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Books > Medicine > General issues > History of medicine
This book offers an overview of Chinese medicine terminology
translation, defining the central concepts in Chinese traditional
medicine, providing simplified Chinese characters, Mandarin
Pronunciation in pinyin, citations for 110 of the most key concepts
in traditional Chinese medicine and culture. Covering definitions
of terms relating to visceral manifestation, meridians, etiology,
pathogenesis, and treatment principles in traditional medicine, it
offers a selection of English versions of each term in addition to
a standard of English version, drawing on the translation history
of traditional Chinese medicine. It provides a useful resource to
understand the fundamental terms of traditional Chinese medicine
and culture in Chinese and English, and their relevance to
cross-cultural discourse.
For centuries prior to the development of an effective
vaccination against rabies, the bite of a "mad" dog was linked to a
horrific ailment marked by convulsions, an utter dread of
swallowing liquids, uncontrollable thrashing, and even the tendency
to bark and attempt to bite others-a horrid prelude to an agonizing
death.
Drawing on learned theories of medical practitioners and beliefs
of the common people, The Bearer of Crazed and Venomous Fangs
investigates the cultural mythology of the ailment known today as
rabies. By exploring the cultural history of science, traditional
belief, and folk medicine, it reveals the popular myths and learned
delusions that came to define the disease. Among the arresting
topics explored are the attribution of rabies to a worm beneath the
tongue, the notion that the disease could arise spontaneously, the
idea that it could be "cured" by the application to the wound of
special stones or animal parts, and, if all else failed, the
treatment of it by the suffocation of the human victim.
Rich in detail and brimming with historical intrigue, "The
Bearer of Crazed and Venomous Fangs" engages students of medicine
and the history of science, veterinary studies, folklore,
psychology, and anyone interested in how mankind's best friend
could be thought of as its cruelest, fiercest enemy.
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