NEW IMAGE OF SLOVENIAN VETERINARY RESEARCH WITH ASCLEPIUS’ SYMBOL

In the sixtieth year of continuous publishing, the cover page of Slovenian Veterinary Research features the symbol of veterinary medicine that we have been missing until now. It is the rod of Asclepius (Greek) or Aesculapius (Latin) wrapped by a snake, both of which are surrounded by a capital letter V. The symbol or attribute of the Asclepius’ rod with a snake originates from Antiquity and was used in our profession after it accepted scientifically based principles of work and became to be called veterinary medicine. There are several explanations about the origin and source of the symbol, a slightly deeper reflexion takes us among the legends and myths of Antiquity, which are however, by no means as beautiful as the ones we read in our youth in the collection of The Most Beautiful Legends of Classical Antiquity by Gustav Benjamin Schwab (1792–1850), edited in German language (Die schönsten Sagen des klassischen Altertums) in the years 1838 and 1840. NOVA PODOBA SLOVENSKEGA VETERINARSKEGA ZBORNIKA Z ASKLEPIJEVIM SIMBOLOM V šestdesetem letu neprekinjenega izhajanja na naslovnico Slovenskega veterinarskega zbornika prihaja znak veterinarske medicine, ki smo ga do sedaj pogrešali. To je Asklepijeva (gr.) ali Eskulapova (lat.) palica, ki jo ovija kača, obe pa obdaja velika črka V. Simbol ali atribut Asklepijeve palice s kačo izvira iz antike. V naši stroki se je pričel uporabljati potem, ko je ta prevzela znanstveno utemeljena načela dela in se pričela poimenovati veterinarska medicina. O izvoru in nastanku simbola je več razlag. Nekoliko poglobljeno premišljevanje nas popelje v svet simbolike in antičnih mitov, ki nikakor niso tako lepi, kot smo jih v mladosti brali v zbirki Najlepše antične pripovedke Gustava Benjamina Schwaba (1792–1850), ki so v nemščini (Die schönsten Sagen des klassischen Altertums) izšle v letih 1838–1840.