" The illustration here shown is of
the famous city, in which you can see the Temple of Athena Polis on the
rock, and the amphitheatre. Its interest for us is connected with the
greatest name, after Hippocrates, in Greek medicine, that of Galen, born
at Pergamon A. D. 130, in whom was united as never before--and
indeed one may say, never since--the treble combination of observer,
experimenter and philosopher. His father, Nikon, a prosperous architect,
was urged in a dream to devote his son to the profession of medicine,
upon which study the lad entered in his seventeenth year under Satyrus.
In his writings, Galen gives many details of his life, mentioning the
names of his teachers, and many incidents in his Wanderjahre, during
which he studied at the best medical schools, including Alexandria.
Returning to his native city he was put in charge of the gladiators,
whose wounds he said he treated with wine. In the year 162, he paid
his first visit to Rome, the scene of his greatest labors. Here he gave
public lectures on anatomy, and became "the fashion." He mentions
many of his successes; one of them is the well-worn story told also of
Erasistratus and Stratonice, but Galen's story is worth telling, and it
is figured as a miniature in the manuscripts of his works.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122