They present an extraordinary accumulation of facts relating
to the structure and functions of various parts of the body. It is an
unceasing wonder how one man, even with a school of devoted students,
could have done so much.
(28) The "Good collector of qualities," Dioscorides,
Hippocrates, Avicenna, Galen and Averroes were the medical
members of the group. Dante, Inferno, canto iv.
Dissection--already practiced by Alcmaeon, Democritus, Diogenes and
others--was conducted on a large scale, but the human body was still
taboo. Aristotle confesses that the "inward parts of man are known
least of all," and he had never seen the human kidneys or uterus. In his
physiology, I can refer to but one point--the pivotal question of the
heart and blood vessels. To Aristotle the heart was the central organ
controlling the circulation, the seat of vitality, the source of
the blood, the place in which it received its final elaboration and
impregnation with animal heat. The blood was contained in the heart
and vessels as in a vase--hence the use of the term "vessel." "From the
heart the blood-vessels extend throughout the body as in the anatomical
diagrams which are represented on the walls, for the parts lie round
these because they are formed out of them.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113