PREFACE

the text allows, introducing as few personal innovations as possible, and to add commentary that highlights the enduring value of these various treatises. They are no longer useful as textbooks, but all of us—whether medical professionals or laypeople—may learn a lesson from the devotion to truth that characterized the school of CosThe island of Cos was the site of the medical school associated with Hippocrates., and from the mistakes made by theorists who sought shortcuts to knowledge without the labor of patient observation and careful experiment.

This volume has been in preparation since 1910, and the actual writing has occupied all my leisure time for the past three years. The process would have taken longer were it not for the great kindness of Dr. E. T. Withington, whose name will likely appear on the title page of one of the succeeding volumes. My thanks are also due to the Rev. H. J. Chaytor for his helpful criticisms.

W. H. S. JONES.