eous
inferences as to the functions of the organs, but also disagreed
radically as to what functions certain organs performed, and how
diseases should be treated, even when agreeing perfectly on the subject
of anatomy itself. Their contribution to the knowledge of the scientific
treatment of diseases holds no such place, therefore, as their
anatomical investigations.

Half a century after the time of Herophilus there appeared a Greek
physician, Heraclides, whose reputation in the use of drugs far
surpasses that of the anatomists of the Alexandrian school. His
reputation has been handed down through the centuries as that of a
physician, rather than a surgeon, although in his own time he was
considered one of the great surgeons of the period. Heraclides belonged
to the "Empiric" school, which rejected anatomy as useless, depending
entirely on the use of drugs. He is thought to have been the first
physician to point out the value of opium in certain painful diseases.
His prescription of this drug for certain cases of "sleeplessness,
spasm, cholera, and colic," shows that his use of it was not unlike that
of the modern physician in certain cases; and his treatment of fevers,
by keeping the patient's head cool and facilitating the secretions of
the body, is still recognized as "good practice." He advocated a free
use of liquids in quenching the fever patient's thirst--a recognized
therapeutic measure to-day, but one that was widely condemned a century
ago.

ARCHIMEDES OF SYRACUSE AND THE FOUNDATION OF MECHANICS

We do not know just when Euclid died, but as he was at the height of his
fame in the time of Ptolemy I., whose reign ended in the year 285 B.C.,
it is hardly probable that he was still living when a young man named
Archimedes came to Alexandria to study. Archimedes was born in the Greek
colony of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, in the year 287 B.C. When
he visited Alexandria he probably found Apollonius of Perga, the pupil
of Euclid, at the head of the mathematical school there. Just how long
Archimedes remained at Alexandria is not known. When he had satisfied
his curiosity or completed his studies, he returned to Syracuse and
spent his life there, chiefly under the patronage of King Hiero, who
seems fully to have appreciated his abilities.

Archimedes was primarily a mathematician. Left to his own devices, he
would probably have devoted his entire time to the study of geometrical
problems. But King Hiero