The term ὑπάλειπτρον, which is frequently used by Hippocrates, originally meant an ointment spatula, being derived from ὑπαλείφω, to spread ointment. But the custom of combining two instruments on one shaft gradually led to the application of these terms, especially the term specillum, to denote a large variety of instruments. The name κοπάριον is evidently derived from the resemblance of the probe to the pestle, which was such a frequent utensil in Greek homes. It is connected with κόπανον, 'pestle,' κοπανιστήριον, 'mortar,' and κοπανίζω, 'bray,' and κοπτάριον, a medicament pounded in a mortar (Dioscorides, iv. 190). The exact significance of the term κοπάριον is sometimes difficult to determine. It is easy to prove that in general it is merely a sound. Thus Paul (VI. lxxviii), in quoting a passage from Hippocrates, substitutes κοπάριον for the word μήλη, which Hippocrates uses to denote the sound used for exploring a fistula. Throughout this chapter, in which the word occurs ten times in all, Briau translates it by 'manche du scalpel', although the whole context shows that a probe is meant. Even where it is spoken of as an eyed probe (διὰ τετρημένου κοπαρίου) Briau translates it by 'au moyen du manche percé d'un scalpel', an expression which is meaningless to a surgeon. Briau evidently thinks it is derived from κόπτω, and at times it seems as if it might denote a cutting instrument. Thus Adams, in a note to Paul, VI. lxxvii, says, 'if the κοπάριον, however, was the same as the μήλη or specillum it was evidently used for cutting with, as well as for cutting upon', and on one occasion (Paul, VI. lxxx) he translates κοπάριον by 'knife'. Liddell and Scott translate it as 'a small knife'. A careful examination of those passages where it seems to indicate a cutting instrument will show, however, that only blunt dissection, which was frequently performed with the spatula end of a probe, is meant. I am quite convinced that the word κοπάριον is only a late Greek term for the earlier μήλη, and means essentially a sound, and not a knife. While on this subject we may note that throughout the codices and texts there is great confusion between words meaning probe and words meaning scalpel. The proper forms σμίλη, 'scalpel,' and μήλη, 'probe,' are distinct, but the inferior reading σμήλη is frequent in both codices and texts as a bastard, for σμίλη is often written σμήλη incorrectly, and μήλη often becomes σμήλη, just as μικρός is written σμικρός. Thus in Paul (VI. viii), where the author is describing the eversion of the eyelid by means of the olivary point of a probe (τῷ πυρῆνι τῆς μήλης), four codices and the Aldine and Basle texts read σμήλης, two codices read σμύλης, one reads μήλης, four μίλης, and Briau reads σμίλης. In a case like this only a knowledge of surgery can tell us whether a probe or scalpel is meant. _The Specillum as a Sound._