SCHOLE (Jan 2015)
Herophilus on pulse
Abstract
The first detailed study of the pulse (sphygmology) is associated in antiquity with Herophilus (the end of the 4th century BCE), an Alexandrian physician, renowned for his anatomical discoveries. The scholars also attribute to him a discovery of a portable and adjustable water-clock, used for measuring ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’ pulse and, accordingly, temperature of the patient. In the article we translate the principal ancient evidences and comment upon them. We study both the practical aspects of ancient sphygmology and the theoretical speculations associated with it. Ancient theory of proportion and musical harmony allowed to build a classification of the pulses, but the medical experience did not fit well in the Procrustean bed of this rather simple theory.
