Asclepius was the god of medicine who cured physical ailments of men and lived about 13th century B. C.. After his death, man warshiped him as a god for his medical powers. The legends that grew round him and the tale of his birth and death which the ancient writers have preserved for us were the products of man's imagination and gratitude.
According to the myth, he was the son of Apollo, and learned the art of medicine: and how to cure the many diseases that plagued mankind on Mt. Pelion or Mt. Tithion, and it is told that his 17th descendent in line was Hippocrates the father of medicine. A serpent was the symbol of Asclepius, and it was from this that a serpent has become the symbol of medicine throughout the world due to the fact that just as the snake sheds its skin and regenerates itself, so does sick man regenerate himself when cured of illness (Fig.1. ).
Asclepia were treatment centers and worshipping sites of the cult of Asclepius. The most reknowned of these in antiquity were those of Cos and Epidaurus. The sanctuary of Epidaurus functionated from 600 to 400 B. C., and represents a striking chapter in the civilization of the ancient Greeks.
The road leading to Epidaurus from Athens (172 Km) along Saronic gulf, through Mycenean necropolis, Argolis and the outskirts of Nauplia is very enjoyable. And finally, in a calm town Epidaurus, at the edge of the beautiful forest of pine the remains of the shrine of Asclepius and the museum can be discerned (Fig.3. ). The remains of the famous sanctuary of Asclepius are situated about 12 Kilometres from the ancient and famed city of Epidaurus, which city played an important role in Greek history until the last years of Roman rule in Greece. The remains uncovered to the present date from the 5th century B. C. to the 2nd century A. D.. The ruins the propylaea, the temple of Asclepius, the rotunda or altar, stadium and many other sacred buildings in the sanctuary have been excavated. One of the most sacred and important building was aveton or adyton (or clinic in modern sense) mentioned in inscriptions and in which the patient slept at night and waited for the apparition or dream of Asclepius who cured them.
Another one of the most important and of all the monuments in the Asclepius sanctuary the best preserved by far, is the theater. Even in antiquity it was considered as a wonder. According to the traveller Pausanias (160 A. D. ) it was the most remarkable theater in his time from the point of view of symmetry and beauty. It is awork of the architect Polycleitus (4th Cent. B. C. ) and even to-day the theater can held 14,000 spectators. The striking thing about the theater is its remarkable acoustics. Even a whisper at the centre of the orchestra can be heard in any part of the structure, and the spectators seated in the topmost tiers can hear just as clear as those seated in the first rows (Fig.2. ).
In the Museum, many excavated things, architectual reproductions and important inscriptions can be seen. The most important objects, mainly sculptures of Asclepius and pediments of temples of Asclepius are exhibited in the Archeological Museus of Athens, and casts of them can be found in the Epidaurus Museum. Marble slabs on the wall on which record of cured patients are inscribed and those excavated bronze surgical instruments, coins and some other small articles which are shown in glass cases are much highly appreciated.

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Eighty-nine rabbits weighing about 3Kg were employed. Introduction of talcum powder and slices of sponge into the pericardium of the animals resulted in constrictive pericarditis, which was complicated with congestive heart failure following the intake of salt and the loading with physical exertion. These animals were observed for 112 days postoperatively, as to serum bilirubin, protein fraction, colloidal reactions, ALP, ACP, ChE, GOT, GPT, G6P, ALD, PHI and LDH activities. In the meantime studies were made of enzymatic activities in the serum, liver tissue and myocardium, in reference to histological findings of liver tissue.
1) About a week postoperatively there were observed an increase in total bilirubin and in direct bilirubin and a decrease in total protein, about seven weeks postoperatively abnormalities of cobalt reaction were observed.
2) Regarding serum enzymatic activities, about a week postoperatively a marked increse was observed in glycolytic enzymes, transaminases especially G6P and LDH. Four-five weeks postoperatively the increase temporarily returned to normal, but again showed a slight increase about 10 weeks postoperatively.
3) Enzymatic activities in the liver and the myocardium decreased about a week postoperatively, reaching nearly a normal range about four weeks postoperatively followed by a decrease again about ten weeks postoperatively. Thus they showed a mirror image relationship with serum enzymatic activities.
4) Liver tissue findings showed acute liver congestion about a week postoperatively, revealing an increasing cellular vacuolization about four weeks postoperatively, followed by a proliferation of the connective tissue of the central lobule in some cases 16 weeks postoperatively.

