The people liked oracular prescriptions, and they got them. The law of
supply and demand worked as well then as it does now. The heathen
priests waxed fat and the medical art degenerated.
About five centuries B. C., Pythagoras taught that health can be
preserved by means of proper diet, exercise and the right use of the
mind. He also taught many other truths and some fallacies. In spite of
much superstition mixed with his philosophy, it was too pure for the
times and he perished.
Hippocrates, born about 470 years B. C., is one of the bright lights of
the medical world. He was so far ahead of his time that he still lives.
He was the founder of medical art as we know it. He used many drugs, but
he also relied on natural means. He was the first medical man on record
to pay serious attention to dietetics. The following quotations will
show how well his mind grasped the essentials of the healing art: "Old
persons need less fuel (food) than the young." "In winter abundant
nourishment is wholesome; in summer a more frugal diet." "Follow
nature." "Complete abstinence often acts very well, if the strength of
the patient can in any way maintain it.
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