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Comment by hdevarajan | Hacker News Reader

It is believed that those snakes you see in the logo for medical services (caduceus) are actually Guinea worms as physicians used to advertise their services that way. See for example

https://medium.com/@DrWink/what-does-the-caduceus-represent-...

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You've posted an article that conflates the two symbols, but the caduceus means different things than the Rod of Asclepius and has different origins despite the similar appearance.

the wikipedia article on the Rod of Asclepius tells the story of the parasitic worms, so while the GP perhaps should not have mentioned Caduceus, he's referring to an actual story associated with the medical symbol.

And in the age of Covid, perhaps the Caduceus "ancient and consistent associations with trade, liars, thieves, eloquence, negotiation, alchemy, and wisdom" is just perfect for the state of medical science and public health and laboratory gain of function experiments, horse dewormers, and mRNA vaccines which turn out to be no so much like the vaccines we're used to.

Actually, no. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medici...

~330 million people live in the United States. 7.6 billion live outside of it. Be honest to yourself: which of your vs. op’s take is probably the more valid one?

> The Caduceus became a symbol of alchemy and pharmacy in medieval Europe. Its first appearance as a medical symbol can be traced back to 1st−4th century CE in Oculists’ stamps that were found mostly in Celtic areas, such as Gaul, Germany and Britain, which had an engraving of the name of the physician, the name of the special medicine or medical formula and the disease for which the medicine was to be used [1]

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1941059/

Yes, well, like the above linked Wikipedia article says, the symbol does have an ancient and consistent association with trade, liars, and thieves.

Yes, well, that's not the point of my reply to the GP.

The point is the medical origin is older than the U.S.

AFAIK this is not the mainstream understanding (to say the least). A source better than a medium post would be useful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medici...

“.. older representations from Syria and India of sticks and animals looking like serpents or worms are interpreted by some as a direct representation of traditional treatment of dracunculiasis, the Guinea worm disease.“

In Persian, old times, snake was a symbol of health! Even today “sick” in Persian translates to “Snake-less”! I was also believed that snakes eat the animals that can carry dangerous sicknesses (small mammals) and their existence is a sign of healthy environment.

I am not sure if it’s related to the said logo but thought it might be interesting.

If snake is a symbol a health, why would sick mean "snake-less"?

If there are no snakes, it is likely there are small mammals around such as those that might have made you sick.

I thought it was a biblical reference: https://www.bible.com/bible/111/NUM.21.NIV

tldr: if you're bitten by a bronzelook at a copper snake wrapped around a pole and you'll live

> 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

And here I thought they represented the double helix of DNA

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