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The Serum enzymatic activities of glucose-6-phosphatase (G 6 P), phosphohexoseisomerase (PHI), aldolase (ALD), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), malic dehydrogenase (MDH), GOT, GPT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acid phosphatase (ACP), and cholinesterase (ChE) were studied in 20 cases of gastric cancer with the following results:
1) The cases studied generally showed the most marked increase of PHI, followed by LDH, ALD, G6P, MDH, ALP, ACP in descending order.
2) The abnormalities in serum enzymatic activities in cases without liver metastasis were 94% for PHI,77.5% for LDH,72.5% for MDH,35% for ALD,19% for G 6 P and 18% for ALP. Those in cases with liver metastasis were 100% for PHI, LDH and MDH,66% for GOT,33% for G 6 P, ALD and ChE. Cases with liver metastasis showed a marked increase in serum enzymatic activities, especially transaminase and ALP. A positive correlation in enzymatic activities was found between LDH and PHI, LDH and ALD, PHI and GOT.
3) The clinical improvement following gastrectomy and/or anticarcinogenic drugs resulted in a decrease of LDH, ALD and a trend of decrease of PHI. Following administration of Mitomycin a case with liver metastasis showed a decrease in LDH, ALD, PHI, GOT, GPT and ACP being accompanied by a decrease in the size of liver tumor.
4) An increase of serum enzymatic activities in cases of gastric cancers was in a medium degree when companied with cases of liver, esophageal, colon, pulmonary and uterine cancers, the highest degree being found in cases of liver cancer and the lowest degree in cases of cancer of the colon.
The above results lead to a suggestion that determination of serum enzymatic activities of glycolytic enzymes and transaminase affords a considerable aid in estimating the size, metastasis, therapeutic effect and prognosis of malignant tumors. This approach seems. useful as a supplementary means of the diagnosis of gastric cancer.

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The actions of therapeutic and toxic doses of strophanthin-G on the rhythmiccontractions of isolated atria were examined on rabbits and guinea-pigs.
The atrial contractions of rabbits were arrested when reserpine 3×10^-5g/ml was. added to the bath. These arrested atria did not resume spontaneously, even when the bathfluid was repeatedly changed. But a small concentration of strophanthin-G 10^-6g/ml caused the resumption of atrial movement. When rabbit atria excised from animals pretreated with reserpine 1 mg/kg subcutaneosly injected were arrested byreserpine 3×10^-5g/ml, the beating caused by strophanthin-G was not seen after large concentration 2×10^-6g/ml was applied to the bath.
A small concentration of strophanthin-G 10^-6g/ml caused a gradual increase of the amplitude of atrial movement of guinea-pigs. But a large concentration of strophanthin-G 1.5×10^-6 to 1.75×10^-6g/ml caused atrial arrest after a marked positive inotropic effect was seen for 15 minutes to one hour. These toxic doses of strophanthin-G were decreased in the presence of exogenous adrenaline 10^-6g/ml. The same result was observed in the case of rabbit atria excised from animals pretreated with reserpine 1mg/kg subcutaneously injected. In some cases the rabbit atria which were pretreated with larger dose of reserpine, did not contract in Locke's solution. Strophanthin-G could not resume the arrest of beating of these atria, but adrenaline could. The atrial contractions resumed by added adrenaline continued even after the added adrenaline was washed out, probably by the utilization of a small amount of adrenaline uptake into the atrial tissue. When strophanthin-G was added to the bath containing these atria, strophanthin-G showed a positive inotropic effect. The atria which continued to contract by a small amounts of adrenaline uptake, were stopped by more doses of strophanthin-G than in the cases of normal atria.
The positive inotropic effect of strophanthin-G on guinea-pig atria was notmutually synergistic with added adrenaline, while the effect of nicotine was markedly augmented in the presence of strophanthin-G, and in the presence of l-methionine the positive inotropic effect of strophanthin-G was strengthened.
From the above results, it was concluded that the positive inotropic effect of strophanthin-G was developed in the presence of the small amount of endogenous available catecholamine, and the toxic effect of strophanthin-G on the atria was decreased in the cases of exhaustion of endogenous as well as exogenous catecholamine.

