The following passage in the dictionary of medical writers by the 13th century Islamic writer Ibn Abi Usaibia made me chuckle.
The physicians of note who lived in the time between Hippocrates and Galen, apart from Hippocrates’ own pupils and his sons, were the following: S . . . , the commentator on Hippocrates’ books; Ancilaus the physician, Erasistratus II, the dogmatist; Lyco, Milo II, Gallus, Mircaritus, the author of a book on medicaments, Scalus, a commentator on Hippocrates’ works, Mantias, another commentator on Hippocrates’ works, Gallus of Tarentum, Magnus of Emesa, the author of a book on urination, who lived 90 years; Andromachus, who lived 90 years: Abras [?] also known as the “Remote,” Sounachos the Athenian, the author of a book on drugs and pharmacology, and Rufus the Great, who was from the city of Ephesus and was unrivaled his time in the medical art.
Poor Magnus, to be so remembered, from a life of 90 years.
Likewise the unfortunate Abras must have had a rough time at school. “Pass me the ‘remote’, boy” gains a whole new meaning!
Magnus of Emesa may have been the first urologist- not bad!
I suspect he’d rather have been remembered for something else, tho!
He was already Emetic. How else was he going to go?
(groan)
Emesa is today known as Homs, and is one of the places in Syria undergoing rather a bad time.