[The Order of Malta, nine centuries at the service of the indigent people]

After having recalled the history of the Order and its settling in Malta, the author evokes the Holy Infirmary, the great epidemics, the study of anatomy and pharmacy. The Holy Infirmary was founded at the end of the 16th century by the Great Master Jean de la Valette simultaneously with the town bearing his name. There hospital conditions were unusually good. The epidemics were favorized by the geographical situation of the Island exposed to the infectious diseases spreading from Asia and Africa: in 1591 a plague epidemic or of a very deadly influenza; in 1675 another plague epidemic was still more noxious, whereas in 1705 another one was stopped. The study of anatomy was encouraged by the Great Masters and in 1676 a chair of anatomy was established, an amphitheatre built in 1716 and a course organized. Pharmacy was honored by the creation of a Great Apothecary amid the Holy Infirmary firmly controled by the physicians. An important list of remedies used at that time is given with its description.