Aulus Cornelius Celsus, called by some the Latin Hippocrates and by others the Cicero of physicians because of the correctness and elegance of his Latin and the clear manner in which he puts his thoughts into words, flourished during the reign of the Emperor Augustus (27 B. C.-14 A. D.). The date and place of his birth are not known, but it is generally believed that he was born and received his education at Rome. The great work which he wrote and upon which he must have been engaged the larger part of his lifetime was a sort of cyclopaedia, which bore the title “_Artium libri_,” and in which each department of knowledge was represented by a separate treatise. It is said that five books were devoted to agriculture, seven to rhetoric, eight to medicine, etc.; but all of these treatises, excepting those relating to the latter science, have been lost or destroyed. It is not certainly known to which of the professions Celsus belonged, but the very skilful and judicious manner in which he has culled all that is best from the medical treatises published before his time, the remarkable knowledge of technical details which he displays in every part of his own work, and the fine tone of medical thought which pervades these eight books, almost compel the conclusion that the author was a very clever clinician, although probably not a physician who practiced for a money reward. In no other published treatise is a more perfect picture of the medical practice of antiquity to be found than that which Celsus gives us in his work “_De arte medica libri octo_.” It is not an easy matter to select, from a treatise of several hundred pages in length, one or two passages of such a character that they may be accepted as fairly representing the author’s manner of dealing with medical and surgical questions of practical interest. The two given below are translations from Védrènes’ version (Paris, 1876), and they deal, the one with venesection and the other with the proper manner of arresting hemorrhage from a wound. Both the passages quoted represent only fragments, as sufficient space for more extensive extracts is not available.