OVERTHROW OF AUTHORITY IN SCIENCE 35 



human subjects. He showed that the sternum, or breast 

 bone, has three parts instead of eight; he showed that the 

 thigh bones are straight and not curved, as they are in the dog. 

 Sylvius, his old teacher, was one of his bitterest opponents; 

 he declared that the human body had undergone changes in 

 structure since the time of Galen, and, with the object of de- 

 fending the ancient anatomist, " he asserted that the straight 

 thigh bones, which, as every one saw, were not curved in 

 accordance with the teaching of Galen, were the result of 

 the narrow trousers of his contemporaries, and that thev 

 must have been curved in their natural condition, when un- 

 interfered with bv art! " 



j 



The theologians also found other points for contention. 

 It w r as a widely accepted dogma that man should have one 

 less rib on one side, because from the Scriptural account 

 Eve was formed from one of Adam's ribs. This, of course, 

 Vesalius did not find to be the case. It was also generally 

 believed at this time that there was in the bodv an indestruc- 



j 



tible resurrection-bone which formed the nucleus of the 

 resurrection-body. Vesalius said that he would leave the 

 question of the existence of such a bone to be decided by the 

 theologians, as it did not appear to him to be an anatomical 

 question. 



The Court Physician. The hand of the church was heavy 

 upon him, and the hatred shown in attacks from various 

 quarters threw Vesalius into a state of despondency and 

 anger. In this frame of mind he destroyed manuscripts upon 

 which he had expended much labor. His disappointment 

 in the reception of his work probably had much to do in 

 deciding him to relinquish his professorship and accept the 

 post of court physician to Charles V of the United Kingdoms 

 of Spain and Belgium. After the death of Charles, he 

 remained with Philip II, who succeeded to the throne. Here 

 he waxed rich and famous, but he was alwavs under sus- 



