The guy who cuts my hair in Thailand didn’t know the origin of the traditional red and white striped pole he has above his shop, but he knows now - even though I think he still doesn’t believe me!
Comenius continues
…
Sometimes he
cutteth a Vein with a Pen-knife, 11. where the Blood
spirteth out, 12. │ Interdum secat Vēnam Scalpellō, 11. ubi Sanguis
prōpullulat, 12.
The Chirurgeon cureth
Wounds. │ Chīrūrgus cūrat Vulnera.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
chīrūrgus, -ī
[2/m]: surgeon
medicus, -ī [2/m]:
doctor
scalpellum, -ī
[2/n]: small surgical knife; scalpel
sanguis, sanguinis
[3/m]: blood
secō, -āre, -uī
[1]: cut off; the English word secateurs derived from French but
originally from Latin refers to a pair of pruning shears
vulnus, vulneris
[3/n]: wound; Engl. derivative: vulnerable
[1] A short (and
painful) extract from Ørberg’s Familia Rōmāna:
Medicus (ad
Iūlium): “Tenē bracchium puerī!” (ad Aemiliam): “Tenē pōculum sub bracchiō!”
(ad Quīntum): “Claude oculōs, puer!” Medicus Quīntum oculōs claudere iubet,
quod puer cultrum medicī timet.
Ecce medicus cultrum
ad bracchium puerī appōnit. Perterritus Quīntus cultrum medicī sentit in bracchiō,
nec oculōs aperīre audet. Capillī horrent. Cor palpitat. Medicus vēnam aperit.
Ruber sanguis dē bracchiō in pōculum fluit. Quīntus sanguinem dē bracchiō
fluere sentit atque horret. Frōns et genae alba sunt ut līlia …
horreō, -ēre, -uī [2]: stand upright; tremble; capillī horrent:
(his) hair stands on end
[2] cumque
lēgisset Iudi trēs pāgellās vel quattuor scidit illud scalpellō scrībae
et prōiēcit in igne │ It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves,
that [the king] cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire
(Vulgate)
[3] Extrīnsecus vērō interdum sīc ictus oculum laedit, ut sanguis in eō suffundātur. Nihil commodius est quam sanguine vel columbae vel palumbī vel hirundinis inunguēre │ but an external blow at times so injures the eye that blood is poured in it [ = it is suffused with blood]. Nothing is then better than to anoint (the eyeball) with the blood of a pigeon, dove, or swallow.
[4] Est etiam
genus īnflammātiōnis, in quā, sī cui tument ac distenduntur cum dolōre oculī, sanguinem
ex fronte ēmittī necessārium est (Celsus)│ There is also a class of
inflammation in which, if the eyes swell and become tense with pain, it is
necessary to let blood from the forehead
Image #1: blood-letting,
amputation, tooth extraction, application of leeches … and they would also cut
your hair! While the physicians examined your urine, the barber-surgeons cut
things off and pulled things out. There are varying interpretations of the
original red and white stripes, the red representing blood-letting, the white
representing bones or teeth; another interpretation is that it depicts clean
and blood-covered bandages. The pole itself can refer to a staff which the “patient”
held tightly in order to stimulate blood flow (which is shown in the second
image).
Image #2: one of
the features of many images from the Middle Ages is the expressionless faces,
but not in this case. You can share the pain of this poor chap as he
experiences blood-letting, while holding the staff to stimulate the blood flow –
and being kept firmly in his place by the foot of the barber-surgeon!
Image #3: depiction
of blood-letting in Ancient Greece
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