ARABIAN   MEDICINE;   THE   SCHOOL   OF   SALERNO
House of Hohenstaufen, decreed in 1221 that no one should
practise medicine until he had been publicly examined and
approved by the masters of Salerno, " in order that the king's
subjects should not incur danger through the inexperience of
their physicians." Furthermore, no one could proceed to the
study of medicine until he had attained the age of twenty-one
years, had proved his legitimacy, and had studied logic for
three years. The medical course lasted for five years, with an
additional year of practice under the supervision of an older
practitioner. The candidate, having passed the examinations,
took the oath to uphold the school, to attend the poor gratis, to
administer no noxious drug, to teach nothing false, and not to
keep an apothecary's shop. He then received a ring, a laurel
wreath, a book, and the kiss of peace, after which he was entitled
to call himself Magister or Doctor, and to practise medicine.^1
It was at Salerno that the medical man was first called " Doctor."
The School of Salerno was also the first attempt to co-ordinate
the teaching of medicine without any restriction as to religion or
nationality, and also the first to grant degrees after a definite
course of study and examinations.
Famous Graduates
The fame of the Salerno school spread far, and among those
who came to study was gilles de corbeil (J£gidus Corboliensis)
(c. 1200),^2 a celebrated French physician who subsequently
taught in the University of Paris, and who wrote, after the fashion
of the time, two long poems in hexameter, De Pulsibus and
De Urinis, which became widely known. Another famous pupil
of Salerno was michael scot (a.d. U75),^3 who had a great
reputation as a practitioner, not only of medicine, but also of
the magical art of astrology. One of Michael Scot's prescriptions
casts an interesting light upon the early history of anaesthesia.
" Take of opium, mandragora, and henbane equal parts, pound
and mix them with water. When you want to saw or cut a man,
dip a rag in this and put it to his nostrils. He will soon sleep
^1 L. Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science, New York, 1934-41, voL it
 *	S. Dlrsay, "The Life and Works of Gilles de Corbeil," Ann. Med. Hist., 1925,
vol. vii. p. 362	, ;
 *	J. W* Brown, The Life and Legend of Michael Scot, Edinburgh^ 1897.   (Michael Scot's
best-known work, De Ptwionomie, had a wide and long reputation*)
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