Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes:

Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_ in the original text. Equal signs “=” before and after a word or phrase indicate =bold= in the original text. Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals. Illustrations and footnotes have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs. Deprecated spellings have been preserved. Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.

ASTROLOGY IN MEDICINE

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO

ASTROLOGY IN MEDICINE

THE FITZPATRICK LECTURES DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS ON NOVEMBER 6 AND 11, 1913 WITH ADDENDUM ON SAINTS AND SIGNS

BY CHARLES ARTHUR MERCIER, M.D. FELLOW OF THE COLLEGE

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON 1914

_COPYRIGHT_

Cambridge: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

TO SIR THOMAS BARLOW, BART., K.C.V.O. PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON

CONTENTS

PAGE LECTURE I 1

LECTURE II 39

SAINTS AND SIGNS 80

LECTURE I

The position of Astrology among the Sciences is quite unique. Its origin is so remote as to antecede all written records: it has formed an important part of the life of every nation that has advanced beyond barbarism: it has been studied with enthusiasm not only by every European nation, but also by the Egyptians, the natives of India, the Chinese, the Arabs, the Jews, and by the Babylonians and the Chaldeans. It was studied in one long unbroken effort for thousands of years, and engaged the most strenuous endeavours of some of the greatest intellects in every age. Albertus Magnus was a convinced astrologer, and even Roger Bacon, that very great man, projected a universal medicine founded upon Astrology. A knowledge of Astrology was a necessary part of the equipment of all educated men; and Astrological terms form to this day an integral part of every European language. We still _consider_; we still find persons and things _in opposition_; we still suffer _disaster_; we still find some things _exorbitant_; and others in the _ascendent_; some persons are still fortunate enough to be born _under a lucky star_; we still deal in _merchandise_; with _merchants_; we are all familiar with the _martial_ cloak of Sir J. Moore; we still describe dispositions and persons as _Saturnine_, _Jovial_, _Martial_ or _Mercurial_; we still retain the names of _Saturday_, _Sunday_ and _Monday_; in Medicine we retain the terms _Lunatic_ and _Venereal disease_, and in the latter we still prescribe _Mercury_; and we still begin our prescriptions with the sign of _Jupiter_.

Yet these are the only remaining remnants of a science and an art that were once of paramount importance; and even medical men are ignorant of the very terminology of a science and an art that have been declared, by authority after authority, to be so necessary to the proper practice of medicine, that without them medicine could not be efficiently practised, and no medical practitioner was fully equipped for his task. Astrology is now utterly extinct. It began to decay at the renaissance; it languished in the seventeenth century; the last man of high distinction who practised it in this country was John Dryden[1]; but though Peter Woulfe, a F.R.S., maintained the truth of Astrology at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it had really expired when it received its deathblow from the biting humour of Jonathan Swift. Yet when Walter Scott, less than a century afterwards, introduced into one of his novels the terms of the art, there was no one then living, nor has there been since any commentator of sufficient knowledge, to expose the blunders that he made.

[Footnote 1: In a letter to his sons John and Charles, dated Sept. 3, 1697, Dryden says ‘Towards the latter end of this month, September, Charles will begin to recover his perfect health according to his nativity, which, casting it myself, I am sure is true, and all things hitherto have happened according to the very time that I predicted them.’ See also the Preface to his Fables, and the lines

The utmost malice of the stars is past— Now frequent trines the happier lights among, And high raised Jove, from his dark prison freed, Those weights took off that on his planet hung, Will gloriously the new-laid works succeed.

]

To such a record there is no parallel in the history of human endeavour. There are indeed two subjects of study that afford an approximation, but an approximation only, to the history of Astrology. The first of these is Alchemy, which really included what we now call Chemistry, and is therefore very far from extinct. Alchemy is usually, however, understood to mean solely, what it did in fact include as its principal objects, the search for the philosopher’s stone, and the search for the elixir of life. The philosopher’s stone was desired, not as an end in itself, but as a means to the transmutation of metals, which were not then known to be elements. I need not remind this audience that this endeavour, which has been the object for the finger of scorn for so many years, is now almost within sight of success. Certain elements are now transmuted, or transmute themselves; and one at least of the metals known to the ancient Alchemists is now made in the laboratory. Nor need I remind you that one eminent physician discovered, a few years ago, the elixir of life in orchidian extract; while another has still more recently made the surprising discovery that the elixir of life is neither more nor less than sour milk. He was more fortunate than a predecessor, who first isolated alcohol, and having drunk freely of the newly discovered elixir of life, died, by the irony of fate, of acute alcoholic poisoning.

