2 D. J. Cunninghiira, 



It is said that the study of Anatomy was pursued before the time 

 of Hippocrates, but of this we know little with certainty. Hippocrates, 

 who lived about 400 years before the Christian era, undoubtedly pos- 

 sessed some knowledge of the bones. It is stated that he modelled 

 the human skeleton in brass, and caused it to be suspended in the 

 temple of the Delphian Apollo; but although he had some rude general 

 notions of the soft parts, it is extremely doubtful if he ever dissected 

 a human subject. 



The same may be said for the great naturalist, Aristotle, the 

 tutor of the Prince of Macedon, who lived about one hundred years 

 later. He knew more anatomy than Hippocrates, but his knowledge 

 was entirely derived from a study of the lower animals. 



Were it not outside the scope of the present lecture, I should like 

 to dwell for a little on the widely-famed school for Grecian education, 

 which was founded in Alexandria (320 B.C.) by the illustrious Ptolemies. 

 Here , under the enlightened encouragement of these distinguished 

 rulers, learning of all kinds flourished, and the dissection of the human 

 body was for the first time distinctly authorised, and, in all proba- 

 bility, for the first time practised. Herophilus and Erisistratus were 

 the two anatomists engaged in the work. By the orders of Ptolemy 

 Soter subjects were supplied for dissection, and it is reported that he 

 himself took part in the pursuit in order that the blind superstition 

 and ignorant objections of the people might be subdued. The writings 

 of both Herophilus and Erisistratus are completely lost, but their 

 discoveries live in the pages of Galen and Caelius Aurelianus. 



We shall now pass over a period of about 330 years. This brings 

 us to Claudius Galenus, the physician of Pergamus, a great outstan- 

 ding figure in the history of anatomy. Born in the 131^' year of the 

 Christian era, he devoted eleven years to the study of anatomy and 

 medicine, and then returned to his native town at the age of 29. 

 Here he inspired such confidence that the wounded gladiators were 

 confided to his care, and he acquired the greatest distinction by the 

 successful treatment of wounds which had hitherto baffled all the skill 

 of the surgeons. 



But it is as an anatomist that we have at present to regard him, 

 and as such he stands unrivalled by all who had gone before him. 



