Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/50

34 A Short History of Nursing the golden age of Greece, and his genius ranks him with the other brilliant intellects of that day. In his medical teachings he openly rejected all myths and superstitions, and declared that disease was caused only by disobedience to natural laws. He called Nature "The Just," banished all mystery and reticence from the discussion of natural truths and medical subjects, and expounded scientific facts in so simple a way that his style might be called "popular. " His medical writings cover the entire medical field, and are still regarded as classics. Hippocrates left no mention of nurses by this name, but in his medical writings and in those of his followers the entire technique of what we now call nursing is taught in most minute detail and with a perfect understanding. In all prob- ability the medical students then carried on these more skilled parts of the nursing service. Hippo- crates emphasized the necessity of observation and experiment in the pursuit of medical know- ledge. He was essentially practical and made the patient the object of his study. His high ethics, and the generally fine standards of medicine under his influence, were embodied in the Hippocratic Oath, the classic statement of medical ethics. This well known pledge has had a marked influence both on medicine and nursing.