Although considerable interest is felt by the English public in regard to much of the work just referred to, one important field of investigation has remained comparatively unknown in this country—I mean the exploration of the shrines of Asklepios, the god of healing, at Epidauros and Athens, about which I am to have the honour of speaking to you. As the time allotted is brief, it is needful to avoid all prefatory remarks, and to restrict this paper almost entirely to a consideration of the new discoveries and to inferences from them. As a matter of fact, apart from the Hippocratic writings there is but scant information as to the sanitary and medical aspects of Greek life in ancient literature. Homer and Pindar have brief references to Epidauros and other sanctuaries of the god; so also have Plato, Hippys of Regium, Strabo, and some of the dramatists, as Aristophanes, and certain of the late Greek writers, especially Pausanias. Under these circumstances most precious are the researches made by the spade. The pioneer in this inquiry was M. Cavvadias, the eminent archæologist, Ephor of Antiquities and late Minister of Education in the Greek government. To him more than to any one else we owe the important additions lately made to this branch of archæology. He worked in conjunction with the Greek Archæological Society, and was aided by M. Staïs, the Conservator of the National Museum. Herr Baunack and others helped to restore and decipher the hundreds of inscriptions which were found—a work of no small difficulty. Various authorities more or less associated with the French School, such as M. Gérard, MM. Defrasse and Lechat, and Prof. Reinach; Dr. Dörpfeld, Prof. Furtwängler, Herr Baunack, Dr. Köchler, and others associated with the German School, have had a share in the work or in recording its results. Comparatively little has been done by the English, and only a limited amount of description has been published in our language. An interesting paper by Professor Percy Gardner, in his _New Chapters in Greek History_, some valuable references by Miss Jane Harrison and Mrs. Verrall in their _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens_, the admirable notes in Mr. Frazer’s new edition of _Pausanias_, and one or two articles in American journals, such as the _American Antiquarian_ and _Cornell Studies_, are among the chief. [Illustration: PLATE I—Outline Restoration of a part of the Hieron of Epidauros (R.C.)] Outline Restoration of Some of the Principal Buildings of the Hieron of Epidauros (_Some emendations in this plate have been borrowed from the important work published by_ M. Cavvadias _during the present year._)