were the golden standards at the time that Rhazes also followed in the treatment of skull fractures.

Account of Haly Abbas regarding the management of hydrocephalus in children: a text from medieval times.

OBJECTIVE: To present the text on hydrocephalus from Haly Abbas's book Kitab al-Maliki / Liber Regius (The Royal Book), which was accepted as a classical textbook in the Eastern and Western worlds for a long time. METHODS: The Arabic (Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, Murad Molla Collection, Nr: 1482 and Bulak, 1294 /1877) and the Latin (Venice, 1492) versions of the related chapter was translated and compared to create an English text. Additionally, relevant literature was reviewed in detail. RESULTS: The text on hydrocephalus in Haly Abbas's The Royal Book virtually resembles Paul of Aegina's work. For hydrocephalic cases where the fluid collects between skin and pericranium, and pericranium and bone, Haly Abbas had made little change in surgical intervention; for the third type, skin incision, he preferred a T-type incision instead of an H-type. Like Paul of Aegina, Haly Abbas also did not advise any surgical intervention for the cases of hydrocephalus, where fluid accumulation is between bone and the dura mater. CONCLUSIONS: Haly Abbas's approach to hydrocephalus was as brave as that of his predecessors Antyllus, Oribasius, and Paulus, although the cases they dealt with were almost all cephalic hematomas. Although his chapter on the treatment of water accumulation in the head contains surgical interventions in extracranial hydrocephalic conditions, his account on hydrocephalus is extremely precise and gives adequate detail as in other chapters in his book.