Touching the patient: Galen’s treatise On the pulse for beginners and its reception in the Medieval Latin, the Islamic Oriental and the Renaissance world

Résumé En

Galen’s On the pulse for beginners (ca. 162-166 BC) is not a mere introductory treatise, but condenses nearly the whole Galenic pulse science, making it accessible. Thanks to its pedagogical character, the treatise is a part of the Alexandrian medical curriculum (the 6th-cent. Canon), as well as of the Arabic Summaria (6th-7th cent.). Widely commented and translated (into Syriac, Arabic and Latin) or imitated (for example in the early Byzantine period), this short treatise’s reception from Late Antiquity until Renaissance shows its importance for medical education and practice.An overview of its translations and comments, focusing on the work of the Renaissance humanists (Johann Winter, Grégoire Martin, Leone Rogano, Francisco Valles) helps us examine the terminological, conceptual and practical evolution of the study of the pulse.Taking the pulse is touching the patient. We will examine the advantages and limits of this non verbal communication between two bodies: is it taken for granted or put into question in the Medieval Latin, the Oriental Islamic and the Renaissance reception of this particular treatise and of Galen’s pulse theory in general?Razes (9th cent.) in his treatise Doubts about Galen tackles the question of sense and sensitivity. Even though he believes in the accuracy of touch as a means for diagnosis and does not call into question the variety of the pulse, he doubts the possibility of feeling such a great variety described by Galen. Does Galen exaggerate his ability to feel? Is it possible to transmit skills, such as touch subtlety, through a book?