THE HELLENIC PERIOD 49 



live its own life. Philosophers such as Pythagoras 

 and Empedocles had devoted much thought to this 

 science. Unfortunately, all the medical literature prior 

 to the Hippocratic writings has disappeared, absorbed 

 by these writings. We can, nevertheless, form some 

 idea of what medical science was before Hippocrates. 1 

 It had its beginnings in magic, but the priests were 

 able to direct it into other channels and to found 

 numerous clinics called asclepieia or temples of Ascle- 

 pius. The one at Epidaurus, a veritable sanatorium, 

 was celebrated for a long time. Dreams and their 

 interpretation played a great part in the treatment 

 given to the sick. There were also lay asclepieia 

 equally important. The gymnasia in which a dietetic 

 regime was imposed upon the athletes often supplanted 

 the other establishments both religious and lay. At 

 this time various schools arose, amongst which must 

 be mentioned those of Cyrene, Crotona, Rhodes, and 

 especially Cos and Cnidus, the two most celebrated. 

 From the sixth century B.C. the Greek physicians had 

 acquired a great reputation. Democedes (521-485 B.C.) 

 who, after having tended Poly crates of Samos, was 

 taken a prisoner by Darius and became his confidential 

 councillor, bears witness to this (Herodotus, III, 125). 

 He came from the school of Crotona, made famous by 

 Alcmaeon, who practised the dissection of animals, 

 and discovered the most important sensory nerves, 

 considering them as empty canals. He explained 

 illness as a disturbance of equilibrium between the 

 opposing elements which constitute the body, to wit 

 cold and heat, dryness and moisture, etc. This 

 Pythagorean theory had consequently a great influence 

 on pathology. 2 Nevertheless, to the schools of Cos 

 and Cnidus belongs the honour of having established 



1 La Grande Encyclopedie, article Grice, with bibliographical 

 notes. See also 14 Gomperz, Penseurs, I, p. 291. 



2 15 Heiberg, Naturwiss., p. 11. 



