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Credit: History of medicine / [John Bostock]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
![uccidentally (Hscovered by a sbc})herd, and placed under the care of Chiron. His <leatli was said to have been caused by the jealousy of Pluto, in consequence of the nunibcr of individuals whom he rescued from the g'rave; from which tale we may at least conclude that his reputation as a successful practitioner must have been much higher than that of any of his contemporaries.* * * § i\ccording' to the custom of that ag’e, he transmitted his profession to his sons Machaon and Podalirius, who accompanied the Greeks in the Trojan expedition, and are celebrated in various passag:es of the Iliad for their medical skill.f Prom the in- cidental mention that is made hy Flomer and the early Greek writers of the nature oI‘ the remedies that were employed by these individuals or their contemporaries, it will appear that their practice was principally surgical, and nearly confined to the treatment of wounds, and that, with respect to internal diseases, they were for the most part conceived to be the immediate infliction of tlie Deity, and were therefore abandoned as incurable, or at least were to be obviated only by charms and incantations, and that the arts of magic formed no inconsiderable part even of their surgical practice.]: The practice of medicine remained for a considerable time hereditary in the family of ypsculapius, and in a great measure confined to it. His descendants obtained the name of Asclepiades ; they were the priests of his temples, and presided over and di- rected the rites and ceremonies.§ These temples, indeed, became a species of hospitals, to which patients resorted from all quarters for the relief of the diseases with Avldch they were affected. Under the direction of the priests of these temples they underwent a variety of ceremonies, the immediate effect of which must have been principally upon the imagination. Some, however, of the practices which were enjoined were of a dietetic nature, and were directly conducive to temperance and cleanliness; such as frequent ablution, and the abstaining from certain kinds of food. To these if we add that the temples were generally erected in healthy situations, that the patients enjoyed rest and leisure, and that the mind was interested by a succession of new and pleasing impressions, we may suppose that they would be placed under circumstances, not a little resembling those which are found so conducive to health, by the invalids who frequent the medicinal springs and other analogous establishments of modern times. II Although the accounts that have been transmitted to us respecting Aesculapius would lead us to conclude that he was a real personage, who actually possessed a greater de- gree of medical skill than any of his contemporaries, yet his whole history is so involved in fable and mystery, that it is impossible to obtain any correct idea of the details of his practice. It has been observed above that it was probably, in a great measure, surgical, and even confined almost exclusively to the cure of wounds or recent injuries. The treatment of these may be considered so far judicious as it was simple ; it consisted in removing all extraneous bodies, in placing the parts as much as possible in their natu- ral position, in fomentations and ablutions, and in the application of certain vegetables which were supposed to be possessed of balsamic or styptic properties. Wine and other articles of a more stimulating nature were also used, while oleaginous substances were employed nearly with the same intention as in modern times, to defend the part from the air or other external agents, together with bandages and other means of mechanical support. We have no distinct evidence how far internal remedies were administered ; for the most part they relied on magical arts and incantations, and although we have reason to believe that certain vegetable products were occasionally employed as in- ternal remedies, we are scarcely able to-discover what was the object of the practitioner, and we are frequently unable to ascertain what were the plants that were employed.H * Diodorus Siculus, lib. iv. §. 71, Ily^inus, fab. 49 et alibi. Clerc, part i. liv. i. ch. 11 — IG. Ortelius, Capita Deor. lib. ii. in Gronovji Tlies. Grasc. t. 7. p. 278 et seep DJontfaucon, Antiq. V. i. book ii. ch. I, 2. Spren;2;el, t. i. p. 119 et seq. Ackermaun, per. 1, cap. 3. §. 41—59 ; and especially ihe second dissertation in his Opiiscula, by Giinzius and Richter. i (.'Icrc, part 1, liv. i. ch. 17. Spren^el, t.I'll et seq. Goulin, “ Anciens iMedecins,” in Encyc. Method. “ M6der.ine this article may be advantageously consulted on the subject of the Greek and Roman physicians. + Ilias xi. fi3G et seq. Odyss. xix. 15G et seq. § Spreyigel, t. i. p. IG8 et seq. 11 Clcrc, part i. liv. ii. ch. 2-G. Schulz, par. i. sect. 2, cap. 4. Spre.ugel, t. i. p. 153 et se(j. Gaban's, p. 59, GO. Ii Cdsus, lib. i. pr.ef. ; Plinins, lib. xxix. cat). 1 ; Glerc, part 1, liv. i. ch. 15 ; Schulz, p. i. sect. 2, cap. 1 ; Spren^el, sect. 2, ch. 1, 5. Cuhanis, ch. 2, Y 1.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29322157_0015.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
