ANDREAS VESALIUS-A.D. 1514 to 1564 99 



was present to witness a demonstration proving that Galen's de- 

 scription of the vena azygos was incorrect. Apparently, more ca- 

 davers and an ape were disposed of during the second meeting. 

 On this occasion, he presented skeletons of man and ape, to the 

 Professor of Medicine at Bologna, Andreas Albius. 



The first anatomical contributions which Vesalius made at 

 Padua were done in the interests of his pupils. First, he articu- 

 lated a human skeleton for use in the classroom. In addition, he 

 prepared a set of six loose-leaf anatomical plates, the Tabulae 

 Anatornicae, intended to assist beginners in anatomy. Finally, he 

 edited Guinterius' Institutionum Anatomicarum , which was is- 

 sued in April, 1538. 



E. The Fabrica 



Probably every word of approbation found in the dictionary 

 has been used at one time or another by various historians in de- 

 scribing Vesalius' publication, the Fabrica. The following is a 

 quote from Fisher (from Ball, '10): "it was and is a glorious book, 

 a rare and precious monument of genius, industry and liberality." 

 All concur that it ranks as one of the greatest achievements in 

 medicine. In modern times, no one speaks derogatorily about it. 

 Three years of arduous labor were spent in completing it accord- 

 ing to the standards of three individuals: Andreas Vesalius (anat- 

 omist), Jan Stephan van Calcar (artist), and Johannes Oporinus 

 (printer). A fortune was expended upon the illustrations and 

 publication and there is little doubt that it was largely a labor 

 of love. One can easily imagine the amount of time and effort 

 which was put into the quaint initial letters and the figures 

 which embellish them. The engraving on the title page is con- 

 sidered to be one of the most spirited and elaborate to be found 

 in medical literature. 



All of the pictorial representations were made on wood 

 blocks which were printed in Basel, Switzerland, conveyed there 

 safely from Padua, in the summer of 1542, by a merchant friend 

 named Danoni. Early in the following year, Vesalius went to 



iasel to supervise his precious work. While there, he conducted 

 lother public anatomy, the first held in the city in eleven years, 

 'he skeleton of the subject used, which he articulated, was pre- 



