41

those in power, that there were at thattime, probably, two hundred young menwho came annually up to London to

obtain a stock of anatomical knowledgewhich was to last them for their lives,and that at the conclusion of the seasonthese students were employed in the armyand navy, where their services were greatlywanted; I begged those with whom wehad the honour of conversing to reflecton the consequences of sending forth theseyoung men in ignoranceto torment and in-crease the sufferings of their valiant coun-trymen. Now every conversation endedwiththis decision, that the study of anatomy isindispensable, and must not be prevented.There are unhappily in this, and in allother countries, numbers who die withoutrelatives, or friends to mourn their loss ;if, then, the superintendants of prisons,poor-houses, and eleemosynary establish-ments, would but consent that the remainsof those who die under such circum-stances, or remain unclaimed, should bemade the subjects of anatomical instruc-tion, we should then be put on the samefooting with other nations, and this ob-noxious system of disinterring the deadwould he no longer necessary. The thingis perfectly easy to be done; in othercountries the police can direct that to bedone which is contributory to the publicgood, although contrary to the feelingsand will of the parties immediately con-cerned, who, however, readily and easily

acquiesce in what they know to be in-

evitable, and what custom has estab-lished.

In no place could the prejudices againstdissection be more stroug than they wereat a certain period of time in Paris. Icould tell you many instances of it. Hallerwas obliged to set off as hard as he could-for fear of apprehension ; yet, at present,the bodies of those who die destitute arebrought sewed up in matting to the dif-ferent anatomical schools, and when dis-sected, are returned in the same mannerfor interment, without exciting any dis-turbance, or even the attention of thepublic mind. In this country, however,the potice can interfere no further thanwith a view to prevent or punish the in-fraction of established laws, so that thecorrection of the errors and abuses whichI have been lamenting rests entirelywith the public. Now, on the good senseof the British public 1 place the greatestpossible reliance; but it is extremely dif-ficult to induce the public to attend tosubjects in which they do not feel an im-mediate personal interest, or to engagethem in the calm consideration of anysubject when they are disturbed by theirfeelings and their prejudices. I have been liadvised to say this, that it might keep

alive the subject it is a most deplorablething, and I trust the good sense of thepublic will eventually see the subject asit has appeared to the Governmentsabroad, and indeed to people of other na-tions, and that anatomists will be put ona better footing; that the teachers ofanatomy may be put on a better footingthan hitherto they have been ; as it is, wemust do as well as we can.

MR. ROOKES.

Theatre of Anatomy, Blenheim Street.

GENTLEMEN,I HAVE now the honour of commencing

mv autumnal course of Lectures on Anatomy, which will be preceded this day bya discourse introductory to the science weprofess to teach.

It is with diffidence I beg leave to ad-dress you on a subject abstruse in itself,and rendered still more difficult from thepopular prejudices which, even in theseenlightened times, exist in the minds ofmany whom we should expect to find moreliberal.

I hope to avoid all imputation of vanity,if I consider the science of anatomy asone which immediately interests the wel-fare of the human race. Even in the most

early ages, before luxury had laid thebasis out many diseases, now tuofrequentlyexperienced, and in countries even remotefrom ’the iufluence of civilization, the

knowledge of anatomy must have beenconsidered of the very first importance;inasmuch as self-preservation is found to

operate in the human breast over everyother principle. -

That science, therefore, which enablesus to afford relief to our afflicted fellow-creatures, in cases of the most imminent

danger, must surely be considered as oneof the first of all human acquirements.

: The subduing warrior, proud with con-, quest, would soon return to the humbledust, without the assistance of the ai3ato-

mist, when labouring under a dangerousheemorrhage, or an oppressed brain ; acci-dents which are incident to all mankind,whether in polite or barbarous nations.

’ The magnificent palace and the bed ofdown would oftentimes afford even moreshort-lived joys than the homely cot,with-

out the succour of the Æsculapian art, thebasis of which is anatomy.

! All human possessions and endowmentsavail but little without health ; the meansof preserving which, and of averting death;must, in numberless instances, be attri-buted to the Medical Practitioner.

