Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 194-195. (Budapest, 2006)
TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - KÁROLY, László: A Seventeenth-Century Chaghatay Treatise on Medicine
elements fire air humours 12 yellow bile blood hot and dry hot and wet cold and wet cold and dry qualities water earth phlegm black bile Subhân Qulï tells us that humoral problems may appear in anyone who suffers from a disease. However, he does not say anything about the balance of the four humours. In Chapter 1, further data can be found about Subhan Qul'i's medical system. He enumerates the main parts of the body, and defines their behaviour, attributes and functions. • 'aql miyä-dä erür wa tarn mi'da-da wa kite qolda wa hism ötdä wa telbä-lik basda wa togri nafas urmak öpkädä wa kam urmak bögräk-dä 'intelligence is in the brain, coveting is in the stomach, power is in the arm, anger is in the gall, madness is in the head, correct breathing is in the lungs, and longing is in the kidney' (1lv9-ll) • bagir qan üyü erür wa öt safrä üyü erür wa bögräk sahwat üyü erür wa könül yaruqluq üyü erür wa talag balgam üyü erür wa qawuq sawuq-luq üyi erür 'the liver is the house of the blood, the gall [organ] is the house of the bile [liquid], the kidney is the house of lust, the heart is the house of brilliance, the spleen is the house of phlegm, and the bladder is the house of coldness' (11 vl2-12rl) 13 4.2. Divine medicaments In addition to drugs, Subhân Qulï recommends the usage of divine medicaments. This kind of cure is of great importance in his work: in some cases he recommends only this method. There arc several ways of using divine medicaments and they are useful for every kind of illness. If the disease is not a serious one, it is necessary to pray and read suras from the Koran. • bas agrïgï ücün oqumak käräkyä biti-mäk käräk... 'for headache, ... must be read or written' ( 19rl 3-19vl) In certain diseases, other methods of treatment must be applied in order to achieve a more effective and perfect result: 1. to write down the given sura and blow at the sick body part; 2. to take blue and white yarns and spin them during praying; 3. to write special names or suras onto seeds and eat them or hang them on the neck; 4. to write down a special sura and bury it in the niche of a mosque; or 5. to write special letters onto the ground and pass through them. 12 "If these four humours form a balanced mixture, then there is health. If the balance is quantitatively or qualitatively disturbed, then illness ensues." (Ullmann 1978: 58). " It is noteworthy that this list contains only three humours: blood, yellow bile and phlegm. The fourth one (black bile) appears in the treatise not more than twice.