A nearer parallel to the fate of Astrology is to be found in that of Aristotelian Logic; but the parallel is still not quite complete. It is true that Logic was once cultivated with the same universality and the same fervour as Astrology; that it was aforetime, like Astrology, a necessary part of the equipment of every man who pretended to be educated; and that it is now fallen into neglect and contempt that are well-nigh as universal as its former cultivation; but, unlike Astrology, Logic is not yet quite extinct. It is dying, indeed: it is in the very agony of death; but it still breathes. The lamp of Astrology is utterly gone out, but the expiring flame of Logic still flickers precariously in some of the dark places of the earth. We might still find, by diligent search, professors who know the meaning of Barbara and Celarent, of Bocardo and Baralipton, and can even subject them to the orthodox manipulations of logical art; but who now knows the meaning of a triplicity or a horoscope? or could cast a geniture, or rectify a nativity? Logic is moribund, it is true, but Astrology is already dead. It has been dead so long that it no longer stinks; perhaps because it is embalmed in the writings of so many men that were eminent in their day. We have even forgotten how conspicuous and important a position it occupied among the sciences, the arts, and the crafts of our forefathers; and it is because the long sleep of medicine, its stagnation and want of progress through so many centuries, was due in no small degree to the shackles of Astrology, and of the humoral pathology, which Astrology countenanced and corroborated, that I think it seemly and proper to bring before this College the elementary principles of Astrology, and the ways in which they were applied to medicine.

Astrology had a known history of nearly six thousand years. Its beginning seems to have been in Chaldea about 4000 B.C.: it was diffused throughout all nations and peoples that had any pretence to civilisation; and it engaged, throughout that immense time and that enormous area, the attention of innumerable votaries, among whom were some of the greatest intellects that have adorned the human race. It had consequently attained to a degree of elaboration and complexity which renders it difficult to give, within any reasonable compass, a clear account of its voluminous details, expressed as they are in highly technical terminology, and conveyed in Latin so canine and so extraordinarily abbreviated as to be obscure, often to the point of unintelligibility. In preparing the account that I shall give, I have had the advantage of appealing on different points, to a Latin scholar of rare attainments, to a Professor of Astronomy, and to a Professor of Ancient History, and I rejoice to say that one and all have been unable to solve some of the problems that had puzzled myself. Where such solar luminaries have failed to illuminate, it is no disgrace to my farthing candle if it gives no light.

The main factors in Astrology are three:—the Signs of the Zodiac, the Seven Planets, and the Houses of Heaven[2].

[Footnote 2: A House has two meanings in Astrology. It may mean a twelfth part of the heavens, as will be shown presently, or it may mean a Sign of the Zodiac specifically appropriated to a particular Planet, which is its Lord.]

In Medical Astrology there is yet another factor, which is equally important, and without which Medical Astrology cannot be understood. This factor consists of the four Elementary Qualities, Heat, Cold, Dryness and Moisture; which correspond with the four elements, Fire, Earth, Air and Water; with the four humours, Yellow Bile, Black Bile, Blood and Phlegm; and with many other things.

Since there are twelve Signs of the Zodiac, Seven Planets, and twelve Houses of Heaven, it will be easily seen that the merely numerical combinations of any one of these with the others are indefinitely multitudinous; and when it is known that each may be combined with the others in many different ways, the complications become too great for the human intellect to follow; and since many of the combinations depend on considerations that are both vague and arbitrary, it is not surprising that scarcely any two Astrologers should combine them in the same way, or draw the same conclusions from the same disposition of the heavens.

Every Sign of the Zodiac, every Planet, and every House has certain special powers and influence, not only over mankind generally, but specially over individual men and women, according to the moment of their birth, according to their complexion, disposition and temperament, according to the place in which they live, and so forth; and in addition, every Sign, Planet, and House has special powers at certain times of life, and every Sign and Planet has its own elementary qualities, as hot and dry, cold and moist, and so forth, and has special power over some part of the body and some faculty of mind. Moreover, these powers, both general and special, are reinforced or diminished in so many ways that the memory can scarcely retain them; and since neither the reinforcement nor the diminution is susceptible of any exact computation, the result, even if all were to be allowed their proper weight, must always be dubious.

THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC.

These, of course, are twelve in number. In Astronomy they are disposed in the order in which the sun successively occupies them, Aries, Taurus and Gemini being the Signs of Spring; Cancer, Leo and Virgo those of Summer; Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius those of Autumn; and Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces the Signs of Winter. In Astrology, however, they are differently arranged, according to their several qualities or properties. They are still in groups of three, but each group forms, not a season of the year, but a Triplicity, thus:

Aries, the first month of Spring, Leo, the second month of Summer, and Sagittarius, the third month of Autumn, form the first Triplicity; every sign in which is hot and dry, regulates the Bilis flava, is masculine, diurnal, and is influential in youth. Its Lord is Sol by day and Jupiter by night.

