IV 



ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN THE EIGH- 

 TEENTH CENTURY 



ALBRECHT VON HALLER 



A^ epoch in physiology was made in the eighteenth 

 century by the genius and efforts of Albrecht von 

 Haller (1708-1777), of Berne, who is perhaps as worthy 

 of the title "The Great" as any philosopher who has 

 been so christened by his contemporaries since the 

 time of Hippocrates. Celebrated as a physician, he 

 was proficient in various fields, being equally famed 

 in his own time as poet, botanist, and statesman, and 

 dividing his attention between art and science. 



As a child Haller was so sickly that he was unable 

 to amuse himself with the sports and games common 

 to boys of his age, and so passed most of his time por- 

 ing over books. When ten years of age he began writ- 

 ing poems in Latin and German, and at fifteen entered 

 the University of Tubingen. At seventeen he wrote 

 learned articles in opposition to certain accepted doc- 

 trines, and at nineteen he received his degree of doctor. 

 Soon after this he visited England, where his zeal in 

 dissecting brought him under suspicion of grave-rob- 

 bery, which suspicion made it expedient for him to 

 return to the Continent. After studying botany in 

 Basel for some time he made an extended botanical 

 journey through Switzerland, finally settling in his 



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