42

Thus far then, Gentlemen, have I, inthe most cursory manner, touched on theindispensable necessity of an unremittingattention to the structure of the humanbody ; which is universally considered byall sects as the chef-d’oeuvre, the master-piece of the Almighty. (And such as,when blessed with a virtuous mind, gra-tified the Omnipotent Creator, more than liall his other divine and incomprehensibleworks.)This word anatomy, in Greek &agr;&ngr;&agr;oµ&eegr;,

from &agr;&ngr;&agr; and Te,uvm, disseco, originally im-ports no more than the cutting, or divid-ing any body by a sharp instrument; butnow it is only applied to signify that prac-tical science, which consists in artfully di.viding animal bodies into their constituentparts; to the end, that we may discovertheir several situations, connexions, andmanners of acting. As the ancients neversuspected there were any organized bodies,except animals, they confined this term tothe dissecting of animal bodies. Laterobservations, however, have discoveredthat vegetables are endowed with organs,as well disposed, and as regularly fittedfor the purposes of nutrition and genera-tion as animals; therefore you will findsome using the term anatomy in describ-ing the structure of plants, but never with-out annexing the explanatory epithet ofthe subject of which it treats, as Anato-mia Plantarum, Rhizotomia, &c. Hence,whenever it is mentioned alone, we arealways to understand the dissection ofanimal bodies, and particularly of thehuman body.To prosecute this science in a regular

way, it behoves us to begin, as has beencustomary with the professors thereof,with the history of Anatomy, taking agradual view of its rise and progress in thedifferent ages of the world; also of thoseancient anatomists who have been re-

markable for their discoveries, and havelaboured to prosecute or diffuse the know-ledge of their art : however, we shall con-fine ourselves chiefly to the outline of thissubject, referring those gentlemen, whowould wistt to be more particularly ac-quainted with the history of this science,to such works as have been expresslywritten concerning it.And I would beg leave to recommend

the Bibliotheca Anatomica of the lateBaron Haller, or a work of this kind pub-lished in France in 1770, by M. Portal, inseven volumes duodecimo, entitled Histoire de L’Anatomie et de la Chirurgie,as the best publications to be consultedfor obtaining this knowledge.As the antiquity of a science is a pre-

sumption of its importance, teachersgenerally endeavour to trace the rise ofthat which they profess as far back

as possible: pointing out every circum.stance that may have contributed to it.first introduction, or subsequent improve-ment ; although it mustbe confessed suchinquiries are iu general of little use, andafford but small entertainment from theextreme uncertainty attending them, andfrom the distance of time at which theyare placed.But we are not in anatomy, as in tracing

the origin of the other sciences, allowedto indulge in conjecture, for we are tieddown by the sacred writings, which ex.pressly tell us, that the sons of our firstparents offered up sacrifices of animal*long before animal food was permitted;in which, as well as in butchering, whenanimal food was granted to Noah,* bydivine permission, a regular division ofparts became necessary. Some parts werereckoned impure, and set aside, whileothers were reckoned more proper for thesolemnity intended, and other parts wereallotted to the sacrificers.In the slaughter likewise of the larger

animals, a division, to a certain degree,was requisite, and when the world cameto be more peopled, jealousy, avarice, andambition embroiled mankind in wars ; forwe read very early of battles, where theinterior parts of the body would be morefrequently brought into view than theyare at present, from their use of larecoarse-cutting weapons. When men cameto be further protected by laws, ease and

security induced them to consider manythings they had not thought of before ;so that they endeavoured to preserve thebodies of those after death who had beendistinguished in life. This practice wasfamiliar to the Egyptians in the days )fJoseph;† and, from the term Mummy, ithas been supposed to come from the Per-sian, Mum in that language signifyingwax, which substance is said to havebeen much used in preparing Egyptianmummies ; but from their art no suchaccurate knowledge of anatomy could be

obtained, as some have imagined ; for ifyou look into Herodotus, who has writtenon this subject, you will find that theoperators were obliged to extract the

bowels piecemeal, to prevent the bodybeing maimed ; this, however, with the

inspection of wounds, must have coa-

vinced mankind of the analogy existingbetween the structure of the human bodyand that of quadrupeds.At length we find the priesthood, equally

ambitious of acquiring power and in.-eni-ous in contriving the means of obtaining

it pretending that future events were re-vealed by certain signs and tokens; aud

. Born 2948 B. C.

t Died 1635 B. C.

