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Caduceus
A
caduceus or Wand of Hermes is a typically depicted short
herald's staff entwined by two snakes in the form
of a double helix. In addition this staff is often winged.
It was an ancient astrological symbol of commerce and is
often depicted being carried in the left hand of Greek
god Hermes, also known in Ancient Egypt as Thoth, the messenger
and herald of the gods, conductor of the dead and protector
of merchants and thieves.
The
link between Hermes and his caduceus and medicine seems
to have arisen by Hermes links with alchemy. Alchemists
were referred to as the sons of Hermes, as Hermetists or
Hermeticists and as "practitioners of the hermetic
arts". By the end of the sixteenth century, the study
of alchemy included not only medicine and pharmaceuticals
but chemistry, mining and metallurgy. Despite learned opinion
that it is the single snake staff of Asclepius that is
the proper symbol of medicine, many medical groups have
adopted the twin serpent caduceus of Hermes or Mercury
as a medical symbol during the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries.
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