THE ORGANS OF VOLUNTARY MOTION. 427 



ancients, who did not write books on anatomical 

 manipulation; though I praise Marinus, who did. 

 For it was superfluous for them to compose such 

 records for themselves or others, while they were, 

 from their childhood, exercised by their parents in 

 dissecting, just as familiarly as in writing and read- 

 ing ; so that there was no more fear of their for- 

 getting their anatomy, than of their forgetting their 

 alphabet. But when grown men, as well as chil- 

 dren, were taught, this thorough discipline fell off; 

 and, the art being carried out of the family of the 

 Asclepiads, and declining by repeated transmission 

 books became necessary for the student." 



That the general structure of the animal frame, 

 as composed of bones and muscles, was known with 

 great accuracy before the time of Galen, is mani- 

 fest from the nature of the mistakes and deficiencies 

 of his predecessors which he finds it necessary to 

 notice. Thus he observes, that some anatomists 

 have made one muscle into two, from its having 

 two heads ; that they have overlooked some of the 

 muscles in the face of an ape, in consequence of not 

 skinning the animal with their own hands; and 

 the like. Such remarks imply that the current 

 knowledge of this kind was tolerably complete. 

 Galen's own views of the general mechanical struc- 

 ture of an animal are very clear and sound. The 

 skeleton, he observes, discharges 7 the office of the 

 pole of a tent, or the walls of a house. With respect 



7 De Analom. Admimst. i. 2. 



