..ESCULAP1US, the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis, was worshipped by the heathens as the god of physic, on account of his wonderful discoveries in that science. lie is said to have received his medical know ledge from the centaur Chiron, who had the charge of his education, and who intrusted him with the secrets of his art. He at last became so skilful in his profes sion, that he is believed to have raised many from the dead. But Pluto, complaining to Jupiter of the diminu tion of his umpire, from the numerous cures of /Escu lapius, Jupiter struck him with a thunderbolt, and hurl ed him down to the infernal regions. His lather Apollo, however, revenged his death, by killing, with his ar rows, the Cyclops who had forged the thunderbolts. Ins chief temple was at EpiclauNs, where he was wor shipped under the form of a serpent ; that animal being reckoned medicinal in many diseases. He was also re
presented as an old man with a long beard, dressed in a loose robe, and holding in his left hand a rustic staff, en twined with serpents. The Epidaurians instituted games in honour of iEsculapius, which were celebrated every five years. He had also a temple in an island at the mouth of the Tiber, which the Romans built to receive his statue ; which, by the advice of the oracle, they brought from Epidaurus, to allay a dreadful pestilence that was raging in the city. /Esculapius is said to have communicated the secrets of his art, which he received from Chiron, to his two sons, who, with their descend ants, followed the profession of their father. See Pau sun. ii. cap. 11. and 27. ; vii. cap. 23. Valer. Max. i. cap. S. Cic. de Nat. Dear. iii. cap. 22. (Ji)