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The responses of the tracheal muscle to l-methionine, reserpine, isopropylnoradrenaline and other related drugs were examined in vitro by using chain preparations made from guinea-pig trachea. The results were as follows:
(1) Isopropylnoradrenaline (10^-5g/ml), adrenaline (10^-5g/ml), Alotec (1-(3,5dihydroxyphenyl)-2-isopropylaminoethanol-1/2H2SO4) (10^-5g/ml), noradrenaline (10^-5: g/ml) and ephedrine (10^-4g/ml) decreased the tone of the tracheal muscle. The former three drugs were found to be more potent than the latter two drugs in the induction of tracheal relaxation. The recovery of tracheal response, when the drug containing bath was changed to Lock's solution, occurred slowly in the cases of isopropylnoradrenaline, Alotec and ephedrine.
(2) Acetylcholine (10^-6g/ml) and histamine (10^-5g/ml) caused tracheal contraction. Nicotine (10^-4g/ml) relaxed the tracheal muscle after a transient and slight contraction. In comparison with tracheal chain preparations made from untreated animals, tracheal chain preparations made from animals pretreated with reserpine (1mg/kg) 20 to 24 hours before the experiment showed a markedly reduced response to nicotine.
(3) In the presence of l-methionine (3×10^-3)the tone of the tracheal muscle slowly increased to reach its maximum level about one hour after the application of the drug. The effect of l-methionine was not counteracted by reserpine or atropine.
(4) Contrary to the case of l-methionine, reserpine (3×10^-5g/ml)slowly decreased the tone of the tracheal muscle.
(5) Tracheal relaxation by means of adrenaline (2×10-5g/ml)was augmented in the presence of catron (10^-7g/ml), but not in the presence of pyrogallol (10^-7g/ml). The effcet of adrenaline or acetylcholine on the tracheal muscle was augmented in the presence of l-methionine(3×10^-3g/ml), while it was reduced in the presence of reserpine (3×10^-5g/ml).
(6) The contraction of the tracheal muscle caused by l-methionine (3×10^-3g/ml)was reversed to relaxation after the addition of adrenaline (10^-5g/ml), noradrenaline. (10^-5g/ml), isopropylnoradrenaline (10^-5g/ml) or Alotec (10^-5g/ml), but n ot after theaddition of ephedrine (5×10^-4g/ml), reserpine(3×10^-5g/ml) or atropine (10^-6g/ml).
From these observations it may be concluded that l-methionine serves to promotethe autonomic mechanism of the tracheal muscle and also to accelerate tracheal muscle contractility independent of its cholinergic mechanism, while reserpineacts to depress these physiologic mechanisms of the tracheal muscle.

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Studies on immunologic phenomena in cold-blooded animals has not been so much: described as that in higher vertebrates. In this paper the authors translated and introduced the references (Sience,141,543-547,1963) about the symposium on immunologic phenomena in cold-blooded vertebrates, held at the recent meeting of the Federation of the American Society for Experimental Microbiology, April 1963, included both reviews and new informations on the behavior of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. The major emphasis was centered on immunological comparisons. and regulatory or reaction-controlling factors with referances to phylogenetic development.
Additionary the authors made short review and comparisons from the point of their own observations on the immunologic phenomena of American craw-fish, Cambarus clarkii.

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