Freind says:

"I believe we may even say with justice that he (Gilbert) has written
as well as any of his contemporaries of other nations, and has merely
followed their example in borrowing very largely from the Arabians,"
and Sprengel writes: "Here and there, though only very rarely, the
author offers some remarks of his own, which merit special attention."

Now, what precisely is Gilbert's Compendium designed to be? In the
words of its author it is

"A book of general and special diseases, selected and extracted
from the writings of all authors and the practice of the professors
(_magistrorum_), edited by Gilbert of England and entitled a
Compendium of Medicine."

and a few pages later he adds:

"It is our habit to select the best sayings of the best authorities,
and where any doubt exists, to insert the different opinions, so that
each reader may choose for himself what he prefers to maintain."

The author does not claim for his work any considerable originality,
but presents it as a compendium proper of the teachings of other
writers. Naturally his own part in the book is not obtruded upon our
notice.

Now the desiderata of such a compendium are: