Add this to the wine.

Add this to the wine." The Arabs also introduced "the Soporific Sponge" which was commonly used for anesthesia in the middle ages. The sponge was soaked with aromatics and narcotics to be sucked and then held under the nostril to provide anesthesia prior to surgery (Keys 1971). Avicenna wrote more than 1,000 years ago about the effect of pain on ventilation: "Pain dissipates the bodily strength and interferes with the normal functions of the organs.

The respiratory organs are inhibited from drawing in air, and consequently the act of breathing is interfered with, and the respiration becomes intermittent, rapid, or altogether unnatural in rhythm" (Gruner 1930). **ARABS AND OBSTETRICS ** Hynayn Ibn-Ishak (Joannitius, 809-873 A.D.) translated the work of the Greek pioneer in obstetrics, Paul of Aegina, into Arabic. Hunayn also translated to the Arabic world most of the work of Hippocrates, Galen, and Ptolemy.

Moreover, he was a gifted physician and philosopher. Ali Ibn-Al- Abas Al-Majusi (Halle Abbas) who died in 994 A.D. was the first to describe in his book "Al-Kitab Al-Malaki" (The Royal Book) that the uterine contractions are the cause of delivery of the fetus (Keys 1971). Before him, it was thought that the uterine contractions were only as indication of the onset of labor; subsequently the fetus would swim its way out of the womb and birth canal.

Most of the deliveries were performed by midwives at home. For complicated obstetrics Al-Zahrawi offered advice to midwives as mentioned…