43

that they were more especially discover-able in the bowels of such animals as

were opened for sacrifice; the credulity ofmen keeping pace with the imposture,nothing of importance was undertakenwithout consulting the augtirs : this toowas begun iu the eastern nations, andtook place among the Romans from thebuilding of Rome. Little addition indeedcould he made to the knowledge of

anatomy, from this practice, for nothingwas done accurately : thus ifyou read Livy,*who takes particular notice of this custom,in one instance the heart is said to havebeen wanting, while in another two heartsare said to have been found; so that thewhole was a mere illusion: a few only of thebowels were examined, yet these are per-haps all, or at least the chief means thatfur many ages introduced or improved theknowledge of anatomy, for we do not findin the sacred writings, nor in the books ofHomer, or Herdotus,† that anatomy wasconsidered as a science of use or enter-tainmeut, nor are the sons of Æsculapiuscelebrated for their knowledge in this art,but for their skill in the virtues of herbs.At length the curiosity of the Grecian

physicians seems to have paved the wayfor the further improvement of anatomicalknowledge, by atirnitting it into theirstudies, as one of the branches of naturalphilosophy.Thales, Democritus, Empedocles,‡ &c.

are celebrated for their improvements in

anatomy, and specimens of their skill arefound quoted in different authors. Butwe are chiefly indebted to Hippocrates,who first not only separated medicine, as adistinct science and profession, from thestudy of philosophy, but seems to haveconsidered anatomy as especially andimmediately subservient to physic andsurgery.The degree in which the skill of Hip-

pocrates ought to be placed has beenmatter of great dispute; some pretendingto find in him all that is useful, whileothers depreciate his skill in the oppositeextreme; the best and most impartialjudges of the merits of Hippocrates own,that they discover in his works a generalknowledge and application of anatomy:but this is extremely superficial, and insome circumstances highly erroneous;e. g. he every where confounds the arterieswith the veins, not only using the same

* Died at Rome, A.D. 17.t Homer fl. 907 B. C. Herdotus of

Halicarnassus, B. 484 B C.I Thales, a philosopher, born at Miletus, f646 B. C.-Democritus, Thrace, died 361

B. C.—Empedocles, Agrigentum, fl. 440;B. C. t

term (&phgr;&lgr;∈&psgr;) to express both, but consider-ing both as branches of the same root.-In like manner he confounds the nerveswith the tendons, applying the same nameto both organs (yefpor) but so far is hefrom having the least idea of the offices ofthe organs we now call nerves, that heascribes them to the blood vessels; nay fur-ther, we do not find in any of the workswhich are allowed to be his,* by the moreaccurate critics, or are proved to havebeen written in the 5th century before theChristian sera, that any dissection wasmade of the human body; for the proofthereof given us by Baron Haller, viz.that he describes the subclavian muscle.is by no means sufficient, because thatmuscle is found in the ape, the commonanatomical martyr of that age and couti-try, (and indeed in every animal that hasa clavicle;) soon after that period, how-

ever, in other works generally published,as belonging to Hippocrates, there areevident proofs of the human body beingdissected, for we find the exact number ofthe lobes of the lungs, and of the vertebra,.,and there is a tolerably just parallel be-tween the chylopoietic viscera of a manand a dog.The admirers of Hippocrates, not con-

tent with ascribirrg to him suffcient knowledge of the human body, have pretendedthat he knew much of the animal economy,and especially that he understood the cir.culation of the blood ; but we shall con-sider this matter afterwards. When wecome to treat of the real period whenthat discovery was made, 1 shall suc-

cinctly state as much as was known informer ages on this subject. In the follow-ing centuries, the third and fourth beforethe birth of Christ, we find anatomy stillcultivated by the philosophers. Platoreasons with considerable ingenuity withregard to this science ; and Aristotle, hiscontemporary,who lived in the century afterHippocrates, not only reasons from the de-scriptions of others, but undertakes a natu-ral history of the figure and structure ofanimals, in which pursuit he was engagedby Alexander the Great; andwe are told byPliny, that Aristotle completed this under-taking in fifty books, or volumes, of whicheleven only are now extant.

