XII. 
ABSTRACT OF PRO CEEEIN GS . 
Abstract of Proceedings, 25th October, 1943. 
The Ordinary Monthly Meeting of the Society was held in the 
Department of G-eology of the University on Monday, 25th October,, 
at 8 p.m. with the President (Prof. J. Bostock) in the chair. About 
thirty-five members and friends were present. The minutes of the 
previous meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. H. V. Browne was 
elected to Ordinary Membership, and Messrs. J. D. East, H. C. R. 
Fogarty, H. L. Higginson and C. Jones were proposed for Associate 
Membership. 
Dr. M. F^ Hickey read a paper on “ Vesalius, the Founder of 
Modern Anatomy,” 1943 being the fourth centenary of the publication 
of the “De Fabrica.” He sketched in the historical background of 
the time of Vesalius, gave an account of his life and work, indicating 
the importance of his work in the history of medicine and of science 
in general, and outlined the scope of anatomical inquiry to-day, with 
its tools ranging from the electron miscroscope to the palaeontologist’s 
spade. 
During the Dark and Middle Ages, not only was the factual 
content of Greek science lost, but the Greek spirit of observation and 
free inquiry disappeared also. In an age of dogmatism, Aristotle 
and Galen became authorities above question or criticism. Under the 
influence of Humanism and the Naturalism of Renaissance Art, the 
genius of the youthful Vesalius, by an appeal to the dissected human 
body, destroyed the authority of Galen and helped to free the human 
mind for its enormous advances in science. Vesalius founded modern 
descriptive anatomy, both in content and method of study. The spirit 
is still that of Vesalius; only the tools are improved. 
The speaker stated that the “ De Fabrica ” was the basis of 
immediate advances in surgery; it made modern physiology possible. 
Not only is it the foundation of modern medicine as a science ; but it 
is also the first great positive achievement of science itself in modern 
times, taking rank with the treatise of Copernicus ‘ ‘ On the Revolutions 
of the Celestial Spheres ” in altering the course of human thought. 
Abstract of Proceedings, 29th November, 1943. 
The Ordinary Monthly Meeting of the Society was held in the 
Department of Geology of the University on Monday, 29th November, 
at 8 p.m., with the President (Prof. J. Bostock) in the chair. About 
thirty-six members and friends were present. The minutes of the pre- 
vious meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. J. D. East, Mr. H. C. R. 
Fogarty, Mr. H. L. Higginson, and Mr. C. Jones were elected to 
Associate Membership. 
Prof. H. C. Richards gave an address on Geophysical Prospecting 
Methods for ores and oil. There has been a very considerable increase 
in the utilisation of these methods, particularly in U.S.A. and the 
