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We have seen, in the present age, many learned physicians, who, though they readily admit the improvements of the moderns, nevertheless apply themselves with great industry to the study of the ancients; and indeed, to say nothing of the superiority of some of the ancients in stile and composition, as a matter of taste, I think it can hardly be denied, that a man, capable of making proper allowances for the variations in respect of climate and manner of living, may receive great benefit from the materials left us by these ingenious writers of antiquity, and find many hints, which, pursued with diligence, and applied with caution, may both correct and enlarge his practice.

Celsus is justly esteemed one of the most valuable amongst the ancients. He is so often quoted, with approbation, by our best writers in physic, and so much admired by the learned world for propriety, ease, and elegance, that it is a needless attempt in these days to draw his character. However, he is so little mentioned by the ancients, that our curiosity cannot be gratified with any particulars of his life; nor can we even determine what was his profession, if it does not appear from his writings.