Unluckily those which treat more imme-diately on the dissection of animals are lost,but in those which remain we find numerousremarks of considerable skill, and he seemsto be the first who assisted his descriptionsby figures, a discovery of unspeakable use,which, however, was so much overlooked,that when it was revived near an hundredyears afterwards, it was considered at a newinvention. Near about the same pet iod we

Hippocrates died 361 B. C.

44

find ’a distinction made by Praxagoras*, ofCos, between the veins and arteries, he [supposing that thee last contained air or Irspirit; at the same time he teaches us to ,judge of the blood and diseases, by feelingthe pulse, a circumstance much over- ,looked by Hippocrates, by which his

descriptions of disease are much less’accurate than we have been taught tobelieve. We are ignorant of the state oflearning in the eastern nations at or beforethis period ; almost all we know is, thatthe philosophers of Greece travelled intodifferent parts for their improvement, andthat physic was brought to some perfectionin Egypt by the physicians being confinedto the treatment of a few diseases. At thistime an academy was founded at Alexan-dria, by the Ptolemies, the successors ofAlexander, which subsisted near a thou-sand years, and in which medicine andanatomy were so highly cultivated, thatkings themselves were sometimes presentat dissections.†

In the works of Galen the names ofmany anatomists are handed down to us,two of which more immediately merit ourattention ; I mean Herophilus and Erasis-tratus.t They appear to have been con-temporaries, for the same discoveries areattributed to both, besides numberless im-provements in anatomy, which are many of.them still retained. In the works of bothauthors there is a description of vesselswhich can only be applied to those we calllacteals, which take in our nourishment; [and in both we find not only the nervesdistinguished by a particular name appro-priated to them, from the other harder

Isubstances, as the tendons of muscles ;but the office of the nerves is ascertainedby simple and decisive experiments.They have also described the several partsof the heart, its valves, &c.We know but little of the state of medi-

cine among the Romans for several ages.We find in the Roman writers, and prettyearly after the foundation of Rome, theterm Medicus employed, but in reality theirphysicians were slaves or freed men, whopractised without a knowledge of anatomyor surgery, and without rational principles;and, I apprehend, we may say that physic,as well as anatomy, was introduced as ascience by the Greek physicians, at’ erthe conquest of Greece ; and before theChristian rera it does not appear that ana- Itomy was practised amongst the Romans.

Athens. A.D.345. i

t Claudius. G. Pet-games. B. A.D. 131.

‡Herophilus flourished 300 B.C. Erasis-tratus, 294 B.C. The first is said to havecarried his enthusiasm so far as to haveditsected living subjects.

C. Celsus* speaks of several physicians be-fore him. In the preface to his work herecommends the study of anatomy, andgives a slight description of the organs ofthe body, which, though short, is by nomeans incorrect. His description, how-ever, is in a great measure, though notwholly, borrowed from the Greeks. Notlong after this, Rufus† and Soranus ap-peared towards the beginning of the secondcentury, and wrote some original pieces.Before the close of the 2d century there ap-peared a most extensive and elaborate workwritten by Galen, which is enriched withthe learning of former ages, and in whichwe find so many of the minute parts of thebody described as in numberless instancesto rival the moderns, and the whole isconnected so plausibly into a system thathis opinions were adopted for more than1200 years, till experiments and more ac-

curate observations were at length intro-duced, and showed the fallacy of many

parts of his system. He has traced theorigin, course, and termination of thenerves, and he seems to have traced theblood-vessels further than was done beforehim. In many parts he is thought to havethrown considerable light upon the func-tions of the different organs by. decisiveexperiments, as the use of the muscles,the action of the heart, the state of theblood, the manner in which the voice is

formed, the use of the several nerves, &c. ;but, upon the whole, notwithstanding, weallow that Galen’s anatomy was universalfor twelve centuries, and that his physio-logical opinions were adopted still later

yet I must observe, that his description,

were always drawn from quadrupeds. andhis opinions are to be received with cautionand reserve ; they are generally hypothe-tical, and therefore justly in the presentage laid aside.

