1 6 FATHERS OF BIOLOGY. 



appear exaggerated and extravagant. His method of 

 cultivating medicine was in the true spirit of the 

 inductive philosophy. His descriptions were all de- 

 rived from careful observation of its phenomena, and, 

 as a result, the greater number of his deductions have 

 stood unscathed the test of twenty centuries. 



Still more difficult is it to speak with moderation of 

 the candour which impelled Hippocrates to confess 

 errors into which in his earlier practice he had fallen; 

 or of that freedom from superstition which entitled 

 him to be spoken of as a man who knew not how to 

 deceive or be deceived (" qui tarn fallere quam falli 

 nescit ") ; or, lastly, of that purity of character and true 

 nobility of soul which are brought so distinctly to light 

 in the words of the oath translated below : 



11 1 swear by Apollo the Physician and ^Esculapius, 

 and I call Hygeia and Panacea and all the gods and 

 goddesses to witness, that to the best of my power and 

 judgment I will keep this oath and this contract ; to wit 

 to hold him, who taught me this Art, equally dear to 

 me as my parents ; to share my substance with him ; 

 to supply him if he is in need of the necessaries of life ; 

 to regard his offspring in the same light as my own 

 brothers, and to teach them this Art, if they shall desire 

 to learn it, without fee or contract ; to impart the pre- 

 cepts, the oral teaching, and all the rest of the instruc- 

 tion to my own sons, and to the sons of my teacher, 



