242 S.A. MEDICAL JOURNAL

Astrology, Drugs and Medicine

By OUR NEW YORK CORRESPONDEKT.

The Archbishop of St. Andrews, stricken with a disease whichbaffled the physicians of England, sent to the Continent in1552 for the aid of the mathematician-astrologer, JeromeCardan.

After erecting the horoscope of the prelate, by which it issaid the disease wa discovered and cured, Cardan, accordingto Manly Hall, took his leave with these words: "I havebeen able to cure you of your sickness, but caunot change yourdestiny, nor prevent you from being hung."

Eighteen years later, this Archbiohop was hung by order ofthe conmlissioners appointed by Mary, Queen of Scots.

ASTROLOGy-1\OBLEST OF SCIE:>CES.

Thi happened in the sixteenth century when a new goldenage of astrology had begun. Astrology, which in thousands ofyears never had been entirely forgotten by humanity desperatelysearching for spiritual support, had flourished in Chaldea,Babylon, India, Egypt, China, Greece and Rome, and had beensuppressed with the ad,-ent of Christianity. For centuries itremained quiescent. but it was brought back again when theArabs o,'errau Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Soon it was considered the noblest of the sciences. Everyking, prince and duke had his court astrologer. Famousastronomers, such as Tyho Brahe and Johann Kepler, dedicatedthemseh-es to astrology. Kepler, who was General Wallen­stein's astrologer, made for the year 1619 the famous prophecyof the six M's: Magnlls ilfonarcha Jlatthias Mense lIlart-isMorietur-the great Monarch Matthias will die in the monthof March. Emperor Matthias actually died on March 20th ofthat year. The Church was opposed to astrology, and an earlymodem scientist, Sir Francis Bacon, ridiculed it by saying:"Men mark when they hit, and never mark when they miss."

Medical astrology at times was. considered the very centreof medical knowledge, and at other times the height ofcharlatanism and humbug. It originated from the belief thatthe celestial bodies are concerned somehow with the welfareof the individual. Jastrow mentions the misconception that theDeity, the planets and the forces of Xature generally areconcerned wit.h the welfare of the indi\-idual man, and theirconduct brings about his conduct as reward or punishment.This conception appears in all the discussion of the physicaldiseases, but it disappeared as an active force in diseases ofthe body long before it disappeared in the diagnosis and treat­ment of the diseases of the mind.

Babylonians and Assyrians gave the world the belief thatthe Macrocosm of the Heavens reflects the Microcosm inindividual man. Astrology passed from Babylon to Greecewithout" however, exerting any particular influence upon Greekmedicine, although in Hippocrates' and later in Galen's workswe find several hints as to the yalue of astrology upon man'swelfare.

The seven heavenly bodies-the sun. the moon and the fiveplanets which can be seen by the naked eye, namely, :Mercury,:Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn-correspond to the sevendays of the week and the seven metals that were known at thattime: gold. silver, iron, mercury. tin, lead and copper. Priest,seer and physician in ancient times were frequently one andthe same person. Prognosis and treatment of disease wereinfluenced by the time of the onset of the disease in relationto the position of the heavenly bodies.

ASTROLOGICAL TERMS.

Later, as astronomy advanced. the astrological ~erms wereincreased. The followinl! short explanation of astrologicalterms follows in the main points Camac. Two groups ofheavenly bodies were observed: first. those that are always inthe same place (fixed). usually in clnsters. To these the nameronstellations (con-stella. grouped or clustered stars) was gi\'en.There were about 28 clusters in the North and 64 in the South.Between these was noticed a band of 12 clusters which was

called the circle of animals or zodiac (from Greek 'Lodion,dinlinution of won, animal). Each cluster had a name, eitherbased on some fancied resemblance to a natural object orsupposedly relating to the weather and agricultural conditionsof the earth and corresponding to the months of the year. Toeach was also given a sign, and these were known as thesigns of the zodiac.

The second group of heavenly bodies were single stars whichwere not fixed; they were noticed to "wander" and werecalled planets (from Greek planein, to wander). The earthwas the centre, and about it the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the moon wandered (Neptune,Uranus and Pluto were added by modern astronomy). Th'!signs of the zodiac and the positions of the planets, withreference to the hour of an individual's conception, birth,onset of disease, etc., were the basis of what was later h"llownas "judicial" astrology, and the interpretation came to becalled "casting the horoscope" (hora, hour, season). Theinstrument used was the astrolabe (star-taker), the forerunnerof the sextant.

According to the " Geomance abregee " of J. B. de la Taillede Bondaroy (Paris, 1574), the Moon, Mercury, Mars andSaturn are generally malefic in their influence; the Sun,Jupiter and Venus generally benefic. The Moon is the planetof brooding and melancholy; Mercury is the planet of com­merce and the arts; Yenus is the planet of love; the Sunpresides over glory and terrestrial riches; 1I1ars presides overwar and battles; Jupiter is concerned with honours andphysical beauty; and Saturn is the most inauspicious andmalefic of all the planets-he foretells accidents, violent deaths,and disasters. The influence of these different planets ismodified according as they are in conjunction, opposition orother aspects.

The metals connected with the planets were: Moon-silver;Mercury-mercury; Venlls-copper; Sun-gold; Mars-iron;Jupiter-tin; Saturn-lead.

The therapeutic side of astrology is "very much un­developed ", as a London observer put it, but the course tofollow is plainly indicated. Every plant and zodiac sign hasits typical plants, metals and drugs.

DRUGS A~'-D PL_-L'\ETS_

Such typical drugs, for instance, belonging to Jupiter are:stannum, eupatorium, mentha, ginseng, iridin; or to Saturn:lead, aconite, belladonna, antimony, salicylate of soda, helle­borns, hyoscyamus, conium, rhus, toxicodendron, verbascum,Indian hemp, hydrocyanic acid.. The Chinese tried to develop the therapeutic side of astrologyby surrounding an individual whose horoscope has been" light", and who therefore is prone to incurable complaints,with exorcising objects, giving him proper amulets to wearand proper medicines to swallow and by selecting for himauspicious days and hours.

General as well as medical astrology are too cryptic an.?ambiguous; they have too many loopholes to be of practicalvalue. Forman tells an amusing story which is evidence ofthis ambiguity. As early as 1179 many astrologers felt bound,in virtue of their superior knowledge, to send letters to alllands announcing a great cataclysm, the end of the world,seven years hence, in 1186. The populations of Europe viewedwith alarm the impendin~ fnture. The Persian poet andastrologer Anwari predicted " a great tempest" for September16, 1186. The conjunction of five planets in the sign of theBalance or Libra, on that night, prompted Anwari to hisportentous prediction. However, the night happened to bevery calm, and Anwari was overwhelmed with ridicule for hisforecast. But it was afterwards noted that Genghiz Khan,.chief of the devastating Tartars, was born on that ni~ht. Soit was considered that Anwari foresaw a great storm, but mis­understood its nat\!Ie. To this day the advent of GenghizKhan is still accounted one of the phenomenal events in humanannals.

Arnold da Villanova assigns particular strength to each hour.This strength flows into different parts of the body, accordingto the position of the horoscope. Most important for blood­letting is the position of the moon; the best is the cancer, thecrab. Moon + Saturn spoil the effect of medicines, particu­larly of laxatives.

Mei II 1946 S.A. TYDSKRIF VIR GENEESKUNDE 243

HUMAN BODY AND CELESTilL BODIES.

Here is a table of the connection of celestial bodies and parts of the human body, according to different authors in differentcenturies.

STARS.

Saturn

JupiterMarsSunVenusMercuryMoon

Aries, RamTaurus, BullGemini, TwinsCancer, CrabLeo, LionVirgo, VirginLibra, BalanceScorpio, ScorpionSagittarius, ArcherCapricornus, GoatAquarius, Water CarrierPisces, Fishes

PTOLEMAIOS.

Egyptian Astronomer about100-178 .-l..D.

R. Ear, Spleen, Arms, Shin-bone

Lungs, Liver, FootL. Ear, Arteries, GenitalsR. Side, HeartNeck, FleshHand, Shoulder, HipL. Side, Stomach

ARNOLD DE VILLA.."'10VA.

Montpellier 1235/40-1312.

