"The Hippocratic Collection (Corpus Hippocraticum) consists of between sixty and seventy medical writings in the Ionic Greek dialect dating for the most part from a hundred year period around 400 BC. The works included in volume 1 are Ancient Medicine, Airs Waters Places, Epidemics I, Epidemics III, Oath, Precepts, and Nutriment. These works greatly in their form and content. Ancient Medicine and Airs Waters Places are essays formulated in elegant expository prose, in which their authors treat central questions of medical method. Epidemics I and III are primary witnesses to Hippocratic observation and experience. The Hippocratic Oath is, or pretends to be, a historical document, although its lack of historical context often leaves its interpreter at a loss. Unquestionably, however, its identification of many of the perennial ethical problems attached to medical practice, and its high moral ideal justify the reverence it has received for two millennia. Precepts is interesting for its author's thoughts on medical ethics, etiquette, and professionalism, in spite of the fact that the text often lacks logical coherence, and its language on several occasions defies comprehension. Nutriment, which is also often difficult to understand-although in this case the mystery may be partly the result of an intentional imitation of the language of the early Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus-contains many speculative explanations how the three basic forms of nutriment (food, drink, and breath) interact with the body"--