Serpents of a peculiar kind were kept in the temples. Votive tablets also have been found on which the ailments were inscribed and which were similar to our hospital case records. No doubt Hippocrates, the “father of physic,” gained much of his knowledge of medicine from these tablets, for some of his reputed writings and formulas, such as Prorrhetica or Praedictiones and Coacoae Praenotiones, are very much like them. He was a descendant of the early Asclepiades and was said to be the nineteenth in descent from Esculapius. He inherited the instruction of his fathers through a long line of physicians and was well versed in the practice of his time. Later on we find the Greek practitioners coming to Rome, and the practice of the Asclepiades came with them. According to the Roman law they were freedmen. After a time they established shops, on which they placed the sign of the Esculapian snake and practiced their art and sold medicine; the Romans called them _medicinae_. We learn from Ovid that on the occasion of the great plague in Rome, at the command of the Delphic oracle, B. C. 293, an embassage was sent to the temple of Esculapius at Epidaurus, whence was brought a living serpent which was received with great ceremony by the Romans. They built a temple on the Tiber and the serpent was placed therein. Now let us glance at the sources of this serpent idea as found in the earlier times and the strange ramifications of the respect for the serpent among barbaric races. In the earliest civilized times we find that the Egyptians represented the eternal spirit “Kneph” as a serpent. Osiris in snake form was usually associated with health; the Chaldean Hoa was identical with the _Agatho-daemon_, which the Hebrews, who were in Egypt for over four hundred years, learned to regard as the symbol of health and life. Thermuthis, the sacred asp, was associated with Isis, the goddess of life and healing. The serpent’s change of skin may have been suggestive of resurrection and renovation; he was feared because he was supposed to possess superhuman knowledge and power. His supposed longevity was, no doubt, the reason why this animal entwined about a staff was symbolic of health and the distinctive attribute of the classical Esculapius and Hygeia. We find also that the Phenicians adored the serpent as a beneficent genius. The Hindoos had a serpent deity, Rudra, who was not only beautiful and strong but also the healer. The Druids had serpents in the sanctuary to bring good fortune. The Python of the Greeks in the table of Apollo, described by Ovid, was all-powerful; the Celts, the Basques and all Asia had legends of the Orm and the Paystha pictured as a great dragon. We are all familiar with the fables of St. Michael and St. George, and, turning to the Chinese, the winged dragon or serpent is a symbol of superior wisdom and power.