ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the healing of wounds was related to the medieval understanding of wounds. The dominant body image in late medieval medicine was that of man as a vessel. The vessel was filled with fluids which moved through it in a continuous flow. Wound healing becomes the restoration of the continuity of the tissues. In Avicenna's Canon the continuity of the body was emphasized as essential. The concept of membrum was a central one in the Canon and, because it was such a technical term, it is difficult to translate. Repercussive medicines would be used in order to deter extra fluids. All the anatomical structures illustrate either continuous flow inside the body-vessel. These processes of junction and consolidation were called incarnatio and consolidatio in the Canon. The line between healthy, normal wound healing and the development of swellings and ulcers proved to be thin. Finally, suppurative medicines would cause pus in the wound.
