262 Medicijie. [Chap. IV. 



the fifteenth century*. In the sixteenth century 

 flourished the immortal Vesalius, the founder of ra- 

 tional and systematic anatomy, whose works afford 

 surprising proofs of laborious and successful dissec- 

 tion. After him appeared Sylvius in France; Co- 

 lumbus, Fallopius, and Eustachius, in Italy j whose 

 discoveries and improvements were so numerous as 

 to give a deep impression of the zeal and enthusiasm 

 with which the knovrledge of the structure of the 

 human body was cultivated at that early period. 



Soon after the time of the last mentioned writers, 

 the study of anatomy was gradually diffused over all 

 Europe. The principal impediment to its progress, 

 in that age, was the difficulty of obtaining human 

 subjects for dissection; the want of which frequent- 

 ly made it necessary to dissect the bodies of brutes. 



With the dawn of the seventeenth century new 

 lights were shed upon anatomical inquiries from 

 every quarter. At this time Fabricius ab Aquapen- 

 dente, an eminent Italian teacher, published his 

 account of the valves in the veins ; which evidently 

 affected the established doctrine of all fonner ages, 

 tliat the veins carried the blood from the liver for 

 nourishment to all parts of the body. The detec- 

 tion of these valves may also justly be supposed to 

 have laid the foundation of the discovery of the cir- 

 culation of the blood. 



For Dr. Harvey, the pupil of Fabricius, was re- 

 served the noble discovery of the circulation of the 

 blood soon afterwards. This was by far a more 



* This was the first man who introduced the practice of making 

 anatomical drcmrngs. These drawings, preserved in a British 

 collection, excite astonishment at the depth and accuracy of his 

 kno\vledt2;e. 



