OVERTHROW OF AUTHORITY IN SCIENCE 23 



spirits who see new truth with clearness, and have the bravery 

 to force their thoughts on an unsympathetic public. 



The Beginning of Anatomy. — In order to appreciate his 

 service it is necessary to give a brief account of his predeces- 

 sors, and of the condition of anatomy in his time. Remem- 

 bering that anatomy embraces a knowledge of the architec- 

 ture of all animals and plants, we can, nevertheless, see why 

 in early times it should have had more narrow boundaries. 

 The medical men were the first to take an interest in the 

 structure of the human body, because a knowledge of it is 

 necessary for medicine and surgery. It thus happens that 

 the earliest observations in anatomy were directed toward 

 making known the structure of the human body and that of 

 animals somewhat closely related to man in point of struc- 

 ture. Anatomical studies, therefore, began with the more 

 complex animals instead of the simpler ones, and, later, 

 when comparative anatomy began to be studied, this led to 

 many misunderstandings; since the structure of man became 

 the type to which all others were referred, while, on account 

 of his derivation, his structure presents the greatest modifi- 

 cation of the vertebrate type. 



It was so difficult in the early days to get an opportunity 

 to study the human body that the pioneer anatomists were 

 obliged to gain their knowledge by dissections of animals, as 

 the dog, and occasionally the monkey. In this way Aristotle 

 and his forerunners learned much about anatomy. About 

 300 B.C., the dissection of the human body was legalized in 

 the Alexandrian school, the bodies of condemned criminals 

 being devoted to that purpose. But this did not become 

 general even for medical practitioners, and anatomy contin- 

 ued to be studied mainly from brute animals. 



Galen. — The anatomist of antiquity who outshines all 

 others was Galen (Claudius Galenus, 130-200 a.d.), who lived 

 some time in Pergamos, and for five years in Rome, during 



