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At Oxford, as at most of the continental universities, there were three degrees, those of Bachelor, Licentiate and Doctor. The books read were the "Tegni" of Galen, the "Aphorisms" of Hippocrates, the "De Febribus" of Isaac and the "Antidotarium" of Nicolaus Salernitanus: if a graduate in arts, six years' study in all was required, in other faculties, eight.

The "Antidotarium" of Nicolaus Salernitanus, about 1100, became the popular pharmacopoeia of the Middle Ages, and many modern preparations may be traced to it. The most prominent man of the school is Constantinus Africanus, a native of Carthage, who, after numerous journeys, reached Salernum about the middle of the eleventh century.

As his end approached he sketched in lightly what he had hoped to treat much more formally, and then turned to what was to have been the last chapter of his book, the Antidotarium or suggestions of practical remedies against diseases of various kinds because his students and physician friends were urging him to complete this portion for them.

He has special chapters with regard to obesity, emaciation, and general constitutional conditions. His book, the "Antidotarium," is the foundation of our knowledge of the drug-giving of his time.

"Eorundem Expositio." MS. in Bodleian. "Antidotarium." MS. in Caius College. To these he adds, on the authority of Bale and Pits: 7. "De Viribus Aquarum et Specierum." "De Proportione Fistularum." "De Judicio Patientis." "De Re Herbaria." "De Tuenda Valentudine." "De Particularibus Morbis." "Thesaurus Pauperum." All of these latter may be regarded as doubtful.