TRUTH, PATHOLOGY, AND PUBLIC. 143 
had difficulty in appreciating when pointed out to 
you, simply because at that stage of your develop- 
ment you thought it far too minute and trifling for 
a rational being to attend to. 
Without going beyond the study of anatomy I 
might point out many more striking illustrations of 
the difficulty of arriving at accuracy, by asking you 
to look back, not on your own history, but on 
history which can be studied from records, the 
progress of the science. One example will suffice. 
Consult the plate showing the vascular system 
originally published by Vesalius in 1542, and you 
cannot fail to be astonished at its extraordinary 
character. The inextricable confusion which it 
exhibits in matters long regarded as fundamental 
almost surpasses comprehension ; and yet Vesalius 
was far ahead of his contemporaries. He was 
conscientiously, and lovingly describing what he 
believed that he had seen; and the name that he 
has left behind him, as well as the remarkable story 
of his life, is guarantee for the ability which he 
brought to his work. In 1699, appeared Bidloo’s 
work with its celebrated engravings; and in the 
plate of the arteries there given, not only is the 
influence of the plate by Vesalius abundantly 
evident, but in some respects the inaccuracies are 
distinctly greater, though as a work of art it is 
