Following this thought into America, let us learn what the Indians believe in this respect. The general idea among them is that it brings happiness. Professor Agassiz tells us that he found the Maues Indians, who live in Brazil, whenever they assign a form to any remedio, give it that of a serpent. Among the Lenape Indians their famous doctors were called “big snakes.”
We must not forget to look into Holy Writ for the symbolical influence and intelligence of the serpent in the history of the fall of man, where it is stated, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.”
In the story of the Exodus we have many allusions to the serpent as a power for deliverance. Aaron’s serpent rod is an instance. Also during the wanderings in the wilderness Moses placed a brazen serpent on a pole in the midst of the camp, which was preserved for many centuries, until the days of Hezekiah, when it was broken to pieces because it became an object of worship and tended to turn the people from their true God.
During the Christian era the serpent was employed to signify the virtue of prudence and wisdom; the disciples were admonished, “Be ye wise as serpents.”
In the Latin church of the early days the pastoral staff terminated at the top with a serpent, indicating power and wisdom.
Whatever element of superstition or imagination may have been injected into these stories of mythology and the legends of more recent times, there is a wonderful history hidden behind them, all of which permeates the whole human race.
Man in his primitive state and in his more civilized life believes there was a superior power for good, and his mind, requiring a material expression of that unseen source, used the serpent as a symbol of power and wisdom. Without this the rod of Esculapius would be impotent over disease and the wand of Mercury would have no authority over trade or commerce. The cultured Greeks, therefore, having great respect for the healing art, honored it with the most significant and expressive symbol of the highest attributes conducive to the welfare of the race.
Among the orientals the shepherd was considered the highest type of citizen, whose life in the open country brought him in contact with great struggles. The rod was the weapon with which he struck down the adversaries of the sheep; the staff or crook, however, was used for their guidance in the proper path on the trackless pastures. Hence we read in the beautiful pastoral song of the “shepherd king” these expressive words: “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” The rod therefore became the symbol of a defending power which brought comfort and support to the weak in the consciousness that they were protected from all danger.
Esculapius was always pictured with a knotty rod in his hand, the knots indicating the many difficult problems of physic to be solved in the treatment of the ailments of mankind. Therefore, applying these thoughts to the symbol, we have in the entwined serpent, power, wisdom and health, together with the protection and support against disease and the difficulties to be overcome by the knotty rod. With this historical symbol the sanctity of medicine can be pictured and the doctor is shown in his true light, not only as a laboratory scientist and as a practitioner, but as a teacher and adviser to the patient, the family and the community in all the difficult problems that arise concerning health and disease.
This dissertation on the meaning of the medical emblem will suggest the appropriate insignia of the American Medical Association to be as follows: A shield on which is emblazoned the American eagle holding in its talons a laurel wreath within which is the knotty rod and entwined serpent and the letters A. M. A.