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lapius, whose name has been immortalized by botanists in Ascle- 
pias, the botanical name of the milkweed, was the son of Apollo, 
and a pupil of Chiron, who has-been called the first teacher of 
pharmacy. 
“Then sucked the blood and sovereign balm infused 
Which Chiron gave, and Aesculapius used.” 
Homer's /liad 
Aesculapius carried his powers of healing so far as to raise the 
dead to life, thus incurring the displeasure of Jove, who finished 
him off with a thunderbolt. But Aesculapius is said to have had a 
large family, among whom were Hygeia, representing health, and 
Panacea, representing medicine. 
Hippocrates, born on the island of Cos, 460 B.C., is generally 
conceded to be the father of Greek medicine. One of his principal 
contributions was to divorce medicine from the superstition which 
had enveloped it up to that time. Even in his day, medicine was 
vided into 3 schools: 1. based on the action of medicine; 2, based 
lat 
— 
— 
on diet; and 3. on physical manipulations. Hippocrates was a 
keen observer, an accurate thinker, and a clear and concise writer. 
One of his wise sayings was, “Life is short, opportunity fleeting, 
judgment difficult, treatment easy, but treatment after thought is 
proper and profitable.” 
Aristotle, born in 384 B.C., a pupil of Plato (390 B.C.) and 
one of the most notable figures in ancient Greek philosophy, was 
a great student of natural science. His work and conclusions had 
a profound influence on the scientific world and his ideas on evolu- 
tion were about 2000 vears ahead of his time. Theophrastus 
(390-280 B.C.) was a disciple of Aristotle, and, if for no other 
reason, should be mentioned here because of his work in botany. 
In fact, he is generally known as the “Father of Botany.” Theo- 
phrastus’s “Enquiry into Plants,” in 9 books or sections, is a 
wonderful work, considering the period in which it was written, 
and is of importance chiefly because it contains a record of the 
knowledge gained up to that time, of plants and plant life. It 
discusses, among other things, morphology, physiology, ecology, 
horticulture, although not necessarily under those names, and in- 
«fet 
cludes woods and their uses, medicine, and various superstitions. 
