PREFACE 



THE OBJECT of this little monograph 

 is to indicate the debt of the modern 

 world to the ancient biology and 

 medicine. One might as well say simply Greek 

 biology and medicine, since whether pursued 

 or practiced in Ionia, in Attica, or in Rome, 

 the biology and medicine worthy of our atten- 

 tion were Greek in their origin and progress, 

 and owed little to the Romans. The scientific 

 spirit was an endowment of Hellas, and alien 

 from the genius of Rome; nor did the Romans 

 capture much of it from the gifted race whom 

 they subdued politically, and by whose art and 

 literature they were captivated in turn. 



The task before us might make the labor 

 of a lifetime for any writer, and the resulting 

 volume would inevitably lead the reader into 

 long winding avenues. I offer but a sketch, a 

 slight sketch as it were, of Greek biology and 

 medicine. I have endeavored to draw it in 

 such a way as to make clear the nature of their 

 influence upon our intellectual life today. So 

 [xiii] 



