about an hour with hot water or steamed, after which it was applied over the patient's nostrils and held there until the inhalation of the fumes had induced sleep.
Another Salernian treatise worth mentioning is that written by Peter Musandinus, under the title "On Foods and Beverages suitable for Persons affected with a Fever." This writer, who was one of the teachers at the school of Salerno about the middle of the twelfth century, says that great attention was paid in his time to the preparation of foods in such a manner as to tempt the appetite of people who were ill. He speaks of a meat extract which is prepared from the flesh of the chicken, and also recommends that a soup made by boiling a fowl in rose water be given to patients who are affected with diarrhoea. He even goes so far as to lay stress upon the importance of serving food to a sick person in dishes which are pleasing to the eye. Apropos of the subject of foods that are easily digestible and therefore suitable for invalids I may mention how Meaux Saint-Marc translates or interprets the line in the "Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum" which reads O fluvialis anas, quanta dulcedine manas! His version may be rendered into English thus:
"Oh wood-duck, how gently doth thy soft flesh glide over the internal surface of the stomach!"
Toward the end of the twelfth century (1180 A. D.) there was published at Salerno a work on surgery—the oldest treatise on this subject that is known to have been written in Italy during the Middle Ages. It is now called "Roger's Practice of Surgery," but originally it was spoken of (in accordance with a custom quite common in those days) as "Post mundi fabricam," which are the first three words of the text. This book is of a very practical character and is written in a simple, straightforward style. While it contains the usual amount of traditional knowledge about surgical matters, it gives at the same time the results of the personal experience of Roger, of his teachers, and of his associates. As published in the "Collectio Salernitana" the work represents, not the treatise as it was originally written, but a revision made by Rolando of Parma. It is
