stood the test of ages of practice. "Against all kinds of
witchcraft," says an ancient formula, "a great scarabaeus beetle;
cut off his head and wings, boil him; put him in oil and lay him
out; then cook his head and wings, put them in snake fat, boil,
and let the patient drink the mixture." The modern Egyptian, says
Erman, uses almost precisely the same recipe, except that the
snake fat is replaced by modern oil.

In evidence of the importance which was attached to practical
medicine in the Egypt of an early day, the names of several
physicians have come down to us from an age which has preserved
very few names indeed, save those of kings. In reference to this
Erman says[6]: "We still know the names of some of the early body
physicians of this time; Sechmetna'eonch, 'chief physician of the
Pharaoh,' and Nesmenan his chief, the 'superintendent of the
physicians of the Pharaoh.' The priests also of the
lioness-headed goddess Sechmet seem to have been famed for their
medical wisdom, whilst the son of this goddess, the demi-god
Imhotep, was in later times considered to be the creator of
medical knowledge. These ancient doctors of the New Empire do not
seem to have improved upon the older conceptions about the
construction of the human body."

As to the actual scientific attainments of the Egyptian
physician, it is difficult to speak with precision. Despite the
cumbersome formulae and the grotesque incantations, we need not
doubt that a certain practical value attended his therapeutics.
He practised almost pure empiricism, however, and certainly it
must have been almost impossible to determine which ones, if any,
of the numerous ingredients of the prescription had real