R. Ear, Spleen, Bladder

LiYer, RibsL. Ear, Arteries, TesticlesR. Side, BrainKidneys, TongueKidneys, TongueL. Side, Stomach

HeadNeck, ShoulderArms, HandsChest, RibsHeart, Lungs, LiverIntestines, AbdomenNates, AnusGenitalsHipsKneesLegsFeet

HnrMELS LAUFF.

Published Frankfurt-on-Main,1550.

L. Ear, Spleen

Liver, Ribs.GallFace, HeartKidneysTongueIntestines

HeadNeck, ShouldersArms, HandsLungs,· ChestHeart, Stomach, BackIntestines, Abdomen, KidneysUmbilicus, BladderGenitals, Kidneys, AnusLegsKnee, ShinboneShinboneFeet

In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance medical astrology wasat times encouraged by universities and courts. A courtphysician of the 15th century was often an "astronomerroyal "-a deviser of fortune-tellers' almanacs. At the Uni­versity of Bologna, in the early fourteenth century, there wasa Professorship of Astrology. Here is a modern counterpart:an Encyclopredia of Medical Astrology has been published in1933, written by a medical doctor whose title is: HonoraryProfessor of Medical Astrology at the First National Universityof Naturopathy and Allied Sciences.

INCOME OF AN ASTROLOGIST.

Astrologists as well as alchemists frequently had highincomes. A leading alchemist and astrologist in the sixteenthcentury was Leonhard Thurneysser zum Thurn, born in Basel,Switzerland. As physician-in-ordinary to the Elector ofBrandenburg he received annually the sum of 1,352 thalers,which in itself was a high honorarium at that time. Hisactivities were so extensive that he maintained a staff of 200people. One of his activities was putting together medicinechests for travellers which contained more than 100 medica­ments. The price of such medicine chests was 386 thalerseach. He was a druggist on a large scale, preparing tinctures,mixtures, inunctions, which he made in his own laboratory, tohigh prices. Especially expensive were his secret remedies.such as amethyst tincture, ruby, sapphire, coral, or emeraldtinctures. Thurneysser earned enormous sums through thecasting of horoscopes; the Count of Oettingen paid 100 guldenfor one. His fortune eventually amounted to more than 100,000gulden. However, he could not cast his own horoscope as wellas that of others. and did not foresee that ultimately he wouldlose his last gulden and thaler in a law-suit.

ArMAc'\ACS A:-'"D CALEXDARS.

A unique copy of a "Calendar for Blood-letting"I" Aderlasskalender "), printed at Mainz in 1642, is mentionedby Garrison. These popular almanacs show the hold whichjudicial astrology (the "Lasstafelkunst") has taken upon thepeonle. In some of them a special figure. the "zodiacman"(" Tierkreiszeichen-Mann ") indicates as in drug store almanacsof more recent data, the parts of the body influenced by

different planetary conjunctions, proper times for bleeding andpurgation under each sign of the zodiac, with. gloomyprognostications of the terrible diseases, wars, fammes andother pests which were to befall humanity under differentascendancies and conjunctions of the planets.

The almanacs and calendars of that time contained endlesstables of the best positions of the planets for variousactivities: cutting the hair, drawing the teeth, taking a bathor a medicine, performing an operation, time for bleeding, etc.When in the 15th century syphilis spread all over Europe, thispandemic was believed to have bee~ produced by an un!-u:cb:yposition of the Scorpion. At all tunes, however, physlclansassailed this unfounded belief in the medical effects of starpositions-among them doctors such as Manardo, who died inFlorence in 1536. Some pictures of that period show the eventof childbirth in the living-room, while in the background long­bearded men (physicians?) contemplate the starry skies.

PARACELSUS AXD MEDICAL ASTROLOGY.

Paracelsus believed in experience and experiment, but hestill was a product of the early sixteenth century, and there­fore believed in astrology. He stated that lunacy grows worsewith full and new moon because the brain is the microcosmicmoon. Re demands that the physician should be an astronomerand should choose the proper time for resisting and ruling.On the other hand, he says: "Stars control nothing in us,,uggest nothing. incline to nothing, own nothing; they arefree from us and we are free from them."

