76 toner's address. 
important place in every stage of civilization since the 
genesis of man upon earth. 
to choose between all of his arts and gifts the one which he preferred, 
whereupon lapis from the store-house of the universe chose the art of 
medicine. The Greeks derived the origin of their medicine from 
Chiron, the Centaur of Mount Pelion, in Thessaly. He is repre- 
sented as the teacher of y^isculapius, and was placed by Jupiter among 
the stars in the constellation of Sagittarius. It was an easy matter for 
such a people to invest the dwelling-place of their beloved physicians 
with all the character of a revered temple. Chiron was instructed in 
medicine and the art of prophecy by Apollo and Artemis. He was 
also renowned for proficiency in music, hunting, and gymnastics. 
His statue is one of the noblest specimens of art, combining the human 
and animal form, that have come down to us from antiquity. 
Mountaineers and uncivilized races living in forests have always 
been supposed to have special opportunities to discover herbs of rare 
curative virtues, and people living in agricultural districts and indeed 
in cities yield an admiring faith in the remedies proffered by them. In- 
stances of this credulity are very frequent in our own times, where pre- 
tended Indian physicians and inventors of new medicines, who have 
received no training in the art of physic, are rewarded and honored, 
while men of science are neglected and their opinions disregarded. 
It will be recollected that the constellation of Serpentarius was 
originally known by the name of ^sculapius, the god of medicine. 
There are conflicting accounts of the descent of this physician, but he 
is generally represented to have been the son of Apollo. In the 
earliest accounts of him he is spoken of as a man, and referred to by 
Homer as the" Blameless physician." His sons, Machaon and Poda- 
lirius, were also physicians, and served as surgeons in the Greek army 
at the siege of Troy. So skillful and renowned did ^sculapius be- 
come that it was believed of him that he could not only prevent disease, 
but that he could also raise the dead to life. 
In all ages distinguished merit has had its penalties to pay, and 
^sculapius was no exception to this rule. Pluto conceived that this 
power of curing all diseases and raising the dead interfered with 
his rights, and appealed to Jupiter, who killed yEsculapius with a 
stroke of lightning. After the death of y^^sculapius he received 
divine honors. Temples were erected to him at Epidaurus, Cos, 
Cnidos, and Rhodes. Here it is apparent that religious honors and 
