26 CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD 



The work of Vesalius on The Fabric of the Human 

 Body was very well received by the scientific world. 

 It immediately became the recognised text-book. Like 

 all such works, it was inevitably given the most sincere 

 form of flattery it was copied by inferior writers, who 

 often treated the discoveries of Vesalius as though they 

 were their own. It is very remarkable that in spite of 

 this flattering reception Vesalius was by no means satis- 

 fied with his position as a professor. It is believed 

 that he was unduly sensitive to the criticism that was 

 not unnaturally made of a work which had caused such 

 a big stir in the scientific world. Perhaps, too, he felt 

 unable to continue his work longer without expressing 

 more clearly his disagreement with current views. Yet 

 he really had no physiological theories to offer in place 

 of those of Galen, and to destroy Galen's views without 

 having anything to put in their place would be simply 

 to introduce confusion. Perhaps, too, he feared the 

 criticism of the theologians. Galen and Aristotle had 

 been so long looked on as infallible that their views 

 had become interwoven with the religious opinions of 

 the age, which was a very intolerant one. These views, 

 Vesalius well knew, it would be dangerous to disturb. 



Whatever the reasons may have been, soon after the 

 publication of his great work Vesalius took an extreme 

 step. He resigned his professorship, burnt his notes and 

 papers, and took up the post that was offered him as 

 physician to the Emperor Charles v., the greatest monarch 

 of the age. Vesalius was then only twenty- nine years 

 old, but his scientific career was closed. Nevertheless, 

 his book had sold so well that the edition was soon 

 exhausted. The demand for more copies could only be 

 met by imitations of his work by other hands. At last 

 in 1555, twelve years after the appearance of the first 

 edition, he was prevailed on to issue a second. 