Also in the seventeenth century astrology bulked large inmedical superstitions. The influenza (grippe) received its namein Tta)y in the seventeenth century because its origin wasattributed to the "influence of the stars". A famous booknf Dr. Richard Mead, private physician to George II ofEngland, appeared in 1727; it is entitled "De Imperio Soliset Lunae in corpora humana et Morbis inde oriundis ".

One of the most terrific satires upon medical astrology iscontained in Frano;:ois Rabelais' (himself a physician)"Gargantua and Pantagruel". Panurge goes to consult HerTl'ipa-identical with the famous doctor of Cologne, HeinrichComeJius Al!rippa von ettesheim, who was court astrologerto Louis of Savoy.

244 S.A. MEDICAL JOURNAL May II, 1946

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Her,pes Simplex Keratitis in Malaria.

There appears to be an increased incidence of keratitisas.sociated ~ith herpes simplex in a population heavily infectedWIth malana. Among new patients at the ophthalmologic clinics~udi~d during an 18-month period there have been more thanSIX tImes as many from a malarial division as from a com­parable group that had not been exposed to malaria. However,less than 0.2 per cent. of patients with acute malaria admittedto the general medical service of this hospital ever had thistype of ~e.rpetic ke~atitis. ~eJ.1c~ the like~ihood <;>f precipitatinga de~dntIc ulcer In the IndIVIdual patIent WIth therapeuticmalarIa would seem very small. Early diagnosis and intensivetreatment of t~e malaz:i~l fever .are .essent!al in the manage­ment of herpetIc keratItIS occurrmg m patIents with malaria.Recurrent attacks of malaria are often associated with a

It is said that astrology is flourishing richly in our times,another means of escaping reality, and when we see the numberof .astrologlcal books, many of which have gone through several~dItlOns, as well as of astrological magazines and departmentsm newspapers, we might believe it. The American Society forthe. Contro~ of Cancer, but a few years ago, felt it necessary~o ISsne thIS. statement: "The strange superstition that thereIS a connectIOn between Cancer, the signs of the Zodiac, andcancer, the disease, still persists, some people believing thatbecanse they are born under that sign they are predestined todie of that disease. This is not so."

Medical astrology has no real foundation in the modern worldof science and art of healing. This does not exclude, of course,that the attention we give to the physical influence of weather,atmospheric conditions, etc., on the human body is greaterto-day than it has been at any time for many centuries.

Weather and Susceptibility to the Common Cold.This is a report of an analysis of changes in the incidence of

the common cold during the year 1942-1943 in a group of 1,600girls of college age. This is accompanied by a study of theseason to season changes in average physiologic fitness and thedifferences in average duration of the common cold as influencedby the ~dministration of ascorbic and citric acid. Sharp in­creases. In the nUJJ.1ber of new colds per day occurred dnringthe p.erlOds of fallmg temperature accompamed by heavy rain.The mcreases began and were most steadily sustained in thegirls with a total of four or more colds for the year. Thesmokers, also, had a tendency to precede the non-smokers. Theweather-precipitated rises in colds-incidence tended to begin 24to 48 hours after the beginning of the weather change and toperSIst for 24 to 48 hours after its cessation. The total numberof colds, for the September wave, reached its halfway pointtwo days earlier for the more-susceptible fraction than for theless-susceptible fraction. Only a slio-ht deterioration in avera~ephysiologic fitness occurred with th~ proo-ress of the veal'. Thedeterioration was not uniform but restricted to a small fraction.partially balanced by a smaller group showing improvement:The smokers appeared to be slightly less fit, on the whole,than the non-smokers. Nose involvement predominated in thefall colds and throat involvement in the winter colds. whichwere, mainly. seconds and thirds rather than first colds.

A total of 298 colds was studied for the ascorbic acidappraisal, 119 .of which were controls given placebos of citricaCId. ApprOXimately 60 per cent. of the colds with throati~volvement only appeared to respond to the basic managementgIV~~ both the <;ontrol ~nd ascorbic acid groups-restriction ofactIVIty, precautIOn agamst chi1lin~, and increased fluid intake-with a. spontaneo~s checking of further development. Thecolds WIth nose Involvement were equally responsive tomanagement, alone, if recognised and submitted to care withinseven hours of presumed onset. For those not recognised andsubmitted to care until 8 to 28 hours after presumed onsetthe percentage of spontaneous checking of further developmentswas, for those given 1 gm. of ascorbic acid at time of firstexamination and again 24 hours later, 59 + 5 and for thosegiven citric acid, 21 + 4. ' ,

(Brown, W. B.. et al. : Journal of Immunology, 50: 161,March, 1945.)

