ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL OF ANATOMY-332 B.C. TO A.D. 200 47 



supplied an impetus to medicine which was unmatched elsewhere. 

 It was only necessary for a student to have studied in Alexandria 

 for a short time to obtain the reputation of being a physician. 

 The fact that the Ptolemies, father and son, condescended to take 

 knife in hand and dissect along with these two anatomists did 

 much to dispel the antagonism against the practice. 



Herophilus (c. 350-280 B.C.) was the first person to open 

 the body after death for the purpose of discovering the character 

 and course of disease. Born in Chalcedon, Asia Minor, he studied 

 under Praxagoras of Cos (Fisher, 1881a). Fallopius called him the 

 evangelist of the anatomists. His followers formed a sect, called 

 "Herophilites" which survived for many years. Probably he 

 merits the general appelation given to him, "Father of Anatomy." 



He is described as having been a tireless investigator and 

 unquestionably the pioneer in dissecting human bodies in public. 

 Initially, he asked Ptolemy for and was granted permission to 

 anatomize the bodies of two executed criminals (Yesko, '40). In 

 all, he may have carefully dissected 200, and possibly 600, human 

 specimens, quite a feat for an anatomist in any age; probably 

 few have approached this record. It indicates that he must have 

 devoted himself largely to the pursuit of practical anatomy dur- 

 ing his tenure at Alexandria. 



One of the charges leveled against Herophilus is that he dis- 

 sected living humans. The first to accuse him, in this respect, 

 was Celsus (42 B.C.-A.D. 37) in his book, De Medicina. Pertinent 

 facts in the life of this author are unknown. Some describe him 

 as a doctor of medicine, others as an "Encyclopedist," a compiler 

 of existing knowledge. He mentioned that both Herophilus and 

 Erasistratus, several centuries before, had not only dissected the 

 dead but also living criminals received from the prison of the 

 king. These were held to have been opened while breathing in 

 order to observe the inner parts: their position, color, shape, size, 

 arrangement, hardness, softness, smoothness, relations, processes 

 ^and depressions. Celsus did not believe that dissecting the dead 

 ras cruel, as most people said, but rather that it was important 

 id necessary to seek remedies for the innocent people of all fu- 

 ture ages by studying the bodies of a few executed criminals, but 

 le drew the line at any policy of vivisection of man. 



