Hippocrates : a bibliographical demonstration in the library of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 23rd November, 1891 / by James Finlayson.

  • James Finlayson
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hippocrates : a bibliographical demonstration in the library of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 23rd November, 1891 / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practise my art. I will not cut persons labouring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption, and, further, from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my pro- fessional practice, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all times ! But should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot! There are two points in this Oath to which I wish to call your attention. The opening phrase, I swear by all the gods and goddesses has been recognised as mentioned by Ainsto- phanes, where one speaker says, What better oath than that of the brotherhood of Hippocrates ? The other answers, Well! I swear by all the gods (Littre, tome i, p. 31 *). The other point in connection with the Oath, to which I direct your attention, is the remarkable passage forbidding those who are thus sworn to cut for the stone. Hippocrates prac- tised various grave surgical operations, and it has been a matter of wonder that this one should be forbidden. Some, indeed, have sought to solve the difficulty by suggesting that he does not refer to lithotomy, but to castration.-f* It is almost certain that the operation referred to was really lithotomy ; the separation of this operation from the ordinary practice of surgery is indicated by the Founder of our Faculty * M. Littrd departed from this view of the passage while treating of the Oath (see tome ii, p. 48); M. Petrequin, however {Chirurgie d'Hrppocratc, tome i, Paris, 1877, p. 172), still adheres to this meaning of the passage. t This question is discussed in au elaborate note, at the end of the Oath, by M. Petrequin {Chirurgie llippocrate, tome i, Paris, 1877, j). 192); he conies to the concUision that the Oath refers to lithotomy, and that it was proscribed owing to the disasters following its practice at that time.
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