Woman in Science Part 26

_Collectio Salernitana_, Tom. III, p. 338, by G. Henschel, C. Daremberg, and S. de Renzi, Naples, 1852-59.

[200] _Universities in the Middle Ages_, Vol. II, Part II, p. 712, by H.

Rashdall, Oxford, 1895. The most exhaustive work on the University of Salerno and its famous doctors, men and women, is a joint work in five volumes ent.i.tled _Collectio Salernitana; ossia Doc.u.menti Inediti e Trattati di Medicina appartenenti alla scuola Salernitana, raccolti e ill.u.s.trati_, by G. Henschel, C. Daremberg e S. Renzi, Naples, 1852-59.

Cf. also, _Storia Doc.u.mentata della Scuola Medica di Salerno_, by S. de Renzi, Naples, 1857; _L'ecole de Salerne_, by C. Meaux, with introduction by C. Daremberg, Paris, 1880, and Piero Giacosa's _Magistri Salernitani Nondum Editi_, Turin, 1891.

[201] _Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis_, Tom. II, p. 150, and pp.

255 and 267, by Denifle and Chatelain, Paris, 1889-1891.

[202] "Mulier antea permitteret se mori, quam secreta infirmitatis sui homini revelare propter honestatem s.e.xus muliebris et propter verecundiam quam revelando pateretur." _Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis_, Tom. II, p. 264, Paris, 1891.

[203] It may interest the reader to know that the first two women to get the doctorate in the Paris School of Medicine were Miss Elizabeth Garret, an English woman, and Miss Mary Putnam, an American. The first woman permitted to practice in the Paris hospitals was likewise an American, Miss Augusta Klumpke, of San Francisco.

[204] "Possunt et vir et foemina medici esse." Cf. Chiappelli, _Medicina negli Ultimi Tre Secoli del Medio Evo_, Milan, 1885.

[205] Quoted in _Woman's Work and Woman's Culture_, p. 87, Josephine E.

Butler, London, 1869. Dom Gasquet in his _English Monastic Life_, p.

175, tells us that in the Wiltshire convents "the young maids learned needlework, the art of confectionery, surgery--for anciently there were no apothecaries or surgeons; the gentlewomen did cure their poor neighbors--physic, drawing, etc."

[206] The first woman to receive the doctorate of medicine in Germany was Frau Dorothea Christin Erxleben. Hers, however, was a wholly exceptional case, and required the intervention of no less a personage than Frederick the Great. In 1754, Frau Erxleben, who had made a thorough course of humanities under her father, presented herself before the faculty of the University of Halle, where she pa.s.sed an oral examination in Latin which lasted two hours. So impressed were the examiners by her knowledge and eloquence that they did not hesitate to adjudge her worthy of the coveted degree, which was accorded her by virtue of a royal edict.

Her reception of the doctorate was made the occasion of a most enthusiastic demonstration in her honor. Felicitations poured in upon her from all quarters in both prose and verse. One of them, in lapidary style, runs as follows:

"Stupete nova litteraria, In Italia nonnumquam, In Germania nunquam Visa vel audita At quo rarius eo carius."

This, freely translated, adverts to the fact that an event, which before had been witnessed only in Italy, was then being celebrated in Germany for the first time, and was, for that very reason, specially deserving of commemoration.

[207] "Nemo masculus aut foemina, seu Christia.n.u.s vel Judaeus, nisi Magister vel Licentiatus in Medicina foret, auderet humano corpori mederi in physica vel in chyrurgia." Marini, _Archiatri Pontifici_, Tom.

I, p. 199, Roma, 1784.

[208] Thomas Aquinas, the Angel of the Schools, who had taught in Salerno, and was well acquainted with the leading universities of Europe, was wont to say "Quattuor sunt urbes caeteris praeeminentes, Parisius in Scientiis, Salernum in Medicinis, Bononia in legibus, Aurelianis in actoribus--" there are four preeminent cities: Paris, in the sciences; Salerno, in medicine; Bologna, in law; Orleans, in actors.

