Hippocras
a spiced beverage, held in great esteem by the monks in the Middle Ages as a warm and grateful cordial and stimulant in cases of cold, and also as a beverage in winter nights, and for the aged and relaxed. The spiced hippocras consisted of cinnamon, cloves, etc., bruised and macerated for seven days in Canary wine (Madeira), and then sweetened either with honey or sugar. The "ypocras," for lords and abbots, was prepared with aqua vitæ, or brandy, spices, ambergris, and musk.
HIPPOCRATES (pok'ra-tēz), the greatest physician of ancient times, usually designated the "Father of Medicine"; born in the Island of Cos, about 460 B. C. Hippocrates belonged to the of the Asclepiades, priest-physicians, who claimed to be descended from Æsculapius, god of medicine. He practiced medicine in Athens, Thrace, Thessaly, Delos, and in other parts of Greece. Among his genuine writings are: "Prognosis"; "Aphorisms"; "On Epidemics"; "On Diet in Acute Diseases"; "On Air, Water, and Place"; "On Wounds of the Head." He died in Larissa, Thessaly, about 377 B. C.
HIPPOCRENE (hip'pō-kren), a celebrated fountain on Mount Helicon in Bœotia, sacred to the Muses. It was fabled to have burst from the ground when struck by the feet of Pegasus, and to possess the power of poetic inspiration.