THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH. THE following oath from the works of Hippocrates is so frequently referred to that the medical man of the present day should be made more familiar with its phraseology. As has been truly remarked, it exhibits the practitioners of medicine in a very remote age already formed into a regular corporation, bound by an oath to observe certain regulations, and having regular instructions in the art. The piece here quoted would seem to be an indenture between a physician and his pupil ; and it is most honorable to the profession that so ancient a document pertaining to it, instead of displaying a narrow-minded and exclusive selfishness, inculcates a generous line of conduct, and enjoins an observ ance of the rules of propriety and of the laws of domestic morality.' THE OATH. I swear by Apollo the physician, and Esculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation—to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this Art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those of my 1 Genuine Works of Hippocrates, Sydenham Society's edition, by Francis Adams, LL.D., ii. 775, London, 1849. The Oath was translated into English under the title of "The Protestation, which Hippocrates caused his scholars to make," by Peter Low, London, 1597. ( 19 ) teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others. I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abor tion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art. I will not cut persons laboring 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 professional 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! "The circumstance that the novitiate in the art is interdicted from the practice of lithotomy shows that this operation in antiquity was always practised by a class of operators separated from the general profession, and that the regular members of the latter never meddled with it on any account. Hence, in the whole compass of ancient medical literature, there is not a single description of the operation by a person who himself had actually performed it. Avenzoar pronounced it to be an operation which no respectable physician would witness, and far less perform." (Adams, loc. cit.) |