Op. 17. _De Virtutibus et Vitiis_, Cap. ult.

The mediaeval poet, Galfrido, expressed the same idea in verse when he wrote:

"In morbis sanat medici virtute Salernum aegros: in causis Bononia legibus armat Nudos: Parisius dispensat in artibus illos Panes, unde cibat robustos: Aurelianis Educat in cunis actorum lacte tenellos."

[209] It may be remarked that it was a woman, Lady Mary Montagu, who introduced inoculation with small-pox virus into Western Europe, and that it was also a woman--a simple English milkmaid--who communicated to Jenner the information which led to his discovery of a prophylactic against small-pox. But of far greater importance was the introduction into Europe of that priceless febrifuge and antiperiodic--chinchona bark. This was due to the Countess of Chinchon, vicereine of Peru.

Having been cured by its virtues of an aggravated case of tertian fever in 1638, while living in Lima, she lost no time, on her return to Spain, in making known to the world the marvelous curative properties of the precious quinine-producing bark. The powder made from the bark was most appropriately called _Pulvis Comitessae_--the countess's powder--and by this name it was long known to druggists and in commerce. Thanks to Linnaeus, the memory of the gracious lady will always be kept green, because her name is now borne by nearly eight score species of the beautiful trees which const.i.tute the great and incomparable genus Chinchona. See _A Memoir of the Lady Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon, and Vice-Queen of Peru_, by Clements R. Markham, London, 1874.

[210] _Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women_, p. 70, by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, London, 1895.

[211] Ibid., p. 91.

[212]

"Young ladies all, of every clime, Especially of Britain Who wholly occupy your time In novels or in knitting, Whose highest skill is but to play, Sing, dance or French to clack well, Reflect on the example, pray, Of excellent Miss Blackwell.

"For Doctrix Blackwell, that's the way To dub in rightful gender-- In her profession, ever may Prosperity attend her.

Punch a gold-headed parasol Suggests for presentation To one so well deserving all Esteem and Admiration."

[213] Op. cit., p. 241.

[214] For an interesting account of the long campaign for the admission of women to medical schools and practice, see _Medical Women--A Thesis and a History_, by Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, Edinburgh, 1886.

For a more elaborate work on women in medicine, the reader may consult with profit, _Histoire des Femmes Medecins_, by Mlle. Melanie Lepinska, Paris, 1900.

CHAPTER IX

WOMEN IN ARCHaeOLOGY

Archaeology, in its broadest sense, is one of the most recent of the sciences, and may be said to be a creation of the nineteenth century. In its restricted sense, however, it dates back to the beginning of the Italian Renaissance. For it was at this period that the collector's zeal began to manifest itself, and that were brought together those priceless treasures of ancient art which are to-day the pride of the museums of Rome and Florence. It was then that Pope Sixtus IV and Julius II, his nephew, laid the foundations of the great museums of the Capitol and the Vatican, and enriched them with such famous masterpieces as the Ariadne, the Nile, the Tiber, the Laoc.o.o.n and the Apollo Belvidere. Their example was quickly followed by such cardinals as Ippolito d'Este, Fernando de'

Medici, and by representatives of the leading princely houses of the Italian peninsula. In rapid succession the palaces of the Borghese, Chigi, Pamphili, Ludovisi, Barbarini and Aldobrandini became filled with the choicest Greek and Roman antiques. In the course of time many of these treasures found their way to the museums of Venice, Madrid, Paris, Munich and Dresden, while still others were purchased by wealthy art connoisseurs in various parts of Europe and Great Britain.

