HIPPOCRATES. 



has its own nature, and that no one arises without a 

 natural cause." 



From this it will be seen that Hippocrates regarded 

 all phenomena as at once divine and scientifically deter- 

 minable. In this respect it is interesting to compare 

 him with one of his most illustrious contemporaries, 

 namely, with Socrates, who distributed phenomena into 

 two classes : one wherein the connection of antecedent and 

 consequent was invariable and ascertainable by human 

 study, and wherein therefore future results were accessible 

 to a well-instructed foresight ; the other, which the gods 

 had reserved for themselves and their unconditional 

 agency, wherein there was no invariable or ascertainable 

 sequence, and where the result could only be foreknown 

 by some omen or prophecy, or other special inspired 

 communication from themselves. Each of these classes 

 was essentially distinct, and required to be looked at 

 and dealt with in a manner radically incompatible with 

 the other. Physics and astronomy, in the opinion of 

 Socrates, belonged to the divine class of phenomena in 

 which human research was insane, fruitless, and impious. 1 



Hippocrates divided the causes of diseases into two 

 classes : the one comprehending the influence of seasons, 

 climates, water, situation, and the like; the other con- 

 sisting of such causes as the amount and kind of food 

 and exercise in which each individual indulges. He 

 1 Crete's "History of Greece," vol. i. p. 358. 



