MUSOA ET MEDICA. 



Verily, Mr. Editor, there is nothing new 

 under the sun. Will you allow me through 

 your columns to give to the world the follow- 

 ing extract, which I conceive to throw much 

 light upon the two great questions of the day. 

 It is translated from an ancient Greek manu- 

 script found at Herculaneum, descriptive of 

 the manners of Ancient Greece. " As we 

 parted with the philosopher A riston, Lasthenia 

 asked after his fly, and whether he sometimes 

 saw it, ' No ' replied he ' Agnodice has deliv- 

 ered me from it forever.' When we were 

 alone, I asked Lasthenia to explain this allu- 

 sion, ' you must have perceived,' replied she 

 " that this old man bears the stamp of singu- 

 larity. He has told you that during five 

 years he wore himself out with constant 

 application. Whenever he wished to study 

 he laid down on his belly upon the ground 

 surrounded with books, and at these times 

 imagined he saw a fly light upon his nose. 

 Notwithstanding his eonstant endeavor to 

 drive it away, it still returned and thus threw 

 him into despair! The most skillful physic 

 cians were c ons ulted, bu t their learning, and 

 their remedies were unable to remove this 

 daughter of heaven; as one of our poets has 

 called it, from the nose or rather the imagi- 

 nation of Ariston. 



At length the celebrated Agnodice had the 

 honor of performing the cure. This Agno- 

 dice was a woman of great talents and had so 

 strong a passion for the study of medicine, 