The second Triplicity consists of Taurus, the second Sign of Spring, Virgo, the third Sign of Summer, and Capricornus, the first of Winter. These Signs are cold and dry; their corresponding humour is Bilis atra; they are feminine, nocturnal, and preside over decrepitude. Their Lords are Venus by day and Luna by night.

The third Triplicity is composed of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius; the third of Spring, the first of Autumn, and the second of Winter. These are hot and moist in complexion, their humour is Sanguis, they are masculine and diurnal; they preside over our childhood, and their Lords are Saturn by day and Mercury by night.

The Signs of the fourth Triplicity are Cancer, the first of Summer, Scorpio, the second of Autumn, and Pisces, the third of Winter. They are cold and moist; their humour is Pituita; they are feminine and nocturnal; they regulate the middle period of life; and their Lords are Venus by day and Mars by night.

It is also important to know that some signs are mobile, such are Cancer, Libra, Capricornus and Pisces; others are stable, and such are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius; while a third group is mediocre with respect to mobility, as Aries, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius.

A masculine Sign is so called because a child conceived under the influence of that Sign will be a male; and children conceived under feminine Signs are female. (Yet it is a fixed rule that all children are born under Aries, just as by the common law, all children born at sea are parishioners in Stepney.)

A Sign is diurnal or nocturnal according as its power is greater by day or by night.

In addition, every Sign has an aspect towards some particular part of the human body.

Aries is the principal and most important sign of all. In whatever scheme the Signs are reckoned, Aries comes first: consequently its aspect is to the head. Taurus relates to the neck and shoulders, because a bull is in these parts very robust. Gemini relates to the arms and hands, because the twins are represented as embracing, and the quality of embracing is in the arms and hands. Cancer pertains to the chest and the adjacent parts, because a crab is very robust in the chest and thereabouts. Leo pertains to the heart and the mouth of the stomach, because the whole virtue of a lion is in his courage. Virgo relates to the intestines, the base of the stomach and umbilicus, because the virtue of a virgin resides therein. Libra relates to the kidneys, because they lie equally balanced, one on each side of the spine. Scorpio refers to the genitals, because the whole virtue of the scorpion is in his tail, and these are the caudalia of man. The aspect of Sagittarius is to the hips, of Capricornus to the knees, of Aquarius to the legs, and of Pisces to the feet, these being the parts of the body, as those are the Signs, that come next in order.

THE PLANETS.

It is scarcely necessary to remind this audience that in the time when Astrology came into being, the earth was the centre of the universe, and the Planets were seven in number, Uranus and Neptune being then as unknown as Pallas and Ceres, while the sun and moon differed from the other wandering stars only in their greater size and lustre, and in the greater regularity of their movements.

There was a certain conventional order, the origin of which cannot now be traced, in which the Planets were always enumerated; an order that does not correspond with their relative size and importance, for then the Sun would come first. It is Saturn, however, that takes precedence, and is followed by Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury and Luna, in the order in which I have named them.

The range of influence of the Planets over matters terrestrial was plenary. On the whole, the term influence best conveys the meaning of the Astrological term ‘aspect,’ which is more than ‘corresponds with,’ a term that is sometimes substituted for ‘aspect.’ Though as to some things which they aspected, or with which they corresponded, such as the Zodiacal signs and the four elements, the Planets were neither productive nor regulative, yet with respect to most things, they were at least regulative, and as to many were actually originating. For instance, Guy de Chauliac, called by Fallopius the father of Surgery, as Hippocrates is the father of Medicine, attributed the great plague of 1345 to the conjunction of the three planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, in Aquarius on March 24th of that year.

Torella, physician to Caesar Borgia and Pope Alexander VI, attributed syphilis to a peculiar conjunction of the Planets. So does Basil Valentinus, and so does Petrus Maynardus, who was able, moreover, to predict that it would come to an end in 1584. The College of Physicians of Paris attributed the Black Death of 1349 to a vapour or fog generated by the struggle between the constellations, which combated the rays of the sun and the warmth of the heavenly fire, struggling violently with the waters of the great sea. ‘This vapour,’ they said, ‘will continue to spread as long as the sun is in Leo.... We are of opinion that the constellations with the aid of nature strive by virtue of their divine might to protect and heal the human race.’

