three sides of the temple, and "to the north the verdant plain of
Cos, with the white houses and trees of the town to the right, and the
wide expanse of turquoise sea dotted by the purple islands of the AEgean,
and the dim mountains about Halicarnassus, to the north-east."[3]

The ancient Greek Gymnasia were in use long before the Asclepiades began
to practise in the temples. The Greeks were a healthy and strong race,
mainly because they attended to physical culture as a national duty. The
attendants who massaged the bodies of the athletes were called _aliptae_,
and they also taught physical exercises, and practised minor surgery and
medicine. Massage was used before and after exercises in the gymnasium,
and was performed by anointing the body with a mixture of oil and sand
which was well rubbed into the skin. There were three classes of
officials in the gymnasia; the director or magistrate called the
_gymnasiarch_, the sub-director or _gymnast_, and the subordinates. The
directors regulated the diet of the young men, the _sub-directors_,
besides other duties, prescribed for the sick, and the attendants
massaged, bled, dressed wounds, gave clysters, and treated abscesses,
dislocations, &c.

There is no doubt that the Greeks, in insisting upon the physical
training of the young, were wiser in their generation than the people of
the present day; and not only the young, but people of mature age, took
exercises suited to their physical requirements. The transgression of
some of Solon's laws in reference to the gymnasia was punishable by
death.

The third stage in the history of Greek medicine has now been reached.
The first stage was primitive, the second associated with religion, and
the third connected with philosophy. The classification of Renouard is
accurate and convenient. In the "Age of Foundation," he recognizes four
periods, namely:--

(1) The Primitive Period, or that of Instinct, beginning with myth, and
ending with the destruction of Troy, 1184 years before Christ.

(2) The Sacred or Mystic Period, ending with the dispersion of the
Pythagorean Society, 500 years before Christ.

(3) The Philosophic Period, ending with the foundation of the
Alexandrian library, 320 years before Christ. This period is made
illustrious by Hippocrates.

(4) The Anatomic Period, ending with the death of Galen, about 200 years
after Christ.

The earliest Greek medical philosopher was Pythagoras (about 580 B.C.).
He was born a