time. There is little that is original in his writing, but his
thoroughgoing common sense, his wide knowledge, and his discriminating,
eclectic faculty make his writings of special value. As might have been
expected, the Aphorisms of Hippocrates attracted his attention, and,
besides, he wrote a series of aphorisms of his own. The most interesting
of his writings, however, is a series of letters on dietetics written
for the son of his patron Saladin. The young prince seems to have
suffered from one of the neurotic conditions that so often develop in
those who have their lives all planned for them, and little incentive to
do things for themselves. The main portion of his complaints centred, as
in the case of many another individual of leisure, in disturbances of
digestion. Besides, he suffered from constipation and feelings of
depression. Doubtless, like many a young person of the modern time, he
was quite sure that these symptoms portended some insidious organic
ailment that would surely bring an early death. When fathers, having
done all that there is to do, just expect their sons to enjoy the
fruits of the paternal accomplishments, conditions of this kind very
often develop, unless the young man proceeds to occupy himself with even
more dangerous distractions than he finds in unending thought about his
own feelings.

The rules of life and health that Maimonides laid down in these letters
have become part of our popular medical tradition. Probably more of the
ordinarily current maxims as to health have been derived from them than
would possibly be suspected by anyone not familiar with them. In various
forms his rules have been published a number of times. A good idea of
them can be obtained from the following compendium of them, which I
abbreviate from a biographical sketch of Maimonides by Dr. Oppler, which
appeared in the "Deutsches Archiv fuer Geschichte der Medizin und
Medicinische Geographie" (Bd. 2, Leipzig, 1879).

1. Man is bound to lead a life pleasing to God if he wants to
have a healthy body, and he must hold himself far from
everything that can hurt his health and accustom himself to
whatever renews his strength. He should eat and drink only
when hungry and thirsty and should be particularly careful of
the regular evacuation of his bowels and of his bladder. He
must not delay either of these operations, but as far as
possible satisfy the inclination at once.