As we cast eyes over the brief and fabulous pages of ancient history, almost the first reliable name which we find, as we descend the scale, is that of Hippocrates, who lived less than five hundred years before the Christian Era. He discarded the doctrine of demoniac influences, and took a common-sense view of the subject of medicine. Being himself a lineal descendant of a long line of medical ancestors, he entered upon the profession early in life, and pursued it with ardor to extreme old age. He did all that it was possible to do, in his time, to purge the profession from superstitious and false notions, and establish it upon rational principles. Perhaps this was the first bold attempt to rescue the healing art from the dominion of fanaticism, and place it upon the solid basis of truth and reason. It was his good fortune to lay the corner stone of this mighty edifice, upon which all the superstructure must forever rest. But the darkness that superstition and bigotry had spread around him, was too profound to be wholly dissipated by one luminary. The deep awe with which pagans regarded dead bodies, and their
