When we search into the history of medicine and the
commencement of science, the first body of doctrine that
we meet with is the collection of writings attributed to
Hippocrates. Science ascends directly to that origin and there
stops. Everything that had been learned before the physician
of Cos has perished; and, curiously, there exists a great
gap after him as well as before him.... So that the writings
of Hippocrates remain isolated amongst the ruins of ancient
medical literature.--LITTRÉ. Introduction to the
_Translation of the Works of Hippocrates_.
About eight hundred years separated the periods of Æsculapius and
Hippocrates. During that long time the study of medicine in all its
branches was proceeding in intimate association with the various
philosophies for which Greece has always been famous. Intercourse
between Greece and Egypt, Persia, India, and other countries brought
into use a number of medicines, and probably these were introduced and
made popular by the shopkeepers and the travelling doctors, market
quacks as we should call them.
Leclerc has collected a list of nearly four hundred simples which he
finds alluded to as remedies in the writings of Hippocrates. But these
include various milks, wines, fruits, vegetables, flits, and other
substances which we should hardly call drugs now. Omitting these and
certain other substances which cannot be identified I take from the
author named the following list of medicines employed or mentioned in
that far distant age;--
Abrotanum.
Absinthe.
Adiantum (maidenhair).
Agnus castus.
Algae (various).
Almonds.
Althaea.
Alum.
Amber.
Ammoniac.
Amomum.
Anagallis (a veronica).
Anagyris.
Anchusa.
Anemone.
Anethum.
Anise.
Anthemis.
Aparine (goose grease).
Aristolochia.
Armenian stone.
Asphalt.
Asphodel.
Atriplex.
Baccharis.
Balm.
Basil.
Bistort.
Blite.
Brass (flowers, filings, ashes).
Briar.
Bryony.
Burdock.
Cabbage.
Cachrys.
Calamus aromaticus.
Cantharides.
Capers.
Cardamom.
Carduus benedictus.
Carrot.
Castoreum.
Centaury.
Centipedes.
Chalcitis (red ochre).
Chenopodium.
Cinnamon.
Cinquefoil.
Clove.
Colocynth.
Coriander.
Crayfish.
Cress.
Cucumber (wild).
Cummin.
Cyclamen.
Cytisus.
Dictamnus.
Dog.
Dracontium.
Earths (various).
Elaterium.
Elder.
Erica.
Euphorbia.
Excrement of ass, goat, mule, goose, fox.
Fennel.
Fig tree (leaves, wood, fruit).
Foenugreek.
Frankincense.
Frogs.
Galbanum.
Galls.
Garlic.
Germander.
Goat (various parts).
Hawthorn.
Heather.
Hellebore (white and black).
Hemlock.
Henbane.
Honey.
Horehound.
Horns of ox, goat, stag.
Hyssop.
Isatis.
Ivy.
Juniper.
Laserpitium.
Laurel.
Lettuce.
Licorice.
Linseed.
Loadstone.
Lotus.
Lupins.
Magnesian stone.
Mallow.
Mandragora.
Mecon (?).
Melilot.
Mercurialis.
Minium.
Mints (various).
Mugwort.
Myrabolans.
Myrrh.
Myrtle.
Narcissus.
Nard.
Nitre.
Oak.
Oenanthe.
Oesypus.
Olive.
Onions.
Origanum.
Orpiment.
Ostrich.
Ox-gall.
Ox (liver, gall, urine).
Panax.
Parthenium.
Pennyroyal.
Peony.
Pepper.
Persea (sebestens).
Persil.
Peucedanum.
Phaseolus.
Philistium.
Pine.
Pitch.
Pomegranate.
Poppy.
Quicklime.
Quince.
Ranunculus.
Red spider.
Resin.
Rhamnus.
Rhus.
Ricinus.
Rock rose.
Rose.
Rosemary.
Ruby.
Rue.
Saffron.
Sagapenum.
