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Show • lSC ABOUT THE COVER The Staff of Asclepius is the true symbol of medicine, not the caduceus. The Staff (or Rod) symbolizes the healing arts by combining the serpent, which by shedding its skin is a symbol of rebirth, with the staff, a symbol of authority. The snake wrapping around the staff is acclaimed to be a ·species of Rat snake believed by Romans to have healing properties. Some believe that the symbol represented the parasitic worm, Dracunculus medinensis, wrapped around a stick. The infections were common in ancient times, and the worms were extracted from. beneath the skin by slowly winding them out with a stick. Physicians may have advertised this service by p9sting a similar sign depicting a worm on a rod. ta.ffof sclepius Caduceus Many medical organizations, including University of Utah Hospitals, use a symbol of a short rod entwined by two snakes and topped by a pair of wings -- the caduceus or magic wand of the Greek god Hermes, messenger of the gods, god of commerce, and protector of merchants and thieves. The link between the caduceus and medicine seems to have arisen when Hermes had come to be linked with alchemy. By the 1700s, the very "commercial" study of alchemy included not only medicine, but chemistry, mining, and metallurgy. A major reason for the popularity of the caduceus as a medical symbol was its erroneus official adoption as the insignia for the Medical Department of the U.S. Army in 1902. But the caduceus has survived, unwittingly conveying a historical message of commerce and profit, rather than medicine. UUHSC Logo 1 |
