Medicine* 207 



injections, and the method of making what are 

 commonly called preparations. These two modern 

 arts have been of great advantage in this science; 

 they have introduced not only an unexpected de- 

 gree of correctness, but an elegance in demonstra- 

 tions wdiich formerly could not have been supposed 

 to be possible. They began in Holland under 

 SwAMMERDAM and RuYscH, and wcrc afterwards 

 employed in England by Cowper, St. Andre, 

 and others. Ruysch possessed a singular excel- 

 lence in injections, which has been supposed by 

 many not to have been equalled since, and w^hich 

 certainly has not been surpassed. The anatomist^ 

 of former ages had no other knowledge of the blood- 

 vessels than such as they were able to obtain by 

 laborious dissections, and by pursuing the smaller 

 branches of them, upon favourable occasions, 

 when they happened to be more than commonly 

 loaded with red blood. But filling the vascular 

 system with a bright coloured wax presents a dis- 

 tinct view of the large vessels, renders the smaller 

 much more conspicuous, and makes thousands of 

 the very minute ones visible, which, from their ca- 

 pillary size, their delicacy, and the transparency 

 of their contents, would be otherwise impercep- 

 tible. 



In this high state of advancement, anatomy stood 

 at the beginningof the century whose progress and 

 improvements it is the object of this work more 

 particularly to explore. At that period, the Italian 

 and Dutch schools held an undoubted superiority. 

 This superiority, however, has been since much 

 more equally divided among the British, French 

 and German anatomists. 



Early in the eighteenth century, anatomy was 

 improved by the WTitings of Ruysch, in Holland, 

 and of Cowper, Keil, Douglas, Cheselden, and 

 others, in Great-Britain, The works of Alblnus, 



