In  later  Greek  times  some  of  the  doctors  devoted  their
attention  to  a  special  part  of  the  human  frame,  the  eye,  the
ear,  or  the  teeth,  and  strove  to  make  a  wide  reputation  for
skill  in  their  special  branch  of  the  art.  We  even  find  traces
of  distinct  schools  or  sects  of  physicians,  such  as  that  of  the
larpaXe iVrai,  who  used  embrocations  and  baths,  together  with
diet  and  regimen,  rather  than  herbs  or  the  knife.  But  the
poor  in   all  ages  of  Greece   were   the  ready  prey  of  the  un-

^  By  permission  of  Messrs.  Murray.
360  THE    COURSE    OF    LIFE

scientific  quacks  who  went  from  market-place  to  market-place
boasting  the  value  of  their  own  special  nostrum,  or  of  wise
men  and  women,  who  professed  to  cure  by  the  use  of  magical
arts.  Indeed,  the  line  between  medicine  and  magic  was  a  very-
shadowy  one ;  the  ancients  did  not  widely  distinguish  the
effects  of  herbs  and  regimen  from  those  of  spells  and  incan-
tations, €7ro)Sai,  and  the  latter  were  openly  mingled  with  the
former  by  all  but  the  trained  physicians.  A  prominent  place
was  occupied  among  magicians  in  Hellenistic  times  by  the
priests  of  Isis,  Cybele,  and  other  outlandish  deities.
