6 THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 



knowledge was nurtured and developed by a powerful priesthood. The 

 conception of nature was influenced thereby: the early knowledge of as- 

 tronomy was placed at the service of mystical powers, as were also mathe- 

 matics and medicine. The latter science, however, in certain respects made 

 no small progress. The knowledge of anatomy was considerable; preserved 

 clay-models of certain of the viscera of the body prove this and give evi- 

 dence that the dissection of corpses must have taken place in spite of the 

 horror which Orientals have always felt for the dead and their spirits. 

 It is clear from preserved writings on medicine that the heart was re- 

 garded as the organ of intelligence, and the liver as that of the blood-cir- 

 culation; the blood was divided into "light" and "dark" blood — arterial 

 and venous. The knowledge of higher animal forms was, as extant lists of 

 nomenclature go to prove, quite considerable, and kings and princes kept 

 rare live animals in their gardens. Even animal-doctors are mentioned in 

 preserved inscriptions. 



Egyptian medicine and natural knowledge 

 Again, in the other oldest civilized country of the West, Egypt, there was 

 developed at an early period an art of healing which was based not merely 

 upon superstition, but also upon actual observations. The early perfected 

 religious practice of preserving dead bodies from putrefaction by con- 

 serving the skeleton and, later, by embalming offered an opportunity of 

 acquiring anatomical knowledge which proved of great benefit to medical 

 science. The sacred animals were likewise studied with minute care, and 

 writings have been discovered giving in detail the history of the develop- 

 ment of the sacred scarab, and even the metamorphosis of the frog and the 

 fly. The parasitic worms that so infected Egypt were also objects of investi- 

 gation and speculation. 



Israelitic conception of nature 

 With regard, finally, to the Israelitic people, their cultural contribution 

 has been in a sphere entirely different from the natural-scientific; namely, 

 the ethical-religious. Their material, and thereby also their scientific, cul- 

 ture was borrowed from the earlier developed and powerful neighbouring 

 peoples and may therefore be passed over here. Nevertheless the Israelitic 

 conception of nature as preserved in the Old Testament, has, owing to reli- 

 gious causes, right up to our own day had a deeply significant influence. The 

 part played by the six days' creation as a co-determining factor even in purely 

 scientific explanations of the world is too well known to need close exami- 

 nation. Likewise the ordinances of the Mosaic law regarding clean and 

 unclean animals have had their great importance for the conceptions of 

 nature held by the Christian peoples, while even the well-known problem 

 of the ruminant hare is still today a subject of lively discussion in cer- 

 tain circles. And undoubtedly, even in the far distant future, the religious- 



