thin his direct personal observation,
the knowledge of Hippocrates was necessarily defective. Thus he wrote of
the tissues without distinguishing them; confusing arteries, veins, and
nerves, and speaking of muscles vaguely as "flesh." But with matters
within the reach of the Ancient Physician's own careful observation, the
case is very different. This is well shown in his wonderful chapter on
the club-foot, in which he not only states correctly the true nature of
the malformation, but gives some very sensible directions for rectifying
the deformity in early life.

When human strength was not sufficient to restore a displaced limb, he
skilfully availed himself of all the mechanical powers which were then
known. He does not appear to have been acquainted with the use of
pulleys for the purpose, but the axles which he describes as being
attached to the bench which bears his name (_Scamnum Hippocratis_) must
have been quite capable of exercising the force required.

The work called "The Aphorisms," which was probably written in the old
age of Hippocrates, consists of more than four hundred short pithy
sentences, setting forth the principles of medicine, physiology, and
natural philosophy. A large number of these sentences are evidently
taken from the author's other works, especially those "On Air," etc.,
"On Prognostics," and "On the Articulations." They embody the result of
a vast amount of observation and reflection, and the majority of them
have been confirmed by the experience of two thousand years. A proof of
the high esteem in which they have always been held is furnished by the
fact that they have been translated into all the languages of the
civilized world; among others, into Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, English,
Dutch, Italian, German, and French. The following are a few examples of
these aphorisms:--

"Spontaneous lassitude indicates disease."

"Old people on the whole have fewer complaints than the young; but
those chronic diseases which do befall them generally never leave
them."

"Persons who have sudden and violent attacks of fainting without any
obvious cause die suddenly."

"Of the constitutions of the year, the dry upon the whole are more
healthy than the rainy, and attended with less mortality."

"Phthisis most commonly occurs between the ages of eighteen and
thirty-five years."

"If one give to a person in fever the same food which is given to a
person