A compendious system of anatomy : in six parts ... ; illustrated with twelve large copperplates.

  • Fyfe, Andrew, 1754-1824.
Date:
April MDCCXC [1790]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A compendious system of anatomy : in six parts ... ; illustrated with twelve large copperplates. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the mofl early ages, that is, the men of curiofity, ob- servation, experience and reflection, could not over- look an inftance of natural organization, which was f© interesting, and at the fame time fo wonderful, more efpecially fuch of them as applied to the ftudy and cure of difeafes. We know that phyfic was a branch of philofophy till the age of Hippocrates. Thus the art mult have been circumftanced in its be- ginning. We (hall next fee from the teftimony of hif- forians and other writers, how it actually appeared as an art, from the time that writing was introduced a- mong men; how it was improved and conveyed down to us through a long feries of ages. Civilization, and improvements of every kind, would naturally begin in fertile countries and healthful cli- mates, where there would be leifure for reflection, and an appetite for amufement. Accordingly, writing, and many other ufeful and ornamental inventions and arts, appear to have been cultivated in the eaitern parts of Afia long before the earlieft times that are treated of by the Greek or other European writers; and that the arts and learning of thofe eaitern people were in fubfequent times gradually communicated to adjacent countries, efpecially by the medium of traffic. The cuftoms, fuperftitions, and climate of eaitern coun- tries, however, 'appear to have been as unfavourable to practical anatomy, as they were inviting to the ftudy of aitronomy, geometry, poetry, and all the fofter arts of peace. Animal bodies there, run fo quickly into naufeous putrefaction, that the early inhabitants niuit have a- voided fuch offenfive employments, as anatomical in- quiries, like their posterity at this day. And, in fact, it does not appear, by the writings of the Grecians, or Jews, or Phoenicians, or of other eaitern countries, that anatomy was particularly cultivated by any of thofe eaftern nations. In tracing it backwards to its infan- cy, we cannot go farther into antiquity than the times of the Grecian philofophers. As an art in the ftate of fome cultivation, it may be faid to have been brought forth and bred up among them as a branch of natural knowledge. The sera of philofophy, as it was called, began with Thales the Milefian being declared by a very ge- neral confent of the people, the mofl wife of all the Grecians, 480 years before Chrift. The philofophers of his fchool, which was called the Ionian, cultivated principally natural knowledge. Socrates, the feventh in fucceffion of their great teachers, introduced the .ftudy of morals, and was thence faid to bring down philofophy from heaven, to make men truly wife and happy. In' the writings of his fcholar and fucceffor Plato, we fee that the philofophers had carefully confidered the human body, both in its organization and func- tions ; and though they had not arrived at the know- ledge of the more minute and intricate parts, which required the fucceffive labour and attention of many ages, they had made up very noble and comprehensive ideas of the subject in general. The anatomical de- fcriptions of Xenophon and Plato have had the honour of being quoted by Longinns (§ xxxii.) as fpecimens of fublime writing: and the extract from Plato is still more remarkable for its containing the rudiments of the circulation of the blood. The heart (fays Plato) is the centre or knot of the blood-veflels; the fpring or fountain of the blood which is carried impetuoufly round; the blood is the pabulum or food of the fiefh ; and, for the purpofe of nourifhment, the body is laid out into canals, like thofe which are drawn through gardens, that the blood may be conveyed, as from a fountain, to every part of the pervious body. Hippocrates was nearly contemporary with the great philofophers of whom we have been fpeaking, about 400 years before the Chriftian oera. He is faid to have feparated the profeffion of philofophy and phyfic, and to have been the firft who applied to phyfic alone as the bufinefs of his life. He is likewife generally fuppofed to be the firft who wrote upon anatomy. We know of nothing that was written exprefsly upon the fubject before; and the firft anatomical defection which has been recorded, was made by his friend Democri- tus of Abdera. If, however, we read the works of Hippocrates with impartiality, and apply his accounts of the parts to what we now know of the human body, we muff allow his defcriptions to be imperfect, incorrect, fometimes ex- travagant, and often unintelligible, that of the bones only excepted. He feems to have ftudied thefe with more fuccefs than the other parts, and tells us that he had an opportunity of feeing an human fkeleton. From Hippocrates to Galen, who flourifhed towards the end of the fecond century, in the decline of the Roman empire, that is, in the fpace of 600 years, ana- tomy was greatly improved; the philofophers ftill con- fid ering it as a moft curious and interesting branch of natural knowledge, and the phyficians, as a principal foundation of their art. Both of them, in that inter- val of time, contributed daily to the common ftock, by more accurate and extended obfervations, and by the lights of improving philofophy. As thefe two great men had applied very particular- ly to the study of animal bodies, they not only made great improvements, efpecially in phyfiology, butraifed the credit of natural knowledge, and fpread it as wide as Alexander's empire. Few of Ariftotle's writings were made public in his lifetime. He affected to fay that they would be un- intelligible to thofe who had not heard them explained at his lectures : and, except the ufe which Theophraf- tus made of them, they were loft to the public for a- bove 130 years after the death of Theophraftus; and at laft came out defective from bad preservation, and corrupted by men, who, without proper qualifications, prefumed to correct and supply what was loft. From the time of Theophraftus, the study of natu- ral knowledge at Athens was forever on the decline ; and the reputation of the Lycseum and Academy was almoft confined to the studies which are fubfervient 1.0 oratory and public fpeaking. The other great institution for Grecian education, was at Alexandria in Egypt. The firft Ptolemies, both from their love of literature/ and to give true and per- manent dignity to their empire, and to Alexander's favourite city, fet up a grand fchool in the palace itfelf, with a mufeum and library, which, we may fay, has been the most famed in the world. Anatomy, among other fciences, was publicly taught; and the two dif- tinguiflied anatomists were Eraliftratus the pupil and friend of Theophraftus, and Herophilus. Their vo- 4? 2 luminous