Surgery · a Light

He tried the operation on a goat first

Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr, who died at Seville around 1162, is the plainest experimenter in Andalusi medicine. Before performing a tracheotomy on a person he did it on a goat, watched the animal recover, and only then accepted the procedure. For patients who could not swallow he fed them through a silver tube into the gullet, and by nutrient enema. He wrote his book of particular treatments, the Taysir, at the request of his friend Ibn Rushd, who was writing the general work and wanted the practical half from a man who actually saw patients. Ibn Zuhr is often credited with the first description of the mite that causes scabies. The passage is short, and historians disagree about whether it says what modern readers want it to say.

Ibn Zuhr · Seville, died c. 1162