No. 604] SOURCES OF ANATOMICAL LITKE ATUL'I-: 197 



had made the preliminary abdominal iiicision, tlic Tari- 

 chentae were accustomed to pass their hands through 

 the incision into the body and remove the heart and 

 kidneys and digestive organs. If they were accustomed 

 to remove the uterus and ovaries, they must have gained 

 some knowledge of the organs, but we have no authority 

 for saying that the uterus was really removed. The 

 custom that the Egyptians followed, that of making 

 models of the parts^^^ that had been healed and then hang- 

 ing them in the temples, may have been useful for clin- 

 ical instruction." 



Among the Hebrew peoples of ancient times sacrifices 

 (Genesis xv. 9-10) were common, and the appearance of 

 the viscera of the animals sacrificed wore probably fa- 

 miliar. This may have resulted in a degree of anatom- 

 ical knowledge. There are, apparently, no definite state- 

 ments concerning anatomical matters in the Bible, the in- 

 formation there given being of a purely popular charac- 

 ter. In the Babylonian Talmud, however, there are a 

 number of references-^ to subjects of anatomical interest. 

 The number of bones in tlie skch'toii is cstiitiatiMl M '^48 or 

 25l\ and one of these, the bone Lu/. wliicli was -upixtsed 

 to be situated somewhere lu'twt'cn llic ba^- of ilu- >kull 

 and the coccyv, wn< rognnlcd a- tlic iiuh-ti udiblo nucleus 

 from whicli tlic bo.lv is to lie i-aiscd iVoiii the dead at the 

 resurrecti.Mi.-'" Tlu' Talnm.l aKo display, ^ome knowl- 

 edge of the es()i)lia,uus. larynx, trachea, and the mem- 

 branes of the brain. The pancreas and otlier internal 

 organs are briefly referred to. 



Among the ancient peoples who thrived in and around 

 Mesopotamia there is, apparently, no anatomical liter- 

 ature. AVhat little of anatomy may have been known was 

 acquired through religions observances, such as auguries 

 and sa('rific(\<. Stieda-' especially has studied the indi- 



