GREEK BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 



as he did frequently, through the vivisection of 

 animals, it was with masterly cleverness. 



Unquestionably Galen's over-aptness at find- 

 ing a purpose and use for every organ, — a use 

 and purpose which made the organ what it 

 was — contributed to his dominance in the 

 centuries after him. Today we are disposed to 

 find his truer greatness in his investigation of 

 the physiology of animals, by vivisection. For 

 example, although the presence of some blood 

 in the arteries had been sensed before him, he 

 would seem to have been the first to demon- 

 strate it. He was a great contributor to experi- 

 mental physiology, though unfortunately he 

 came at the close of the ancient time, when no 

 man was to follow him to continue his dis- 

 coveries. Says Dr. Garrison: 



" He was the first to describe the cranial 

 nerves and the sympathetic system, made the 

 first experimental sections of the spinal cord, 

 producing hemiplegia; produced aphonia by 

 cutting the recurrent laryngeal; and gave the 

 first valid explanation of the mechanism of 

 respiration. He showed that the arteries con- 

 tain blood (by performing the Antyllus opera- 

 tion), and demonstrated the motor power of 

 the heart by showing that the blood pulsates 



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