A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



In this quest he was greatly handicapped by the pre- 

 vailing belief in the idea that blood-vessels must con- 

 tain air as well as blood, and this led him to assume 

 that one of the cavities of the heart contained " spir- 

 its," or air. It is probable, however, that his accurate 

 observations, so far as they went, were helpful step- 

 ping-stones to Harvey in his discovery of the circu- 

 lation. 



Guy of Chauliac, whose innovations in surgery re- 

 established that science on a firm basis, was not only 

 one of the most cultured, but also the most practical 

 surgeon of his time. He had great reverence for the 

 works of Galen, Albucasis, and others of his noted pre- 

 decessors ; but this reverence did not blind him to their 

 mistakes nor prevent him from using rational methods 

 of treatment far in advance of theirs. His practicality 

 is shown in some of his simple but useful inventions for 

 the sick-room, such as the device of a rope, suspended 

 from the ceiling over the bed, by which a patient may 

 move himself about more easily; and in some of his 

 improvements in surgical dressings, such as stiffening 

 bandages by dipping them in the white of an egg so 

 that they are held firmly. He treated broken limbs 

 in the suspended cradle still in use, and introduced the 

 method of making "traction" on a broken limb by 

 means of a weight and pulley, to prevent deformity 

 through shortening of the member. He was one of the 

 first physicians to recognize the utility of spectacles, 

 and recommended them in cases not amenable to treat- 

 ment with lotions and eye-waters. In some of his 

 surgical operations, such as trephining for fracture of 

 the skull, his technique has been little improved upon 



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