I9IO.] The Legend of the "Resurrection Bone." 45 



THE LEGEND OF THE "RESURRECTION BONE." 



By J. P1.AYFAIR McMuRRicH, M.A., Ph.D. 



{Read 16th April, 19 10). 



In the anatomical works of the seventeenth century which treat their 

 subject from a more or less pronounced encyclopaedic, standpoint, in the 

 volumes of Bauhin, Riolan and Diemerbroeck for example, one finds 

 mention of an os luz or "Resurrection bone," whose existence had been 

 predicted by Hebrew theologians and whose properties have thus been 

 described by Butler in his Hudibras : 



The learned rabbins of the Jews 



Write, there's a bone, which they call Luez 



I' th' rump of man, of such a virtue 



No force in nature can hurt to; 



And therefore, at the last great day, 



All th' other members shall, they say. 



Spring out of this, as from a seed 



All sorts of vegetables proceed; 



From whence the learned sons of art, 



Os sacrum justly call that part. 



Part III, Canto II. 



The account of the supposed bone given by Bauhin* is more complete 

 than that of any of the other authors known to me and, indeed, seems 

 to have formed the basis for their statements concerning it, Diemerbroeck's 

 accountf being, in fact, principally a quotation of Bauhin's words. 

 HyrtlJ, too, in his discussion of the significance of the word luz, seems 

 to have relied very largely, if not entirely, upon Bauhin's statements, and 

 it seemed that it might be of interest to trace the legend back, as far as 

 possible, to its original sources. The fact that these sources were the 

 writings of the Hebrew commentators formed a very serious bar to the 

 carrying out of my inclinations, but recently I have been able to avail 

 myself of the efficient services of one of my students, Mr. S. J. Birnbaum, 

 who has sought out and translated for me the references to the bone 

 that are contained in the Rabbinical writings. I am greatly indebted 



♦Caspar Bauhin. Theatrum anatomicum. Francof. 162 1. The 1605 edition 

 contains no mention of the os luz. 



flsbrandus Diemerbroeck. Opera omnia, anatomica et medica. Ultrajecti. 1685 

 J Joseph Hyrtl. Das Arabische und Hebraische in der Anatomic. Wien. 1879 



