ABSTRACT
Themison distinguished three periods in the evolution of disease, which are the same as those given by Hippocrates, namely a period of increase, a period of full development, and a period of decline. Thessalus, who lived some fifty years after Themison, introduced many more changes in the system invented by Asclepiades. Caelius Aurelianus admits this, and gives the following reasons: "Themison was still entangled in the errors of Asclepiades and the Methodic sect was at the time in its infancy or perhaps not even yet formed." The doctrines therein set forth are extremely mixed, but the influence of Methodism and Pneumatism is marked. Yet it is to be pointed out that Agathinus of Sparta gave the lie to this assertion by founding a new medical school, that of the Eclectics, which, as the name indicates, was attached to no sect and adopted every good theory, no matter where found.
