Page:Greek Biology and Medicine.djvu/54

 GREEK BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE of Hippocrates did not yet deem itself a science; but it travelled in the light. In concluding, mention must be made of the Hippocratic book of Aphorisms, — for no hand-book of medicine has ever been so thumbed through many centuries, or trans- lated into so many languages. Its statements are pithy resumes for the guidance of the practitioner, who could not fail to be the wiser for conning them. Frequently they show astonishing insight and extraordinary knowl- edge. The first and most famous of them all comes as a solemn admonition, — it certainly has echoed down the ages: '0 jStos ^paxvs, v 5e rex^n liOLKpi], b de Katpos o^us, rj 8e irelpa a(t)aepr], r) de Kpicris xct^^Tn?:' " Life is short and the [healing] art is long; the opportunity [to administer remedies] fleet- ing, experiment is dangerous, the decision diffi- cult," and it continues: "One must not only do the the right thing oneself, but make the patient and all about him concur." What is said elsewhere might be added: " You must not only do the proper thing, but do it at the right time." Such admonitions the young practitioner might take to heart, — and tremble! [32]