Sage.
Salt.
Samphire.
Sandarach.
Scammony.
Sea water.
Secundines of a woman.
Sepia.
Serpent.
Sesame.
Seseli.
Silver.
Sisymbrium.
Solanum.
Spurge.
Squill.
Stag (horns, &c.).
Stavesacre.
Styrax.
Succinum.
Sulphur.
Sweat.
Tarragon.
Tetragonon.
Thaspia.
Thistles (various).
Thlapsi.
Thuja.
Thyme.
Torpedo (fish).
Trigonum.
Tribulus.
Turpentine.
Turtle.
Umbilicus veneris.
Verbascum.
Verbena.
Verdigris.
Verjuice.
Violet.
Wax.
Willow.
Woad.
Worms.
Worm seed.
This list may be taken to have comprised pretty fairly the materia
medica of the Greeks as it was known to them when Hippocrates
practised, and as it is not claimed that he introduced any new
medicines it may be assumed that these formed the basis of the remedies
used in the temples of Æsculapius, though perhaps some of them were
only popular medicines.
The temples of Æsculapius were in all those ages the repositories of
such medical and pharmaceutical knowledge as was acquired. The priests
of these temples were called Asclepiades, and they professed to be the
descendants of the god. Probably the employment of internal medicines
was a comparatively late development. Plato remarks on the necessarily
limited medical knowledge of Æsculapius. Wounds, bites of serpents, and
occasional epidemics, he observes, were the principal troubles which
the earliest physicians had to treat. Catarrhs, gout, dysentery, and
lung diseases only came with luxury. Plutarch and Pindar say much the
same. The latter specially mentions that Æsculapius had recourse to
prayers, hymns, and incantations in mystic words and in verses called
epaioide, or carmina, from which came the idea and name of charm.
In later times these temples were beautiful places, generally situated
in the most healthy localities, and amid lovely scenery. They were
either in forests or surrounded by gardens. A stream of pure water ran
through the grounds, and the neighbourhood of a medicinal spring was
chosen if possible. The patients who resorted to them were required to
purify themselves rigorously, to fast for some time before presenting
themselves in the temple, to abstain from wine for a still longer
preliminary period, and thus to appreciate the solemnity of the
intercession which was to be made for them. On entering the temple
they found much to impress them. They were shown the records of cures,
especially of diseases similar to their own; their fasts had brought
them into a mental condition ready to accept a miracle, the ceremonies
which they witnessed were imposing, and at last they were left to sleep
before the altar. That dreams should come under those circumstances was
not wonderful; nor was it surprising that in the morning the priests
should be prepared to interpret these dreams. Not unfrequently the
patients saw some mysterious shapes in their dreams which suggested to
the priests the medicines which ought to be administered. For no doubt
they did administer medicines, though for many centuries they observed
the strictest secrecy in reference to all their knowledge and practices.
It need hardly be added that offerings were made to the god, to the
service of the temple, and to the priests personally by grateful
patients who had obtained benefit. At one of the temples it is said
it was the custom to throw pieces of gold or silver into a well for
the god. At others pieces of carving representing the part which had
been the seat of disease were sold to those who had been cured, and
these were again presented to the temple, and, it may be surmised, sold
again. That cures were effected is likely enough. The excitement, the
anticipation, the deep impressions made by the novel surroundings had
great influence on many minds, and through the minds on the bodies.
Records of these cures were engraved on tablets and fixed on the walls
of the temples.
Sprengel gives a translation of four of these inscriptions found at the
Temple of Æsculapius which had been built on the Isle of the Tiber,
near Rome. The first relates that a certain Gaius, a blind man, was
told by the oracle to pray in the temple, then cross the floor from
right to left, lay the five fingers of his right hand on the altar,
and afterwards carry his hand to his eyes. He did so, and recovered
his sight in the presence of a large crowd. The next record is also a
cure of blindness. A soldier named Valerius Aper was told to mix the
blood of a white cock with honey and apply the mixture to his eyes for
three successive days. He, too, was cured, and thanked the god before
all the people. Julian was cured of spitting of blood. His case had
been considered hopeless. The treatment prescribed was mixing seeds
of the fir apple with honey, and eating the compound for three days.
