36 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



he was believed to be the sevei teeiith in lineal descent. Before his time 

 medicine was almost exclnsively tlienri:ic. or magical. Hippocrates was the 

 first to separate medicine from superstition and priestcraft, to base its prac- 

 tice upon the principles of inductive philosophy, and direct especial attention 

 to the natural history of disease. He laid great stress upon regimen, and was 

 the first to enunciate the principles of public health. He wrote voluminously 



Fig. 24. — ('LACDirs G.\i,i:\. 



upon various subjects relating to medicine, and his works have been repro- 

 duced in many languages and editions. (Fig. 23.) Cat. No. 143.520, U.S.N.M. 

 Hippocratic oath. — A foi-m of oatli .said to have originated with Hippocrates, 

 and to have been required of all his pupils. Possibly it antedates his time, as 

 it is believed by some historians to have been administered to the pupils of the 

 schools of the Asclepiadae. Whatever its origin it stands as a remarkable 

 testimonial to the high standai'd set for tlic physic ian of that early period. 