In the beginning these antiques in marble and bronze were used chiefly for decorative purposes. "Courts, stairs, fountains, galleries and palaces were adorned with statues, busts, reliefs and sarcophagi applied in such a manner as to become incorporated in contemporary art and thereby to gain fresh life."[215]

These treasures of antiquity, statues, bas-reliefs, mosaics, coins, medals, busts, sarcophagi, and productions of ceramic art, although at first used almost exclusively for decorating palaces and villas and enriching museums, were eventually to become of inestimable value in the study of the history of art and the civilization of Greece and Rome, as well as of the various nations of antiquity with which they had come into contact. Besides this, they supplied the necessary raw material not only for cla.s.sical archaeology, but also for that more comprehensive science of archaeology which deals with the art, the architecture, the language, the literature, the inscriptions, the manners, customs and development of our race from prehistoric times until the present day.

Among the women who took a prominent part in collecting material toward the advancement of archaeologic science were those ill.u.s.trious ladies--as celebrated for their knowledge and culture as for their n.o.ble lineage and their patronage of men of letters--who presided over the brilliant courts of Urbino, Mantua, Milan and Ferrara.

Preeminent among these were Elizabetta Gonzaga, d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino, and Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua. The palace of the former--"that peerless lady who excelled all others in excellence"--was famous for its precious antiques in bronze and marble, but above all for its superb collection of rare old books and ma.n.u.scripts in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

Isabella d'Este, who was through life the most intimate friend of Elizabetta Gonzaga, was acclaimed by her contemporaries as "the first lady in the world." She was a true daughter of the Renaissance, in the heart of which she was brought up; and "the small, pa.s.sing incidents of her everyday life are to us memorials of the cla.s.sic age when the G.o.ds of Parna.s.sus walked with men."[216] She was an even more enthusiastic collector than the d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino, and her magnificent palace in Mantua was filled with the choicest works of Greek and Roman art that were then procurable.

She has been described as one who secured everything to which she took a fancy. She had but to hear of the discovery of a beautiful antique, a rare work in bronze or marble uncovered by the spade of the excavator, when she forthwith made an effort to procure it for her priceless collection. If that was not possible, she would not rest until she could secure something else even more precious. She aimed at supremacy in everything artistic and intellectual, and would be content with nothing short of perfection. Hence it is that her collection of antiques, like those of her friend, the d.u.c.h.ess of Urbino, is rightly regarded as having been of singular value in preparing the way for the foundation of scientific archaeology--a foundation that was laid by the eminent German scholar, Winckelmann, in the eighteenth century by the publication of his masterly work--_History of the Art of Antiquity_.

The first woman of eminence to take an active part in archaeologic excavation was the youngest sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, "the beautiful, clever and ambitious Caroline." When Joachim Murat became king of Naples, after his brother-in-law, Joseph Bonaparte, had in 1808 been transferred to the throne of Spain, his wife, Queen Caroline, gave at once a new impetus to the work of the excavation of Pompeii along the lines planned a few years before by the eminent Neapolitan scholar, Michele Arditi. She exhibited the keenest interest in the work, and the notable discoveries which were made under her inspiring supervision of this important undertaking show how much cla.s.sical archaeology owes to her intelligent and munificent patronage.

Queen Caroline proved her interest in the excavations that were to contribute so much to our knowledge of antiquity "by appearing frequently at Pompeii and stimulating the workmen to greater efforts.

She frequently spent entire days, during the great heat of summer, at the excavations, to encourage the lazy workmen and to reward them in the event of success. The funds were increased so as to make the employment of six hundred men possible. The Street of Tombs was next uncovered, forming a complete and solemn picture, greatly impressing the beholder even to-day. For the first time a complete outline of an ancient marketplace and its surroundings could be obtained. The market, closed and inaccessible to wheeled traffic, was surrounded by a colonnade filled with monuments, with the great temple in the background, and beyond the arcades were other temples or public buildings, among the princ.i.p.al being the stately Basilica. Constant and increased efforts were thus crowned by important results. The Queen did not withhold generous a.s.sistance. The French architect, Fr. Mazois, received from her fifteen hundred francs while preparing his monumental work at Pompeii."[217]

It is not too much to say that Queen Caroline's archaeological work at Pompeii was as far-reaching in its results as was that of her ill.u.s.trious brother in the land of the Pharaohs. It drew in the most impressive manner the attention of the world to the vast treasures of art which lay concealed under the earth-covered ruins of the once noted cities of the ancient world, and stimulated scholars and learned societies to undertake similar researches in Sicily, Greece, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and the almost forgotten islands of the aegean Seas.