in cne rounn century, me Koman em-

pire was overrun in the west by barbarousI nations, and learning extmguished, whichdid not soon revive ; while, in the east-ern empire, the physicians continuedstill to build their practice on the anatomyof Galen. Oribasius was born at Pergamus,and flourished about the middle of thefourth cenrury ; he is repreieiited as thegreatest physician and scholar of this

period, and a man of very engaging andagreeable manners ; his interest is said tohave been so great as to have contributedvery much towards the advancement of Ju-lian to the empire, who in return madehimquaestor of Constantinople; he, however,fell into such disgrace in the succeedingemperor’s reign as to have his estates con-

* Celsus flourished A.D. 17.

t Rufus, of Ephesus, flourished about110 A.D., and practised at Rome.

45

6scated; he was banished and delivered tothe barbarians, amongst whmn in,a shorttime he was treated with idolatrous reve-rence. He was afterwards recalled andreinstated in his riches and dignities bythe Roman emperor. Oribasius wroteabout seventy volumes, chiefly copied fromthe practice of Galen, in consequence ofwhich he was styled the Simia Galeni.Oribasius was the first who noticed a

species of madness called by the Greeks IAvXcw6p(IJ7rla, which is described in the’following manner :The persons affected go out of theirhouses in the night time, and in everything imitate wolves, wandering amongthe tombs of the dead till morning ; theirlooks are pale, their eyes hollow and drytheir tongue exceedingly parched, andtheir thirst excessive. He was the firstwho has given us a description of thesalivary glands ; whether taken from Galenor not is uncertain, as some of Galen’sworks are lost. He says, 11 own each sideof the tongue lie the orifices of the vesselswhich discharge the sa iva, and into which Iyou may introduce a probe."These vessels take their rise from the

root of the tongue where the glands aresituated. Actius flourished much aboutthe same era, but wrote chiefly on surgery.

In the seventh century, Alexandria wastaken by the Arabians or Saracens, underthe command of Omar, their first Caliph ;the academy founded there, and whichhad subsisted near a thousand years, was

entirely dispersed, and a celebrated library,the repository of learning in the easternpart of the world, almost entirely destroyed(by fire). History informs us, that al-

though the volumes were distributed to thepublic bagnios for the purpose of fuel, yetIn six month’s time many books remainedunconsumed. At length, when the Sara-ceus came to be better settled in their pos-sessions, they began to look into the re-mains of the Greek and Roman writers,and to translate such works into their ownlanguage; and there are extant in differ-ent parts of Europe, particularly in thelibrary of the King of Spain, several of theirtranslations from originals which havebeen lost, and were never published.But they have made little or no improve-ment, except in having described somenew diseases, such as the small-pox andmeasles, and in having mentioned somenew remedies, the produce of their country.Anatomy, however, could boast of noadvancement, since, by the tenets of theirretigiou; a person is supposed to be defiledby t,,uching a dead body. At or aboutthe eleventh century, academies and uni-versities were erected in Italy and Mont-pelier in France, where they contentedthemselves, with reading the bucks of the

Arabians : and in the twelfth century, bya decree of the Emperor of Germany,Frederic II., no person was allowed to prac-tise physic who had not stuilied anatomy.Thus, from the time of Galen, i.e. for neara thousand years, the pursuit of anatomy,far from making any progress, had beenon the decline, the Greek learning waslost, and the original improvements ne-glected or forgotten; while the writings ofthe Arabians"in their incorrect state, weresubstituted in lieu of Grecian literature.

