34 



BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 



The Fabrica of Yesalius was a piece of careful, honest 

 work, the moral influence of which must not be overlooked. 

 At any moment in the world's history, work marked by 



sincerity exercises a wholesome 

 influence, but at this particular 

 stage of intellectual develop- 

 ment such work was an inno- 

 vation, and its significance for 

 progress was wider and deeper 

 than it might have been under 

 different circumstances. 



Opposition to Vesalius. - 

 The beneficent results of his 

 efforts were to unfold after- 

 ward, since, at the time, his 

 utterances were vigorously op- 

 posed from all sides. Not only 

 did the ecclesiastics contend 

 that he was disseminating false 

 and harmful doctrine, but the 

 medical men from whom he 

 might have expected sympathy 

 and support violently opposed 

 his teachings. 



Many amusing arguments 



* o o 



were brought forward to dis- 

 credit Vesalius, and to up- 

 hold the authority of Galen. 



fi 



Vesalius showed that in the 

 human body the lower jaw is 

 a single bone that it is not 

 divided as it is in the dog and 



other lower mammals, and, as 

 PIG. 7. Initial letters from 



Vesalius 'sFa&nca of 1 543. Galen had taught, also in the 



