JAMA 100 YEARS AGO
APRIL 15, 1911
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS AND MODERN MEDICINE masses until Christian times. Surely there was at this time
no change from whole wheat to white flour the cause to
When, in 1907, it was decided to increase the height of
which our British colleagues are now ascribing the modern
the great dam at Assuan, the Egyptian government sought
prevalence of dental troubles.
to lessen, as far as possible, the destruction of the monu-
The chemists have also examined mummy material to
ments and relics of ancient life on the Nile, by securing for
some extent. Embalming as practiced by the Egyptians con-
scientific study as much as possible of the most valuable
sisted simply in removing most of the viscera, pickling with
material which would be submerged by the rise of the
salt, and letting the dry climate do the rest. Such preserved
waters. Numerous cemeteries on both banks of the river
tissues, even after centuries, retain some of their original
were explored, and no less than 6,000 bodies, representing
characteristics. When softened by soaking in weak alkali
burials during a period of 5,000 years, became available for
the different organs can be identified; the tubules of the
study. Dr. Elliot Smith, professor of anatomy in the medical
kidney and the different layers of the skin are still recogniz-
school at Cairo, who had already done much work with
able (Ruffer).2 A desiccated heart contained in a vase in the
similar material, was in charge of the anthropological inves-
Louvre, and supposed to have been the circulatory center
tigations, and largely because of his understanding of
of Rameses II about thirty-one centuries ago, was found to
pathology the results as reported contain much of medical
show still the structure characteristic of cardiac muscle.3
interest.1
The fatty elements seem to resist chemical change espe-
It seems that even six thousand years ago, in predynastic
cially well, and infiltrate the tissues in replacement of the
times, the population of the Nile valley was comparatively
decomposing elements.4 The proteins remain in small part
highly civilized, so that the history of civilization must go
apparently unaltered and coagulable by heat, although they
back much farther than the sixty centuries it can now be
are largely decomposed into proteoses and other cleavage
followed. During all that time man has been afflicted by at
products. In the mummified tissues the usual amino-acids
least some of the same diseases from which he now suffers,
of proteins can be found.5 It would seem that the biologic
although perhaps not to the same degree. Professor Smith
characteristics of the proteins are lost before the chemical,
found no positive evidence of syphilis in the Nubians;
for most of the attempts to secure the precipitin reaction
tuberculosis was apparently uncommon, and the character-
with mummy proteins have been unsuccessful. Only with
istic skeletal changes of rachitis were not observed. Rheu-
the extremely delicate anaphylaxis reaction can the human
matoid arthritis seems to have been prevalent, especially in
origin of mummy tissues be established.6
predynastic times. Urinary calculi were occasionally found,
and one predynastic calculus analyzed by Shattock was
1. The Archeological Survey of Nubia, 1907-8, vol. ii, Drs. G. Elliot Smith and F.
Wood Jones. A full review is given in Nature, 1910, lxxxv, 310.
found to be composed of a central body of urates and a
2. Ruffer, M. A.: Histology of Egyptian Mummies, Brit. Med. Jour., April 24, 1909.
shell of phosphates, indicating that six thousand years ago,
3. Brit. Med. Jour., April 28. 1906.
as now, urate calculi caused cystitis and ammoniacal 4. Schmidt: Ztschr. f. allg. Physiol., 1907, vii. 369.
5. Abderhalden and Brahm: Ztschr. f. physiol. Chem., 1909, ixi,4.
decomposition of the urine. The Micrococcus ureć is prob-
6. Uhlenhuth: Ztschr. f. Immunitatsforsch., 1910, iv, 774.
ably quite as old as civilization. Fibrous adhesions around
JAMA. 1911;56(15):1110
the appendix give the lie to jests about the  new-fangled fad
of appendicitis. Gout left its traces in the form of  chalk
Editor s Note: JAMA 100 Years Ago is transcribed verbatim from articles pub-
stones then as now; but caries of the teeth did not make its
lished a century ago, unless otherwise noted.
appearance until the early dynasties, first being found in
the wealthier classes, and not becoming common to the JAMA 100 Years Ago Section Editor: Jennifer Reiling, Assistant Editor.
1602 JAMA, April 20, 2011 Vol 305, No. 15 ©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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