In the beginning of the fourteenth cen-tury, we find an original work composed byMundinus,* about the year 1313, which,though imperfect in description, and rudein its style, by an order of the Senate ofVenice, was the only one allowed to betaught by the professors of Padua. Beforethe middle of the following century, about1440, the art of printing was discovered;and about the same time Constantinoplewas taken by the Turks, and science Walagain revived and diffused over Europe bythe learned men who fled from the tyranny

of those barbarians, and brought the ori-ginal works of the Greeks with them intothe west of Europe ; so that before the endof the century we find several very toler-able compendia of anatomy, particularlythose of Guido t and Benedictus.

I In the sixteenth century, we find the spi-rit of improvement continued, several dis-coveries made, and we perceive traces ofsome circumstances of which there is littleto be found in the ancients. In NicolasMassa: we have a description of vesselswhich can only apply to the lymphaticsystem, and ihe speaks of the gravid ute-rus and ovum ; but the merit of these au-thors is very much eclipsed by the greatVesalius, Sylvius, Fallopius, Eustachius,perhaps I might add, Columbus, who in afew years improved the description of thehuman body more than anatomists haddone in former ages. Vesalius is said to

, have shown a very early genius for ana-tomy ; he was born at Brussels on the 31stof December, 1514 ; and after the advan-tage of studying in different universities,at a very early period, viz. in the twenty-

third year of his age, he was professor ofanatomy at Padua.He first published his " Epitome of Ana-

tomy," and then his larger work, " DeStructura Corporis Humani," at the ageof twenty-five ; in these he follows a very

’B Mundinus of Milan, the reviver of

) anatomy, a surgeon ; fl. 1315.t Guido de Cauliaco, professor at Mont-

pelier, practised at Lyons many years ; atlast at Avignun, and was physician to thePope.t Nicolas Massa wrote largely on th"

! venereal disease. ’ ’

46

excellent order, which he practised inteaching.He gives a most elegant description of

<he parts of the body, in a pure and nerv- Ieue style; he teaches beginners to followhim by dissection, and every where illus-trates his descriptions by tables which areadmired by artists to this day; (they were

painted by Titian, the celebrated Italianhistorical and portrait painter, so muchextolled for the justness of his colouring;)and towards the close of his works hementions many curious experiments madeupon living animals, to determine thefunctions of the several organs of the body,which have been overlooked by succeedingauthors. In a liberal manner he divestshimself of that very servile submission toGalen which so generally prevailed, and, in-deed, he proves that Galen had seldom anopportunity of dissecting the human body,and that his descriptions were drawn fromother animals; but Vesalius* himself some-times falls into the same fault by substi-tuting the anatomy of other animals, with-out sufficiently warning his readers. Thereputation he acquired, drew upon him thejealousy of his cotemporaries, particularlyof Sylvius; his old master, who publishedan ill-natured invective against him, inwhich he tenaciously defends Galen andthe ancients, and rather than allow themto be wrong, insinuates that men in formertimes might be made different from whatthey are in their days; at the same timehe himself treats Galen freely enough uponoccasion.

Vesalius is the first, and not Riolan,t ashas been said by some, who gave names tothe muscles. Fallopius fullowed Vesa-lius, and more particularly described thebody in the same order, every where en-deavouring to correct and improve theworks of Vesalius.

in like manner, Eustachius, inaitatingVesalius and Fallopius, endeavours, notonly by words, but by tables, to describethe several parts of the body, which hedoes in a more simple and accurate man-ner than was done in the tables of Vesa-lius ; these tables of Eustachius were only* Vesalius, however, is said’ to have

opened the body of one of the grandees ofSpain, thought to be dead ; but, unfortu-I)ately,, on inspecting the thorax, his heartwas found still palpitating, which circum-stance roused the Inquisition ; but throughthe medium of Philip II. of Spain, hissentence was mitigated to a pilgrimage Ithrough the Holy Land.t Riolan John, France,’died 1605. _

I Gabriel Fallopius, Italy; fl. 1523.

