predict death, and even determine

For centuries, physicians used urine to diagnose disease, predict death, and even determine sexual history—analyzing its color, consistency, and contents with remarkable confidence. In the mid-thirteenth century, William of Rubruck, a Flemish Franciscan friar, traveled to the Mongol Empire. The main purpose of his visit was to undertake missionary work, but he also wrote a colorful account of his travels for King Louis IX of France, in which he described the region and its inhabitants. Among his many curious observations, he was astonished to find that the local physicians, who were generally skilled and knowledgeable, did not examine their patients’ urine. To the modern reader, this seems an odd detail to highlight, but William came from a world in which uroscopy—the examination of urine for the purpose of diagnosis and prognosis—was one of a doctor’s most valued skills สล็อต