3 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 



The theologians also found other points for contention. 

 It was a widely accepted dogma that man should have one 

 less rib on one side, because from the Scriptural account 

 Eve was formed from one of Adam's ribs. This, of course, 

 Vesalius did not find to be the case. It was also generally 

 believed at this time that there was in the body an indestruc- 

 tible resurrection-bone which formed the nucleus of the 

 resurrection-body. Vesalius said that he would leave the 

 question of the existence of such a bone to be decided by the 

 theologians, as it did not appear to him to be an anatomical 

 question. 



The Court Physician. The hand of the church was heavy 

 upon him, and the hatred shown in attacks from various 

 quarters threw Vesalius into a state of despondency and 

 anger. In this frame of mind he destroyed manuscripts upon 

 which he had expended much labor. His disappointment 

 in the reception of his work probably had much to do in 

 deciding him to relinquish his professorship and accept the 

 post of court physician to Charles V of the United Kingdoms 

 of Spain and Belgium. After the death of Charles, he 

 remained with Philip II, who succeeded to the throne. Here 

 he waxed rich and famous, but he was always under sus- 

 picion by the clerical powers, who from time to time found 

 means of discrediting him. The circumstances of his leaving 

 Spain are not definitely known. One account has it that he 

 made a post-mortem examination of a body which showed 

 signs of life during the operation, and that he was required 

 to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to clear his soul 

 of sacrilege. Whether or not this was the reason is uncertain, 

 but after nineteen years at the Spanish Court he left, in 1563, 

 and journeyed to Jerusalem. On his return from Palestine 

 he suffered shipwreck and died from the effects of exposure 

 on Zanti, one of the Ionian Islands. It is also said that 

 while on this pilgrimage he had been offered the position of 