4 Bartholomew Eustachius, Rome; fl.1550.

discovered in the 14th year of the 18thcentury. Dr. Martin has given a very fullaccount of them, and his book, with anexplanation given of them by Albinus,completes the history of Eustachius’itworks.We have now brought our brief history

to within seventy years of the completeknowledge of the circulation of the bloodby Dr. Harvey; this was discovered aboutthe year 1628.Anatomical knowledge was at this period

more general in Europe. Fabricius, Spi-gelius, and Casserius succeeded one ano-ther in the University at Padua; and Rio-

lan, who succeeded them, was for manyyears the standard in anatomy. Lord Ba.con, about the latter end of the sixteenthcentury, shone forth as a bright luminaryin the scientific world. He was son toChancellor Nicholas Bacon, and born atYork House, Strand, 1560. From infancyhe was remarkable for his women, and byhis unexampled assiduity, threw greatlight on the animal economy, and particu-

larly on the circulation of the blood.Lord Bacon was so thoroughly sensible

of the use and importance of anatomy,that he even recommended the ancientanatomia vivorum, which, though dis-

countenanced by Celsus, he thought mightprove highly beneficial to mankind."" At this time great attention was paid to

; experiments, by which alone we can at-tempt to explain the mysteries of nature.We are now to describe the manner where-by the discovery of that system, whichconveys the nourishment to the body, wasfirst found out by Asellius in 1626 ; who,in the dissection of some living animals,observed the lacteal vessels upon the in-testines and mesentery; and, attending tothe course of the fluids, perceived themuniformly directed in one way, in conse-quence of certain resistances made byvalves or flood-gates within them; and heat length remarked that the colour of thecontents corresponded to that of the intes-tines, so that it appeared that they evident-ly served to take in our nutriment; andas the matter in our alimentary canalsomewhat resembles a mixture of waterand oil, which produces the appearance ofmilk, he gave them the name of lacteals.Of these we find imperfect mentian inHippocrates, Herophilus, and others, butthey did not understand the true vessels.The circulation of the blood, as I have he-fore observed, was discovered by Dr. Har-vey, Physician to King Charles the First.He published a smallatreatise, " De MotuCordis et Sang’jtinis," in which he has

proved that our heart, arteries, and veins,form a circulation by which the blood ismoved constantly and rapidly through thewhole body; that from the heat it is con-

47

veyed by the arteries to the most distantparts ; that the branches of these are joinedto the veins, fill that by the veins it returns sagain to the heart; thus, if a ligature bethrown round an artery, the vessels swellbetween the heart and ligature, but if thesame be done before opening a vein, thevein swells below the ligature; if youdivide an artery and a vein, in the arteryblood is thrown from that side next theheart, while in the vein it is thrown fromthe part most distant from the heart ; and,as the quantity evacuated in a given timeis considerable, it is evident they must beconnected with one another.This doctrine, wJ&acirc;ch at once over-

turned all the other systems, inasmuch asit explained a material part of the humaneconomy, and paved the way for the dis-covery of many important truths, did notfail to draw upon Harvey numberless

opponents. At first they endeavoured t(set aside his data, but as time had furnish.ed every evidence that could be requiredthe same men, unable to invalidate thEtruth of the system, endeavoured to shoV1that he had borrowed it from the ancients :and this being an inquiry no less curiousthan useful, I shall enter upon it as far a!appears necessary.Vander-Linden, a learned critic, and som4

others, have laboured to prove that Hip.pocrates understood the circulation of th<blood: that Hippocrates supposed thEblood to be in motion is beyond a doubt,but when we attend to his expressionsupon the subject, it appears evident thathe supposed a flux and reflux of the bloodin the same vessels, which he compares tothe motion of the sea ; and his comparingthe body to a circle, is the clearest proofof his ignorance of the circulation, as heenly means that the economy of the bodyis so unintelligible, that, as in a circle, wecan neither find beginning nor end, so ilis impossible to comprehend the functionsof the body. -He makes no distinction be-tween the arteries and veins ; and, withPraxagoras, he supposes that both are

branches from the same general root OItrunk : he undertakes to explain why theveins beatin some places and not in others;therefore, the further lie proceeds, themore it is plain that he had no just ideaof the real motion of the blood.He scarcely pays any regard to the

