Caduceus as a symbol of medicine emblem of the physician [...] it is most unfortunate that the 'confusion' exists." In an anonymous rebuttal contained in a letter to the editor published three months later in "The Military Surgeon" it was claimed that the late Col. John R. van Hoff was a member of the board that selected the emblem ("if he was not the one who was chiefly instrumental in its adoption"). In the letter to the editor reproduced by Emerson, the anonymous author claims According to this view the caduceus was not intended to be a medical symbol (and, though explained differently, this reflects the
Planet symbols 🌕) and "waning" (U+263E ☾). The symbol for Mercury(U+263F ) is ultimately derived from the caduceus, or intertwined serpents, which were the main attribute of Mercury/Hermes throughout antiquity. The caduceus was usually shown with at least three loops, but this was simplified to a single loop in the diagram of Kamateros (12th century). The modern symbol has also been interpreted as representing the god's winged headdress. The Venus symbol (♀) consists of a circle with a small cross below it. It originates in Late Antiquity as an astrological symbol for the planet Venus (associated with the goddess Venus), and hence