Report by potters of the Koomas caste that the surgeon Susrata grafted new noses created from skin flaps. 1 pg.21 (try to locate an Indian Image instead) India 1
15 AD Report of Saint Peter replacing the young Agatha's breasts, which were cut off as punishment by Roman guards. 1
Diseases of the uro-genital tract are as old as the human species itself. Archaeological findings, as well as the very first writings, indicate that our ancestors were plagued by the same kind of discomforts routinely encountered in modern urological practice. For example, in a 5,000-year-old mummy of a child, a huge bladder stone was found. Circumcision and removal of the penile foreskin was probably the first operation ever performed on a routine basis. The importance of urinary stone disease and the dangers of treating bladder stones were already fully recognised by Hippocrates, `The Father of Medicine`. Hippocrates recognised the importance of the analysis and judgment of human excreta. This started a tradition of many ages of urine-analysis by inspection (uroscopy) and tasting.
Orthopaedics, like many specialties, has developed through a necessity. A necessity to correct deformity, restore function and alleviate pain. Orthopaedic surgeons have developed an ability to prevent major losses of bodily function and indeed they can prevent otherwise inevitable death. They seek perfection of their art, by ensuring that the patient reaches optimal condition in the shortest period of time by the safest possible method.
In Colonial times, soap was made primarily from pork fat and a crude form of lye. The lye was tested for suitability by dropping an egg into it. If the egg floated, the lye was too strong. If it sank, the lye was too weak. It had to suspend or sink very slowly to be right. This doesn't quite compare to the computer generated formulas of today. However, it was the pork fat base (not the lye) that made this soap good for washing clothes, but often harsh to the skin
Salt is physiologically absolutely necessary for human life, but in the past prior to the Industrial Revolution the known mineral salt sources were limited so much so, that its supply was a critical demographic power factor for most communities, until industrial means of extraction from brines were devised. It was only available as visible and exposed rock outcrops in arid regions, or as dried out salt cake on the shores of some seas and salt lakes. In areas with wet climates, the protruding salt dissolved making it almost impossible to discover. It is probably this, more than for any other reason, that many of the great civilisations first developed near deserts and desert climates, for example the Mediterranean region, at the edges of the "arid" zones.
The Romans, in their wisdom, were the first people to use a structure to give plants protection.
They used heated pits covered with translucent slabs of rock to form primitive greenhouses.
It was, however in the days of the great explorers that the glasshouse (to give it its correct name) came into its own in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Strange exotic plants and seeds were being bought back to this country, from far distant lands.
According to the Corning Museum of Glass web site, glass making was discovered by potters in Mesopotamia, within the area now known as the countries of Iraq and Syria."As early as 3,300 years ago, secret "instructions" for furnace building and glassmaking in Mesopotamia were written on clay tablets in a cuneiform alphabet. These instructions were copied and recopied over the centuries." (From the Corning Museum site.) A glimpse of glass making in the 4th Century A.D. is provided by a huge glass slab found in Beth Shearim, Israel. See below for more information about the Corning Museum web site.
The word jeans comes from a kind of material that was made in Europe. The material, called jean, was named after sailors from Genoa in Italy, because they wore clothes made from it. The word 'denim' probably came from the name of a French material, serge de Nimes: serge (a kind of material) from Nimes (a town in France).
Much of the ancient history of fragrance is shrouded in mystery. Anthropologists speculate that primitive perfumery began with the burning of gums and resins for incense. Eventually, richly scented plants were incorporated into animal and vegetable oils to anoint the body for ceremony and pleasure. From 7000 to 4000 bc, the fatty oils of olive and sesame are thought to have been combined with fragrant plants to create the original Neolithic ointments. In 3000 bc, when the Egyptians were learning to write and make bricks, they were already importing large quantities of myrrh. The earliest items of commerce were most likely spices, gums and other fragrant plants, mostly reserved for religious purposes.
History of Concrete
Timeline
Ancient Egypt
Egyptians used calcinated gypsum to give brick or stone structures a smooth coating.
Ancient Greece
A similar application of calcinated limestone was used by the ancient Greeks.
Ancient Rome
The Romans frequently used broken brick aggregate embedded in a mixture of lime putty with brick dust or volcanic ash. They built a wide variety of structures that incorporated stone and concrete, including roads, aquaducts, temples and palaces.
