[The medical literature of the Egyptian campaign]

Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign (1798 - 1801), like all other episodes from the Napoleonic era, gave rise to an extensive literature on the subject, but most of all a significant medical literature. This fact is due to many reasons:--an important health service for this expeditionary corps of more than 36.000 men, with two main figures at its hea, Desgenettes and Larrey--but also with valuable subordinates like Assalini, Savaresi, Balme, Pugnet or Barbès.--A Commission for Science and Art, of which a few doctors and surgeons were members, but most of all pharmacists like Boudet or Rouyer--The presence in the field of Ludwig Frank, the nephew of the famous Johann Peter Frank.--The creation in Cairo of an Egyptian Institute and the publication of the masterly Description of Egypt and the establishment of printing houses.--The emergence of the myth of the Orient and its mysteries.--An extensive array of indigenous pathologies, which is characteristic of those countries. For instance: plague, dysentery, yellow fever, Egyptian ophthalmia, as well as more common diseases like tetanus, scurvy or venereal diseases. The main medical works that cover this period and its pathologies are skimmed.