Notes and Events

Edited by Dorothy M. Schullian*

Pare's Apophthegm
One of the most famous sayings in medical history is Ambroise Pare's
"I dressed him, and God healed him." There are, of course, many other
English renditions (e.g., "I dressed the wound and God healed it"), but

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these are a translator's prerogative. If, however, we consult standard medical
history texts for Park's own words we find several different versions:
Text Variant
Ackerknecht, E. H. A Short History of
Medicine. New York, Ronald Press
Co., 1955, p. 101. "Je le pansais, Dieu le guerit"
Baas, J. H. Outlines of the History of
Medicine and the Medical Profession.
Trans, by H. E. Handerson. New
York, J. H. Vail & Co., 1889, p. 400. "Je le pansay, Dieu le guarit"
Bailey, H. and Bishop, W. J. Notable
Names in Medicine and Surgery, 3d
ed., Springfield, 111., Thomas, 1959,
p. 100. "Je l'ay pansay: Dieu l'a guerit"
Castiglioni, A. A History of Medicine,
2d ed. Trans, by E. B. Krumbhaar.
New York, Knopf, 1947, p. 479. "Je le pansay, Dieu le guarit"
Garrison, F. H. An Introduction to
the History of Medicine, 4th ed.,
Philadelphia, Saunders, 1929, p. 225. "Je le pansay, Dieu le guarit"
Guthrie, D. A History of Medicine.
Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Co.,
1946, p. 146. "Je le pansait; Dieu le guarit"
Guthrie, D. A History of Medicine,
rev. ed. with supplement, London,
Nelson, 1958, p. 146. "Je le pansay; Dieu le guarit"
Leonardo, R. A. History of Surgery.
New York, Froben, 1943, p. 134. "Je le pansay, Dieu le guarit"
Major, R. H. Classic Descriptions of
Disease, 3d ed., Springfield, 111.,
Thomas, 1955, p. 445. "Je le pansay, Dieu le guarist"
Major, R. H. A History of Medicine,
2 vols., Springfield, 111., Thomas, 1954,
vol. 1, p. 429. "que je pensay et Dieu la guarist'
Sigerist, H. E. The Great Doctors.
Trans, by Eden and Cedar Paul. New
York, Norton, 1933, p. 137. "Je le pensai, Dieu le guarist"
History of Science Collections, Cornell University Libraries, Ithaca, New York.

[ 75 ]
76 Journal of the History of Medicine: JANUARY, 1963

What did Pare" say? The answer appears to depend on which edition of
his writings one consults. The first appearance of his famous epigram is in
his autobiographical The Apologie and Treatise . . . which was first pub-
lished in the fourth edition (1585) of his Oeuvres. On page 1214 of this
volume, in the section entitled Le Voyage de Thurin, the epigram first
appears and is rendered "I[J]e le pensay, & Dieu le guarit" (see Fig. 1).

LevoyagcdcThurin. if36.

'AVANTACEIC veux icy monflrer aux le&eurs lcs lieux &: places

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oui'aypcuapprcndrclaChirurgic.pourtoufiours micux inllruire
lc icune Chirurgicn. Et prcmicrcmcnt en l'an mil cinq ccns trcntc
fix,le grand Roy Francois enuoya vnc grande armce a Thurin.pour
rcprendrc lcs villes &C chaftcauxqu'auoic pris le Marquis du G11 a ft,
Lieutenant general dc l'Empcreur:ou monficur lc Conneftable,
lors grand Maiflrc,cftoit Lieucenantgeneral dc 1'armcc, & moficur
dc Mont-jan Collonncl general des gens de pied, duquel lors i'eftois Chirurgicn. Vne
grandcpartiede 1'armccarriuccaupasdcSuze,trouuafmcslcs ennemis qui cenoyenc
Jcpa/Tiigc.&auoycncfai&ccrcainsfbrts&ccrancliecs.defaconqucpourlcs fairc dc-
il'icaac. bufqucr Sc quitter la place, il conuinc combattre, ou il y cue pluficurs cuez & blcflcz rac
*»• d'vnc pareque d'aucrc: mais lcs ennemis furcnt contraintsfe recirer &gangncr lc cha-
fleau, qui fu t en partie par le Capicaine lc Rac, qui grimpa auec pluficurs ibldacs de fa
cornpagnie fur vne petite montagnetce, la ou ils tiroyent a plomb fur les ennemis, il rc-
.ccut vn coup d'hacqucbute a la chcuille du pied dextre, ou toucfubit tomba en terrc:
&alorsdie,AceireheurclcRateftpris.lelcpcnfay.&Dieulcguarit. Nousentrafmes
a foulle en la villc.Ji paiEons parfus les morts, & quclqucs-vns nc l'cftans encore, lcs
oyont crier fous lcs pieds de nos chcuaux, qui me faifoic grandc paffion en mon cceur.
Ecvcritablc-
FIG. 1. T h e first appearance (third last line) of Pare"s apophthegm in
the fourth edition (1585) of his Oeuvres.

