Hippocrates and the newly discovered health temple at Cos / Richard Caton.

  • Caton, Richard, 1842-1926.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Hippocrates and the newly discovered health temple at Cos / Richard Caton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    61(38) Hoijal institution of (S«at Britain. WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, Friday, March 2, 1906. The Right Hon. Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G. M.A. LL.D. F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. Richard Caton, M.D. F.R.C.P., Grf Liverpool. Hippocrates and the Newly Discovered Health Temple at Cos. After exhibiting three portraits of Hippocrates, and giving a brief sketch of his history, his work at Cos, his influence in freeing medicine from ancient superstition, his marvellous powers of obser- vation and scientific insight, and his lofty conception of the un- selfish aim a which ought to characterise the physician, Dr. Caton showed photographs of Cos, and of the ancient tree under which, according to tradition, Hippocrates was accustomed to give medical advice and counsel to the people in the town of Cos. He then traced the sacred way which leads to the Asklepieion, or Health Temple. Before describing the remains of this great Coan sanc- tuary, which the labours of Dr. Rudolph Herzog, of Tubingen, have brought to fight during the past two years, Dr. Caton briefly recounted the principal temples and sanitary departments, which were comprised in such of the Greek Asklepieia as have thus far been excavated, and especially at Epidaurus. The great Health Temple of Cos was situated two miles from the Bea, at an elevation of about 320 feet, at a point where the range of mountains, which rises on the south coast of Cos to a height of about 2800 feet, springs from the gentle slopes of the plain. Earthquakes, with disturbance of the soil, the growth of vegeta- tion, the evil deeds of the lime-burner, together with the building of various churches and mosques, had so completely masked the site that, until three years ago, not a living soul knew that the Ilavayta Tdpcrov, with the gardens round it, was the site of the famed Asklepieiqn. Two British archaeologists, Mr. W. R. Patou and Mr. E. L. Hicks, while searching Cos for inscriptions, with much acuteness suggested this as a probable site. The situation is a remarkably beautiful one, commanding delightful views on all sides. Standing on three step-like terraces, the buildings at present exca- vated cover an area of about 180 metres from north to south, and about 129 from east to west. The spectator sees to the south the range of mountains I have mentioned; to the north the verdant plain of Cos, with the white houses and trees of the town to the