The introduction is to “The Medical Aphorisms of Moses Maimonides” is fundamentally an author’s explanation of important literary issues in the book. Here the Rambam explains why he set his work up by using the grammatical form of aphorisms. Aphorism is a translation of the Hebrew word פֶּרֶק (perek). In this case a perek is a short paragraph. An example of this would be the Mishna especially Pirkei Avos. He justifies his choice of Mishnayos because it is readable, understandable, and penetrating, and also remarks that this form was used by Hippocrates, Galen, and other great doctors. The aphorisms are required to be memorized. The objective is that the student should ponder each aphorism and be articulate about it.
Maimonides then discusses the nature of citing the original source and its importance. In regards to that he says it should be done concisely and with selectively. This is so the article will not become excessively wordy. Much text is spent justifying his decisions against likely public criticism. He concludes by saying that he organized the chapters into a number of articles “to lighten up the task of memorizing them and to reveal that which I wanted to reveal (להתגלות בזה מה שאני רוצת לגלותו)”.
25 chapters are then listed each with a less than one sentence title. Some of the topics include physical description of parts of the body and their workings, medical theory and techniques, general medical advice, and treatments for specific maladies. However, there is not much of topical pattern.
The first chapter has 74 aphorisms. It describes the parts of the body, how they operate, and their functions. However some of them are digressions to aid in memorization. The first aphorism states, “Nerves both sensory and motor join the brain or spinal cord to the muscles. They touch the front or the center of the muscle. The middle section is regarded as the principal section of the muscle”. The next mishna is about the connection of the nerves to the muscles of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a part of the body which separates the digestive organs from the lungs and heart. The next aphorisms deal with arteries and veins. The skeletal system is then brought into the analysis. After that the organs are briefly discussed. The senses and mental illness are also mentioned briefly. The last topics are things like movement especially voluntary movement, memory, digestion, expulsion of waste, speech, and procreation.
The longest sections are number 38 concerning sensations during sleep, number 58 on the assimilation of nutrients, and number 72 on the potentials of semen. Sections 32 through 40 deal with voluntary movement which is contrasted with the reflex and confused movements which occur during sleep. Maimonides explains that voluntary movement is sometimes derived from active thought and other times from reflexes caused by various sensations. He also mentions a guarding force emanating from memory.
The Rambam counts three stages of digestion. The first occurs in the stomach, the second in the intestines, and the third in the liver, after which the finished nutrients are distributed throughout the body. Four seminal forces are described. It is not clear if these emanate from some form of semen itself or simply have similar properties. The first is the procreating or developmental force which makes things like bones and nerves. The structure-forming force shapes and sizes them. There are also growth and nutritive forces. All of them are present in the workings of the body from the fetus until death. However different ones are dominant at different periods of a person’s life.
Bibliography:
פרקי משה - משה בן מימון, 1138-1204; HebrewBooks.org;
Rosner, Dr. Fred; Maimonides Medical Writings (Volume 3) - The Medical Aphorisms of Moses Maimonides; published by The Maimonides Research Institute, Haifa, Israel.
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