Page:The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800.djvu/292

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Europe. These first evidences of the Renaissance in that part of the world were not confined to physicians; they were to be found in every walk of life. The development of the movement reminds one of what takes place near the sea coast, where a period of heat and calm is suddenly broken by the appearance of a few gentle puffs of wind, which are quickly succeeded by the full force of a steady and refreshing sea-breeze. In like manner feeble indications of the coming movement appeared in Italy, France, Germany and even England, and these were soon followed by unmistakable evidences that a genuine Renaissance of widespread proportions had begun. It was as if a great awakening had taken place among the nations which had for centuries lain dormant; an awakening which was followed by a desire to lay aside the trivial pursuits in which they had so far been engaged, and to attain those results which were, later on, to excite the wonder and admiration of the world. Such were, for example, the development of the art of printing with movable types; the discovery of America; the production of such clever painters, sculptors, engravers, workers in metal, etc., as Michael Angelo, Raphael, Albrecht Dürer, Benvenuto Cellini, Rembrandt, and literally scores of others of nearly equal merit; the development of a Shakespeare, a Milton and a Dante in the field of literature; the production of a Luther, a man who had the courage to protest against evil practices which had crept into the Christian church. And medicine, as I have already stated, felt the influence of the approaching Renaissance, and responded to it by efforts which had for their object the acquisition of such knowledge as might be furnished by translations from Arabic treatises. Constantinus, the African, of whom mention has been made on a previous page, seems to have been the first person (toward the end of the eleventh century) who did any work of this kind; but his associates in Salerno do not appear to have valued these translations very highly, or else, perhaps, they were not yet prepared to give serious consideration to works which were new to them. In the twelfth century, as will now be seen, the