Athothis : a satire on modern medicine / by Thomas C. Minor.

yolk of eggs, and old resin ! Herodotus would have laughed this cinnamon to scorn. This honey is not from Mount Hymettus, but from glucose. Ah! here is a small boy leaning over the counter, and asking for a few pennies' worth of castor oil. Strange that children have used castor oil since the first dynasty. Surely, such a cheap drug must be pure. What! can it be possible that the modern variety is lard, with a little croton oil? The small boy is now asking for a marsh-mallow drop as a premium for his patronage. However, this contains no althaea, which is fortunate, considering the action ascribed by Xenocrates to that drug. Shades of ye ancient phy- sicians of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Arabia! No won- der that the modern doctor fails to obtain the same remedial results from drugs as his medical ancestors; for the medicine of to-day differs widely from that of the honest olden times. Methinks that the chemist makes his own physic, and no longer depends on nature's laboratory." "You slander the noble profession, of which Pre- scriber is an honest member," said Paulus Androcydes, in a tone of vexation. " I am willing to admit, however, that the drugs tof ancient times are gradually disappear- ing before our chemical establishments, which find hand- somer profits in manufacturing than in importing pure medicines. The modern chemist now supplies the mar- ket with refined agents, in place of the crude remedies of former ages." " True !" responded Athothis. " Chemistry is now the principal aid to the physician. Art has supplanted Na- ture in supplying medicine for mankind; the bountiful gifts offered by Patah are rejected for those presented by mortals. But, since you believe in the unadulterated