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The Influence of the Placental Site on Fretal Presentation.

The great majority of placentas are located on the anterior orposterior wall of the uterus. The ratio found in this study was47 anterior to 53 posterior. The placenta located on the anteriorwall have a definite tendency to the production of occiputposterior presenting fretuses. Mathematically, when the placentawas anterior the chance for occiput posterior presentation of thefretus was double what it was if the placenta was posterior, 33.3per cent. to 14.5 per cent. The placenta located on the posteriorwall had an increased tendency to produce occiput anteriorpresentation in the fretuses. In this incidence, when the placentawas on the posterior wall the chance of presentation beingocciput anterior was nearly twice what it was when the placentawas anterIor, 59 per cent. to 33.6 per cent. The incidence ofocciput transverse presentation of the fretus in the first stageof labour was 26.5 per cent. if the placenta was located on theposterior wall and 33 per cent. if it was located on the anteriorwall.

(R. Torpin : Journal of the American 1Ifed'ical Association,February 24, 1945.)

Neurologic Complications Following the Use of ContinuousCaudal Anresthesia.

The authors present two obstetric cases with unusual com­plications following the use of continuous caudal amesthesia.In one case the sequela was either an epidural or a subduralabscess, which responded to treatment with a sulfonamide com­pound with complete recovery. The exact location of theabscess was not determined, and no operation was performed.This case was previously briefly reported by SieveI' and Mouselas that of epidural abscess. The other complication wasarachnoiditis involving the cauda equina with secondaryosteomyelitis, the final outcome of which is still in doubt becauseof a residual pathologic process. It appears, therefore, that therole of infection in the production of complications followingthe use of caudal anresthesia is second only to the introductionof the anresthetic into the subarachnoid space, and this viewhas also been recently expressed by Gready.

(peacher and Robertson: Archives of Neurology andPsychiatry, December, 1944.)

reactivation or an extension of the corneal ulceration. Throughimpairment of vision and prolonged irritation of the eye,herpes simplex keratitis has necessitated more disposition tolimited duty of patients at this station than any other singleeye condition. .

Sulfadiazine power applied locally to five dendritic nlcersseemed to promote rapid healing in each instance. In fonrcases of atypical recurrent herpetic nlcers snlfadiazine wasof no demonstrable benefit. These results suggest that 'sulfa­diazine may prove a satisfactory adjunct to the accepted treat­ment WIth strong solution of iodine D.S.P. Local applicationsof snlfanilamide were of no apparent value. In three patientswith ulcers of dendritic pattern and in one patient withrecurrent ulceration no improvement resulted. The herpessimplex virus was isolated from one dendritic nlcer after tendays' treatment with the drug. From the cornea of each oftwo patients with recurrent malarial attacks and dendritickeratitis the causative agent was transferred to a rabbit'scornea, and thence to the chorioallantoic membrane of a chickembryo, where characteristic lesions of herpes simplex viruswere produced. The identity of ~he virus was confirmed byneutrahsatlOn tests. When the .skIn was tested for sen~itivity

to herpes slIDplex antIgen pOSItIve responses were obtamed inabout 80 per cent. of a sample of hospitalised adult patients,and there was no appreciable difference in incidence betweenmalarial and non-malarial patients. Thirteen patients withherpes simplex keratitis were shown by neutralisation tests toh~ve serum antibodies against a known strain of herpes simplexVIruS: Each of the~e patients gave a strongly positive cutaneousreactIOn. The pOSSIble value of such a cutaneous test in certainatypical cases of herpetic keratitis has beeu indicated.

(Chamberlain, Captain W. P., Jr., and Bronson. CaptainL. H., Jr.: Archives of Ophthalmology,' 33: 177,March, 1945.)

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