CHRONOLOGICAL HIGHLIGHTS ON HUMAN DISSECTION 261 



specimens, quite a feat for an anatomist in any age. Some at 

 least were bodies of executed criminals. He has been accused of 

 performing human vivisections but this is unfounded. He is called 

 the "Father of Anatomy." Erasistratus likewise dissected many 

 bodies and the pair made noteworthy anatomical discoveries. They 

 were able to successfully articulate two human skeletons, which 

 became widely known. This school survived between 332 B.C. 

 and A.D. 200. Only fragments of their original writings have 

 survived due to the fact that the great Alexandrian library was 

 twice destroyed by fire, first by the Roman invaders and again 

 by the Arabs. 



Although Galen stands out as one of the greatest medical 

 men of all time, he made few contributions to our knowledge 

 of human anatomy. That he merits this distinction cannot be 

 denied since his influence extended over a period of 1500 years. 

 Although possessed of an untiring urge to dissect, this trait had to 

 be sublimated to investigations on lower animals. The great weight 

 he exerted on the medical profession stemmed from the facts 

 that he was a prolific writer, who published all his findings and 

 medical ideas, that he was followed by a period of scientific stag- 

 nation and that he was the only anatomical specialist of note. 



Galen dissected the bodies of many animals during his life- 

 time, beginning at the age of fifteen. All anatomists of his time, 

 including himself, took it for granted that animal and human 

 bodies were fundamentally alike in their architecture. Many of 

 the 500 published works by him on anatomy refer to the monkey. 

 As might be expected, he made some errors, being unable to 

 differentiate nerves and tendons, and his descriptions of blood 

 vessels were poor. Being a sensitive individual, he marveled at 

 the sight of the organs, at their beauty and complexity; he thought 

 that form determines function and that nature never made any- 

 thing superfluous. His belief that a divine providence was the 

 creator of structure made him popular with Christians, Jews and 

 Moslems. His works were widely though tardily translated into 

 numerous languages up through the 1 6th Century and many 

 physicians accepted his views as late as the 18th Century. 



