In antiquity, Asklepios was portrayed with a stout staff around which was coiled a snake. Hermes (Mercury), the messenger of the gods, was portrayed with a wand, often with wings, around which were coiled two snakes. During the Renaissance and up to modern times, in varied locales, each icon has been termed the caduceus and afforded the status of the symbol of medicine. It is proposed that this confusion did not arise from ignorance, but from the loss of the deeper significance of the symbols, and from the replacement of religious iconographic constraints by aesthetic and decorative considerations.

We hope that, one of these days, someone will collect enough pebbles from the “boundless ocean” to present to the medical profession the correct surgical anatomy … We as scientists are seeking the facts, the most consistent patterns of structure and function, with the hope that students, residents, and practicing physicians will be as well informed as possible and be able to perform without error in the operating room … It is the reader's challenge to decide if we have exacerbated or eased the controversy. John E. Skandalakis