While this energetic sister of the great Napoleon was occupied in bringing to light those priceless treasures of art which had for seventeen centuries lain beneath the ashes of Vesuvius, a bright, refined, _spirituelle_ young girl, born in Dublin and bred in England, was unconsciously preparing herself for a brilliant career in the branch of archaeology known as Christian iconography. Her name was Anna Murphy, better known to the world as Mrs. Jameson. At an early age she gave evidence of unusual intelligence, and she had hardly attained to womanhood when she was noted for her knowledge of languages and for her remarkable attainments in art and literature. Numerous journeys to France, Italy and Germany and a systematic study in the great museums and art galleries of these countries, but, above all, her a.s.sociation with the most distinguished scholars of Europe, completed her education and prepared her for those splendid works on Christian art which have made her name a household word throughout the world.

Mrs. Jameson was a prolific writer, but those of her works on which her fame chiefly rests are the ones which are cla.s.sed under the general t.i.tle, _Sacred and Legendary Art_. They treat of G.o.d the Father and Son, of the Madonna and the Saints, as ill.u.s.trated in art from the earliest ages to modern times. So masterly and exhaustive was her treatment of the difficult subjects discussed in this _chef d'oeuvre_ of hers that no less an authority than the eminent German archaeologist, F. X. Kraus, writes of this elaborate production as follows:

"Neither before nor since has the subject matter of this work been handled with such skill and thoroughness. The older iconographic works were mere dilettanteism. For the first time since cla.s.sical archaeology had applied the principles of modern criticism to Greek and Roman iconography, and had presented an example of scientific treatment free from such reproach, was a serious iconography of our early Christian monuments possible. Mrs. Jameson was the first to attempt this on a large scale. It was clear to her--and here lay the advance which her work reveals--that in order to accomplish her colossal task two things must be realized. She must not build on a foundation of material that is imperfect or brought together in a haphazard way. She must not only see and test everything available in the way of monuments, but she must likewise place the productions of literature and poetry beside those of the plastic arts. It was clear to her, also, that, in this case, one would throw light on the other, and that the investigator who would lay claim to the name of archaeologist must, moreover, study the spirit of a people in all its monumental and literary manifestations.

"Mrs. Jameson strove to learn the mind and the mode of early Christian times from the works of the Fathers. She saw in the hymns of the Middle Ages and in the writings of the mystics the sources of the art ideas which disclose themselves in the wall and gla.s.s paintings of our cathedrals and in the entrancing creation of a Fiesole. She had also the special advantage of being thoroughly imbued with Dante's ideas of the plastic arts of the Middle Ages.

"And all this is evidenced in a form which exhibits neither dry dissertation nor wearisome nomenclature. Each of her articles is a little essay. It teaches us what place the Madonna, or St. Catherine, or some other saint has held in the memory and in the imagination of past centuries. We behold the sainted forms flitting before our eyes in all the charm of poetic perfection which was given them by the childlike phantasy of the Middle Ages, and in all the power which they exercised over men's minds, and which, however we may view the religious side of the question, certainly had the effect of creating forms of infinite beauty and pictures of unspeakable reality."[218]

When we recollect that Mrs. Jameson achieved so much before the foundations of Christian archaeology had been fully laid; before de Rossi's monumental publications had supplied the means of interpreting early Christian sculpture; before critics and archaeologists were at one regarding the significance of early Christian and Middle Age symbolism, or agreed on the principles that were to guide to a correct understanding of the pictures of Roman and Gothic art, and while students were yet in ignorance as to the real influence of Byzantine art on that of western Europe, we cannot but wonder at the courage and the energy of this gifted woman in undertaking and in bringing to a happy issue a work which, even to-day, with all our increased facilities and greater array of facts, would be considered a herculean task.