Abu-Sahl al-Masihi (died circa 1010 AD): The Persian physician in the early medieval era.

In the early medieval era, in the time which is called the Islamic Golden Age, medicine flourished through the practice of Persian physicians (9th to 12th century AD). Abu-Sahl al-Masihi (died circa 1010 AD) was one of the physicians in that period who had great influence on the progress of medicine by his own writings as well as his influence on great scholars like Biruni and Avicenna as their teacher. He was a polymath and had many writings in various fields of science, in particular medical sciences. Some of his manuscripts in medicine were Al-Mia fil-Tibb (Book of the Hundred), Kitab al-Teb al-Koli (The General Medicine), Ezhar al-Hekmat Allah Ta'ala fi Khalgh al-Ensan (God's Mystery on the Creation of Man), Resalat al-Adwiya (Treatise of Drugs), Osool Elm Nabz (the Principles of Pulse), and Resala f i Tahqiq Amral-Waba' (On the determination of the matter of infectious diseases). As a sign of his impact in Persian medicine, many later physicians (until 19th century) referred to and cited his works in their manuscripts several times.

Mirza Ali Hamedani: An Influential Physician in the Qajar Period, Iran.

The knowledge of medicine underwent a revolution in the Qajar period, especially during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-1896 AD). The dispatch of students to Europe, establishment of Dar ul-Funun, Hafez al-Seheh Assembly, and clinics, entrance of European teachers and physicians to Iran, approval of medical rules by the parliament, introduction of a new therapeutic style, and translation of medical textbooks into Persian were some of the changes that occurred during this period. As a result, modern medicine influenced the Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine. An educated Iranian physician, Mirza Ali Doctor Hamedani was one of the physicians of this period, who traveled to France, studied the European medicine and considerably contributed to the evolution of the modern medicine along the traditional medicine. The present manuscript describes the scientific personality and contributions of this physician to the science of medicine.

Morris Young, pioneer physician.

This concise biography of Morris Young shows how he developed the medical services of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in the first three decades of the twentieth century, and ended his career working with Sir Alexander Fleming at St Mary's Hospital in London. Young is an important figure in the history of medicine in Persia, and this biography introduces the achievements of this modest man who devoted his life to medicine.

Qutb al-Din Shirazi (1236-1311), Persian polymath physician in the medieval period.

Qutb al-Din Shirazi, a great physician in the medieval period of the Iranian Islamic age, is also called Allama (polymath) for his extraordinary expertise in almost all fields of contemporary sciences. The peaceful and cultural environment of his hometown and family contributed to his development despite a time of horror from Mongolian repeated invasions of the Islamic countries. Shirazi never ceased learning and researching and migrated widely in order to find scientists to learn from them. He worked in many centres as a teacher and researcher. He practised medicine and educated students, and his books on other fields of science reflect his comprehensive mastery of most of the basic sciences and the humanities. Shirazi 's social and political roles make him one of the paramount of Iranian elites who contributed to the re-establishment of the Iranian-Islamic civilisation after its destruction by the Mongolians in the thirteenth century.

AVICENNA'S MEDICAL DIDACTIC POEM: URJUZEHTEBBI.

Historical research shows that many physicians experienced in medical sciences are also talented in art, literature and poetry. Avicenna was a sage who was skilled in poetry in addition to philosophy and medicine. He wrote two different types of poetry: those meant to be enjoyed for their literary qualities of novelty and imagination, and his didactic Urjuzeh. Didactic poems are different from poetry evoked by imagination and feeling. In didactic poetry, the poets want to learn science and philosophy, whether spiritual, ethical or practical to the readers. Rhyme and poetry were often used for scientific writing in Avicenna's era, and were considered a method for memorizing scientific information and raising students' interest in difficult scientific concepts. Verse was used to simplify the didactic content, ease memorization and make difficult scientific issues more attractive. In medieval Persia, students of medicine had learned the basics of philosophy before starting medical courses. Poetry could help the students memorize the poem itself in combination with its meaning, in a way that was better and easier than prose. Avicenna's masterpiece, UrjuzehTebbi, comprises a perfect course in traditional Persian medicine in rhyming text written in Arabic. This great work was translated into Persian at the research centre for traditional medicine and history of medicine. We hope that the Persian translation of Urjuzeh Tebbi will allow students and experts to better appreciate the role of didactic poems in compiling and transmitting the concepts of Iranian medicine.

[Tholozan: military physician]. / Tholozan: médecin militaire à compétence étendue.

Born in 1820 Joseph-Desire Tholozan joined in 1841 as "chirurgien sous-aide auxiliaire" the French military Health Service, being still a medical student in Marseille where the School of Medicine was directed by his uncle F. Cauviere. He was later appointed at the hospital of Bastia, obtained his M.D. (Paris 1843), went back to Marseille and later to Metz (1845) and Paris, at the Val-de-Grace (1846-47). He returned there as assistant physician (1851) and later as professor "agrege" of Medicine (1852), his agregation thesis devoted to hematology being presided by Andral. Tholozan later participated to the Crimean war (1854-55) during which he performed important observations on infectious diseases (cholera, dysentery, typhus, typhoid fever) or deficiency ones (scurvy, acrodynia). An unpublished report given here deals with a probable epidemic of murine typhus occurring in soldiers returning from Crimea on an American ship which had been used to transport horses. Promoted first class major physician (1857) Tholozan was chosen in 1858 by the French ministry of Foreign Affairs to become the physician of the Shah of Persia, Nasreddin Shah. In this country where he remained until his death (1897) he will have a threefold activity as organizer of the medical teaching, epidemiologist (of plague and cholera) and as a surgeon. Principal first class physician (the equivalent of Physician-Colonel) in 1868, he was definitely dismissed from the Army in 1880.