T h e possible existence of textual variants of this epigram was checked by

consulting copies of the 1585 edition of the Oeuvres from the following
libraries: 1
Birmingham Medical Institute
British Museum
Clendening Medical Library, University of Kansas Medical Center
Lane Medical Library, Stanford Medical Center
University of Michigan School of Medicine
New York Academy of Medicine
Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Royal Society of Medicine
Yale University School of Medicine.
None of the nine copies from the above repositories differed in their
rendition of the epigram, all giving " I [ J ] e le pensay, & Dieu la guarit."
1 Information concerning these holdings was, of course, obtained from Janet Doe's
invaluable A bibliography of the works of Ambroise Pari, Chicago. University of Chicago
Press, 1937- Miss Doe, in accordance with information from Dr. Waller himself, credits the
Waller Library with a copy, but the copy is not now in the Universitetsbiblioteket at
Uppsala.
 Notes and Events 77
In later editions of the Oeuvres the situation is different, and Malgaigne
has drawn attention to this in his edition of the Oeuvres. He states: "Dans
presque toutes les premieres Editions de Part on lit guerir, guerison; dans
les dernieres, guarir, guarison. Bien que j'eusse raisonnablement le choix, je
n'ai pas toujours voulu en user; et par exemple le mot celebre de Pare': Je le
pansay, Dieu le guarit, est incruste' sous cette forme dans toutes les m&noires;
c'est ainsi qu'il a £t£ originairement e"crit; j'ai done ecrit moi-meme, selon
les occurrences, tantot gueri, tantot guari."2 In his own version of the
Oeuvres, Malgaigne gives the famous epigram thus: "le le pensay, et Dieu
le guarist" (vol. 3, p. 689).

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Malgaigne's whimsical usage of now one and now another variant of
Part's apophthegm seems capricious, and I would suggest—if only to have
our textbooks agreeing with one another and not, albeit unintentionally,
misleading students—that we adopt from now on the wording as it first
appears in the 1585 edition of the Oeuvres, namely "I[J]e le pensay, & Dieu
le guarit."
L. R. C. AGNEW
1 am grateful to the librarians of the institutions mentioned in this paper for their
kindness and courtesy in providing photocopies of the relevant passage in the 1585 edition
of Pare's Oeuvres.
2 Malgaigne, J. F. Oeuvres completes d'Ambroise Pare", Paris, Bailliere, 1840-41, 3 vols.:
vol. 1, p. cccxliii.

Hippocrates and Philosophy

The De Medicina of Celsus is an important source for ancient Greek
medicine. One well-known passage in the Prooemium has resulted, I believe,
in considerable confusion. Celsus wrote, "At first the science of healing was
held to be part of philosophy, so that treatment of disease and contemplation
of the nature of things began through the same authorities; clearly because
healing was needed especially by those whose bodily strength had been
weakened by restless thinking and night watching. Hence we find that many
who professed philosophy became expert in medicine, the most celebrated
being Pythagoras, Empedocles and Democritus. But it was, as some believe,
a pupil of the last, Hippocrates of Cos, a man first and foremost worthy
to be remembered, notable both for professional skill and for eloquence,
who separated this branch of learning from the study of philosophy."1
There are three features of note here. First is the general statement, as
if a matter of historical fact, that "medendi scientia sapientiae pars habe-
batur." This seems entirely reasonable, and is quite acceptable without
cavil, that those who devoted their lives to the pursuit of wisdom should
also have acquired a knowledge oi medicine. The propriety of translating
"sapientia" as "philosophy" may be questioned, for there are many post-
renaissance overtones connected with diis word, often of an unfavorable
character, regarding the distinction between mere "speculation" on the
one hand and "natural philosophy" or science on the other.