Rod of Asclepius
It has been suggested that the Rod of Asclepius (the symbol which represents medical practice since ancient times) once represented a worm wrapped around a rod; parasitic worms such as the guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) were common in ancient times, and were extracted from beneath the skin by winding them slowly around a stick. According to this theory, physicians might have advertised this common service by posting a sign depicting a worm on a rod. However plausible, no concrete evidence in support of this theory has been adduced.
Read more about this topic: Dracunculus (animal)
Famous quotes containing the words rod of and/or rod:
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
—Bible: Hebrew Proverbs 22:15.
“For the first fourteen years for a rod they do whine,
For the next as a pearl in the world they do shine,
For the next trim beauty beginneth to swerve,
For the next matrons or drudges they serve,
For the next doth crave a staff for a stay,
For the next a bier to fetch them away.”
—Thomas Tusser (c. 1520–1580)