INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS

I

PROGNOSIS

A modern doctor, when called to a case of illness, is always careful to diagnose it—that is, to put it in its proper place in the catalogue of diseases. It may be infectious and so need isolation; it may be dangerous and require special nursing. Precautions which are essential in a case of influenza are not so necessary in a common cold. Treatment, too, varies considerably according to diagnosis; diseases may be similar in symptoms and yet call for different medicines.

It is remarkable, and at first rather puzzling, that Hippocrates 1 attached no great value to diagnosis. Although in the works I have called Hippocratic many diseases are referred to by their names, their classification and diagnosis are always in the background. The chief division is into “acute” and “chronic” illnesses, and Hippocrates is mainly concerned with the former. For practical purposes, he appears to have divided acute diseases into two main classes: (a) chest complaints and (b) those

1 I mean by “Hippocrates” the writer of Epidemics I and III, Prognostic, and Regimen in Acute Diseases.