Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: The Company of Undertakers or a Consultation of Physicians

  • The Gold-Headed Cane revisited

    JMS PearceEast Yorks, England Over many centuries there have been several icons symbolic of medical practice. Typical is the single serpent, the Aesculapian wand — a “totem of Medicine”— seen in the constellation Ophiochus (the serpent holder). Serpents in ancient cultures represented fertility, rebirth, and strength. The Aesculapian wand is often confused with the two…