Sketch of the history of medicine, from its origin to the commencement of the nineteenth century / by J. Bostock.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sketch of the history of medicine, from its origin to the commencement of the nineteenth century / by J. Bostock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    and were therefore abandoned as incurable, or at least were to be obviated only by charms and incan- tations, and that the arts of magic formed no inconsiderable part even of their surgical prac- tice.* The practice of medicine remained for a conside- rable time hereditary in the family of ^sculapius, and in a great measure confined to it. His descen- dants obtained the name of Asclepiadee ; they were the priests of his temples, and presided over and directed the rites and ceremonies.f These temples, indeed, became a species of hospitals, to which patients resorted from all quarters for the relief of the diseases with which they were affected. Under the direction of the priests of these temples they under- went 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 * Ilias xi. 636 et seq. Odyss. xix. 456 et seq. t Sprengel, t. i. p. 168 et seq.
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