Taken together, the Planets had jurisdiction over everything, but not indiscriminately. Each Planet had its own peculiar jurisdiction over some things, while other Planets divided between them the jurisdiction over other things of that kind. Like the Signs of the Zodiac, each of the Planets had a jurisdiction over some part of the human body, but this was only a small region of its sway. Every Planet aspected its own element, and its own complexion, or pair of elementary qualities, so that Saturn, for instance, was cold and dry, Jupiter hot and moist, and so forth. Each Planet had its own colour, odour and taste; each its own groups of animals and plants; each its own metal, and we still speak of Saturnine poisoning, of crocus Martis, and of the metal Mercury; each has its own plants, its own day of the week and hour of the day; and what is more germane to the present purpose, every Planet had its corresponding humour, part of the body, sense, faculty, part of the mind, bodily configuration and mental temperament, its time of life, and its peculiar diseases and mode of death.

One or two instances will be enough to exemplify the way in which sublunary affairs are apportioned among the Planets. Take for instance animals: of these, Saturn has jurisdiction over the camel, the bear, the ass, the cat, the owl, the bat, the tortoise, the mouse, the beetle; and generally, over beasts of evil omen or of slow movement. The aspect of Jupiter is to the wise, the swift, and the strong: to the elephant, the stag and the bull. Mars aspects the horse, the wolf, the bee, the dog, the ostrich, venomous snakes, scorpions and spiders; all either fighters or noxious to human beings. Sol presides over regal and dominant animals, the lion, the eagle and the cock. Venus has jurisdiction over the goat, the sheep, the pheasant, the partridge, the pigeon, the dove and the sparrow; all amatory, and either polygamous or otherwise prolific. The aspect of Mercury is to the fox, the ape, the serpent, the parrot, the spider, the bee and the ant, and generally, to animals that are reputed wise or cunning. Luna influences the hare, the swan, the nightingale, the frog, fish, landsnails, crabs and shellfish, and generally, animals that are nocturnal or aquatic.

Of plants, Saturn has jurisdiction over the oak, the mespilus, the rue, the hellebore, and generally over those of slow growth, of narcotic virtue, and of crass substance. Jupiter over the laurel, the sandal-wood, the cinnamon, the balsam and the incense tree. Mars over pepper, ginger, mustard, jalap, scammony, colocynth, euphorbium, and generally over all bitter plants and hot poisons. Sol aspects the palm, rosemary, heliotrope, crocus, and all aromatics. Venus the olive, the pine, the lily, the rose and the pea; Mercury the corylus and the millefoil; and Luna the cucumber, the gourd, pepin fruits, _i.e._ apples and pears, and lettuce.

The minerals of Saturn are lead and all black stones; of Jupiter, tin, the sapphire, and the amethyst; of Mars, iron, jasper, and magnesia; of Sol, gold, carbuncles, and crysolite; of Venus, copper, smaragdus, turquoise, and coral; of Mercury, quicksilver, chalcedony, and cornelian; and of Luna, silver, crystals, beryl, and the diamond.

I defer to the next lecture the consideration of those planetary aspects that have a special bearing upon medicine, but this is perhaps the proper place to make the very important distinction between the benevolent, propitious, or fortunate Planets and those that are malevolent, unpropitious, or unlucky. The fortunate, or benevolent, or propitious Planets are Jupiter, Sol, and Venus, of which the first and last are lucky in the highest degree. Saturn, Mars, and Luna are malevolent, unpropitious, and unlucky. Mercury is variable in this respect. He has scarcely any character of his own, but he reinforces the benevolence or the malevolence, as the case may be, of whatever Planet may be in conjunction with him, or may be favourably aspected by him.

It is evident, if these premises are granted, that the course and termination of every malady in every sick person depend on the relative power, with respect to other Planets, of the particular Planet or Planets that have jurisdiction in the matter. They will depend, in the first place, on the Planet that has jurisdiction over the temperament, as Saturn if he is saturnine, Jupiter if he is jovial, Mars if he is martial, and so forth. They will depend also on the Planet that presides over the humour that is peccant, as yellow bile, black bile, blood or phlegm. They will depend on the Planet that governs the part of the body that is diseased; on that which governs the disease; on that which has jurisdiction at the time of life at which the sick person is arrived; on that which presided over his nativity, and so forth. Here are at least six circumstances to be taken into account, and of course, the Planet that governs one of these circumstances may not be the same, and in fact must be different from those which govern others. So that seven Planets may all be influencing the disease and the sick person at once, and may all be pulling in different directions, some towards health and some towards death, some towards acuteness and some towards chronicity of the disease. It is evident, therefore, that his fate must depend on the relative powers of the propitious and unpropitious Planets, and that it is of the utmost importance to determine the factors on which the powers of the Planets depend, and to estimate their strength in any particular case.

This is by no means easy, for the factors are very numerous. It will be enough to obtain an approximate estimate, however, if we confine our consideration to the ten in the following enumeration.

The power of a Planet at any given moment depends on: