d Valerius Apes, having consulted the oracle,
was informed that he should mix the blood of a white cock with honey,
to make up an ointment to be applied to his eyes for three consecutive
days. He received his sight, and returned public thanks to the gods."

"Julian appeared lost beyond all hope, from a spitting of blood. The
gods ordered him to take from the altar some seeds of the pine, and to
mix them with honey, of which mixture he was to eat for three days. He
was saved, and came to thank the gods in the presence of the
people."[2]

It was not until five centuries later, when credulity concerning
miracles was on the wane, that the priests began to study and to apply
medical means in order to sustain the reputation of the place, and to
keep up its enormous revenues.

Temples similar to this one at Epidaurus existed at numerous places,
among which were Rhodes, Cnidus, Cos, and one was to be found on the
banks of the Tiber. The temple at Cos was rich in votive offerings,
which generally represented the parts of the body healed, and an
account of the method of cure adopted. From these singular clinical
records, Hippocrates, a reputed descendant of AEsculapius, is reported
to have constructed his treatise on Dietetics.

For a long time after the age of Hercules and the heroic times,
invalids in Greece sought relief from their sufferings from these
descendants of AEsculapius in the temples of that god, which an
enlightened policy had raised on elevated spots, near medicinal
springs, and in salubrious vicinities. Those men who pretended in
right of birth to hold the gift of curing, finally learned the art of
it. The preservation in the temple of the history of those diseases,
the cure of which had been sought by them, aided greatly in this happy
culmination.

Of AEsculapius himself, it is said that he employed the trumpet to cure
sciatica; he claimed that its continued sound made the fibres of the
nerves to palpitate, and the pain vanished. In line with this
treatment, Democritus affirmed that diseases are capable of being
cured by the sound of a flute, when properly played.

Herbs were also used among the Greeks, but almost wholly in the form
of charms rather than on account of what we claim now as real
medicinal value. For example, great virtues were ascribed to the herb
alysson which was pounded and eaten with meat to cure hydrophobia. If
suspended in the house, it promoted the health of the inmates and
protecte