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A Greek Clinic of 400 BC

A Greek Clinic of 400 BC.jpg Achilles bandaging Patroclus,ThumbnailsPanathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.CAchilles bandaging Patroclus,ThumbnailsPanathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.CAchilles bandaging Patroclus,ThumbnailsPanathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.CAchilles bandaging Patroclus,ThumbnailsPanathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.CAchilles bandaging Patroclus,ThumbnailsPanathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.C

A Greek Clinic of 400 BC

In the centre sits a physician holding a lancet and bleeding a patient from the median vein at the bend of the right elbow into a large open basin. Above and behind the physician are suspended three cupping vessels. To the right sits another patient awaiting his turn; his left arm is bandaged in the region of the biceps. The figure beyond him smells a flower, perhaps as a preservative against infection. Behind the physician stands a man leaning on a staff; he is wounded in the left leg, which is bandaged. By his side stands a dwarfish figure with disproportionately large head, whose body exhibits deformities typical of the developmental disease now known as Achondroplasia; in addition to these deformities we note that his body is hairy and the bridge of his nose sunken; on his back he carries a hare which is almost as tall as himself. Talking to the dwarf is a man leaning on a long staff, who has the remains of a bandage round his chest.