Milestones in the evolution of pathology in Malta

Abstract

This book offers a brief sketch of events in chronological sequence that mark the rise of the science of pathology in Malta over the past three hundred years. This development cannot be adequately appreciated without a backward glance over a stretch of time when morbid anatomy and clinical medicine were still interpreted in terms of the ancient theory of the four humours - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile - according to which an imbalance of these humours was considered to be the root cause of disease. In fact it was not until after 1858 when Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), Professor of Pathology at Wursburg University, brought out his concept of Cellular Pathology that the humoral theory was abandoned. In fact Virchow pointed out that the cell was the centre of all bodily activity and changes and ultimately the seat of disease. Going through these pages the reader will note the great impact that European medical literature and advances have exercised on the development of pathology in Malta. This is to be expected as Malta, in its central geographical location in the Mediterranean at the southernmost point of Europe has, since ancient times, been a hub in the main stream of the political, maritime, cultural and medical evolution of that continent.