The fourth cure was of a son of Lucius who was desperately ill with
pleurisy. The god told him in a dream to take ashes from the altar, mix
them with wine, and apply to his side.
The legend of the foundation of this Roman temple is curious. In the
days of the republic on the occasion of an epidemic in the city the
sibylline books were consulted, with the result that an embassy was
sent to Epidaurus to ask for the help of Æsculapius. Quintus Ogulnius
was appointed for this mission. On arriving at Epidaurus the Romans
were astonished to see a large serpent depart from the temple, make its
way to the shore, and leap on the vessel, where it proceeded at once
to the cabin of Ogulnius. Some of the priests followed the serpent and
accompanied the Romans on the return journey. The vessel stopped at
Antium, and the serpent left the ship and proceeded to the Temple of
Æsculapius in that city. After three days he returned, and the voyage
was continued. Casting anchor at the mouth of the Tiber the serpent
again left the vessel and settled itself on a small island. There it
rolled itself up, thus indicating its intention of settling on that
spot. The god, it was understood, had selected that island as the site
for his temple, and there it was erected.
As might be expected, some of the less reverent of the Greek writers
found subjects for satire in the worship of Æsculapius. Aristophanes
in one of his comedies makes a servant relate how his master, Plautus,
who was blind, was restored to sight at the Æsculapian temple. Having
placed their offerings on the altar and performed other ceremonies,
this servant says that Plautus and he laid down on beds of straw. When
the lights were extinguished the priest came round and enjoined them to
sleep and to keep silence if they should hear any noise. Later the god
himself came and wiped the eyes of Plautus with a piece of white linen.
Panacea followed him and covered the face of Plautus with a purple
veil. Then on a signal from the deity two serpents glided under the
veil, and having licked his eyes Plautus recovered his sight.
It cannot be doubted that in the course of the centuries a large
amount of empiric knowledge was accumulated at these temples, and
probably the pretence of supernatural aid was far more rare than we
suppose. In an exhaustive study of the subject recently published
by Dr. Aravintinos, of Athens, that authority expresses the opinion
that the temples served as hospitals for all kinds of sufferers, and
that arrangements were provided in them for prolonged treatment. He
thinks that in special cases the treatment was carried out during the
mysterious sleep, when it was desired to keep from the patient an exact
knowledge of what was being done; but generally he supposes a course
of normal medication or hygiene was followed. Forty-two inscriptions
have been discovered, but on analysing these Dr. Aravintinos comes to
the conclusion that they record in most cases only cures effected by
rational means, and not by miracles. He finds massage, purgatives,
emetics, diaphoresis, bleeding, baths, poulticing, and such like
methods indicated, and though the sleeps, possibly hypnotic, are often
mentioned, this is not by any means the case invariably.
About a century before Hippocrates wrote and practised, the Asclepiads
began to reveal their secrets. The revolt against the mysteries and
trickeries of the temples was incited by the infidelity to their oaths
of certain of the Italian disciples of Pythagoras. The school of
philosophy and medicine founded by that mystic aimed also to keep his
doctrines secret, but when the colony he had established at Crotona,
in South Italy, was dispersed by the attacks of the mob, a number of
the initiates travelled about under the title of Periodeutes practising
medicine often in close proximity to an Æsculapian temple. The first
of the Asclepiads to yield to this competition were those of Cnidos,
but the school of Cos was not long after them. The direct ancestors of
Hippocrates were among the teachers of the temple who became eager to
make known the accumulated science in their possession, and thus by the
time when the famous teacher was born (460 B.C.) the world was
ripe for his intellect to have free play.