iyv PREFACE

herbs ^that every gentlewoman in the country knows how to
give.^ 'The kindly warnings of Dr. Charles Singer, and espe—
cially his article TAe Herbal in Anfiquity (1927), have often saved
me, though perhaps not often enough, from the temptation that
now besets all translators of such treatises as this, namely to seek
equivalent terms in modern botanical works; I am moreover in—
debted to him for much information.  My thanks are also due to
Professor Margoliouth of Oxford University for assistance with
the Arabic terms; to Dr. Arnold C. Klebs for giving me the free—
dom of his Library of the History of Medicine at Nyon, and for
valuable advice; to Colonel Fielding H. Garrison for permission
to quote at length his estimate of the contribution of Fracasto—
rius to the theory of Contagion; and to Dr. Haven Emerson, who
introduced me to Girolamo Fracastoro, persuaded me of the value
for medical education and the science of Epidemiology to be ex—
pected from an English translation of this treatise, and arranged
for its publication.
WILMER CAvE WRIGHT.
BRTN MAWIHR, SPibj
January 27, 1930. 3 /$
QT—WIiA AQ NTISBSR3jV:MLI