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
Serpents in the Bible Eden. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, it is also used in conjunction with "saraph" to describe vicious serpents in the wilderness. The "tannin", a dragon monster, also occurs throughout the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Exodus, the staffs of Moses and Aaron are turned into serpents, a "nāḥāš" for Moses, a "tannin" for Aaron. In the New Testament, the Book of Revelation makes use of "ancient serpent" and "the Dragon" several times to identify Satan or the devil. (; ) The serpent is most often identified with the hubristic Satan, and sometimes with Lilith. The story of the Garden of