' I swear by Apollo, the physician, by Asklepios, by Hy^eia, by Panakeia, and by all gods and goddesses, that I will fulfil re- ligiously, according to the best of my power and judgment, the solemn vow which I now make. I will honour as my father the master who taught me the art of medicine ; his children I will consider as my brothers, and teach them my profession without fee or reward. I will admit to my lectures and dis- courses my own sons, my master's sons, and those pupils who have taken the medical o.ath ; but no one else. I will prescribe such medicines as may be best suited to the cases of my patients, according to the best of my judgment ; and no temptation shall ever induce me to administer poison. I will not give to a woman an instrument to procure abortion. I will religiously maintain the ]iurity of my character .and the honour of my art. I will not perform the operation of lithotomy, but leave it to those to whose calling it belongs. Into whatever house I enter, I will enter it with the sole view of relieving the sick, and conduct myself with propriety towards the women of the household. If during my attendance I happen to hear of any- thing that should not be revealed, I will keep it a profound secret. If I observe this oath, may I have success in this life, and may I obtain general esteem after it ; if I break it, may the contrary be my lot.*
The other school of medicine in Greece, the Cnidian— empiric — were adepts in clinical examina- tions, auscultations of the chest, and gynaecology. They were, however, handicapped by lack of anatomical and physiological knowledge. They employed analogy of men with cosmic, vegetable, and animal existence. The two chief physicians
were Eufyphon and Ktesias. Euryphon described pleurisy as allection of the lungs, explained the cause of disease as insufficient elimination of waste products, and liaMuorrhage as from the arteries as well as from the veins, contrary to the general opinion. He was probablv inllueutlal in compiling the Cnidian Sentences, ktesias (after 398 li.C), for seventeen years a prisoner at the Persian court of Artaxerxes Mnemon, showed a general interest in poisons, and wrote a book on hellebore.
In the Alexandrian era under the I'tolemys medi- cine was transplanted from Cos and Cnidos to Alex- andria. As a literary and commercial centre itotlered great attractions. Here was one of the largest libraries of the world, with 600,000 MSS, and here philosophers of all sects had established themselves. Commerce brought from all quarters a vast supply of new medicaments. Interest in botany, zoology, and mineralogy flourished. Physical discoveries were made which could be pressed into the service of medicine. At the beginning of the 3rd cent. B.C. the collection of books attributed to Hippo- krates h.id been brought together and edited by scholars commissioned by the Ptolemys ; other medical MSS also invited study. Patients from many quarters were attracted by the treatment offered by Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian practi- tioners. Fresh inquiry had opened up a deeper interestindiagnosis, pharmacology', and toxicology. Anatomy received an impulse hitherto unknown. Not only animals but cadavers were dissected ; vivisection was reported as performed on criminals. The Ptolemys encouraged and even themselves engaged in dissections. Objects exhumed in Pergamos disclose the accuracy of anatomical knowledge. In Alexandria medicine was divided into surgery, dietetics, and rhizotomyor pharmacy.
Two names stand out in this period (c. 300 B.C.). Herophilos of Chalcedon in Bithynia, one of the most distinguished physiciansof antiquity , followed closely the methods of Hippokrates. With him anatomical science may be said to have had its beginning ; he investigated the brain, the nerves, the eye, the vascular system, the liver ; he named the duodenum. He first regarded the nerves as the organs of sensation, and first operated for cataract by extracting the crystalline lens. He made use of the amazing number of new drugs available by commerce. He practised venesection freely. He taught obstetrics and wrote a book for midwives. ' The most perfect physician is he ^Yho distinguishes between the possible and the im- possible.' Erasistratos of Julis, of the island of Ceos, son of a physician, left the court of Seleucus Nicator and went to Alexandria, where he wrote on fevers, paralysis, hygiene, and therapeutics. He was an anatomist, and described the brain as seat of the soul and centre of the nerves, distin- guished the cerebrum from the cerebellum, and gave the trachea its name ; disease was ' plethora ' — an overfilling of the vessels of the body with alimentary matter, giving rise to fever. He opposed venesec- tion.
By reason of the special conditions of the time, toxicology exerted a powerful fascination over verymauy experimenters in Asia Minor. Krateros at the court of Mithridates VI., Eupator, a rhizo- tomist, Mithridates himself, Nikandros of Colo- phon, dealing with animal and vegetable poisons, cultivated and experimented with various toxic agents.
Greek physicians and midwives made their ap- pearance in Rome in the 3rd. cent. B.C. Pliny, writing in the 1st. cent., said that for 600 years Rome had been without physicians. The Romans were a sturdy race and had had little occasion for the physicians who flourished elsewhere ; in this respect they were behind all other civilized peoples.