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Figure. Tobias the Elder is cured of his blindness: etching by Rode dated 1769. In the apocryphal Book of Tobias the archangel Raphael, in the appearance of a young man, accompanies the younger Tobias (and his dog) on his first journey away from home, to recover some money belonging to his blind father. Raphael, whose name means “God has healed,” teaches Tobias about the use of fish entrails in exorcizing demons and as a curative ointment for the eyes. On the journey Tobias finds a wife, and the angel's first remedy proves useful in getting rid of the demon who killed his bride's seven previous bridegrooms. On his return, Tobias follows the angel's instructions to restore his father's sight: “You must put the fish's gall to his eyes; the medicine will smart and will draw a filmy white skin off his eyes. And your father will be able to see and look on the light” (Tobit 11:8). Photo by: US National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division