pulse, which any one acquainted with thetrue manner of the circulation must havedone. After him the invention was as-cribed to Plato, Aristotle, Erasistratus,Herophilus, &c. Some supposed that thename of artery was justly applied by theseauthors, and they found even the valves o:these parts described. But we are not toargue from Aristotle’s showing the natureof the valves in the heart, that he saw all

the consequences that are derived fromthem ; nor do we observe any where elsein the works of Aristotle just ground forsupposing’him to have foreseen these cir-cumstances. Erasistratus and Herophi-lus have still less claim than Plato andAristotle. Erasistratus fancied that whenthe blood passed in the arteries, a feverwas occasioned, and imagined that theblood rushed in as the spirit went out.Herophilui, in describing the pulmonaryartery and vein, says,

" That, althoughthe pulmonary artery had the appearanceof an artery, it served the office of a vein ;and that the vein, in its nature, was anartery." He uses the terms arteria ve-

nosa, and vena arteriosa; so it followsfrom him, that the right side of the heartserved to force the blood to all parts of thebody, while the left was employed in con-veying the spirit. The doctrines of Galenwere so opposite to the Harveian system,that be has never been mentioned as

having any claim to it; and yet, from hiswritings, more facts are to he collectedpointing at a circulation, than are to beobtained from Hippocrates, or almost anyother author, and which cannot be wellexplained upon any other supposition.He sets out with observing against He-

rophilus and Erasistratus, that our ar-teries, in a sound state of body, confineand transmit the blood; and his proof isdecisive. He lays an artery in view, tiesit in two places, cuts out the intermediatepiece, and finds it filled with blood. Hedescribes the division of the aneurisminto two species, and observes, that in thefalse, as well as in the true aneurism, thetumour is owing to the blood collected inthe arteries, or effused from them. Hetraces the arteries, in many places, withsurprising accuracy; he observes, that thebranches of arteries were intermixed withthose of veins, and supposes that theycommunicated. He knew, from havingpractised arteriotomy, that the arteries, ina given time, discharge a great quantity ofblood ; that all motion in them is rapid ; ;and that the blood flows from them near-est the heart. He assigns the true use ofthe valves.of the heart ; and informs us,that when a ligature is thrown upon a

member, the vein swells beyond the liga-ture.

In describing the position of the heart,he says, 14 that the septum has no holes,so that the blood contained in the arteriesmust pass through the lungs into them ;and as a further proof of the communica-tion the lungs have by means of the ves-sels with the rest of the body, he says,that in phthisis pulmonalis, where matteris col.lected, this descends into the aorta,and is carried off by urine.

His observations on the pulse may,

48

even at this time, be read over with ad-vantage.

Joining these facts together, one wouldImagine that the knowledge or the realmanner of the circulation of the bloodcould not have escaped him ; ’nevertheless,we find he still supposes the motion is toand fro, like the tides of the Euripus, theblood sometimes passing from the arteriesto the veins, and sometimes back againfrom the veins to the arteries; while theveins of the alimentary canal at one timetake up the nourishment, and convey it tothe liver, and afterwards bring it backagain to the intestines.And though his experiments point out Ithe real motion, yet, instead of under-

standing that the arteries are dilated be-cause they are filled by the action of theheart, he supposes that they possess thepower of self-dilatation, and that the bloodrushes in after the dilatation has takenplace ; as if a vessel full of water weretied to a pair of bellows, on expandingwhich the water rushes in to fill up thevoid, instead of imagining that the bloodis driven in by the power of the heart, toforce, as it were, the bellows asunder. Sothat Galen had, by no means, the mostdistant idea of the true motion of theblood.The next to whom the knowledge of the

circulation of the blood has been attri-buted, are the Chinese physicians.

It has been repeatedly affirmed by thefirst Europeans who travelled to thatcountry, that the Chinese understood thecirculation of the blood, and that they hada word in their language which literallyexpressed it; they also observed them tobe very attentive to the pulse. Notwith-

standing which, it may be sufficient toremark, that to this day, in different dis-eases, they feel the pulse in different partsof the body, not being aware that thenumber of strokes are alike in all. Wealso find mention made of Servetus,* who,in a medical tract, entitled "De AnimaMundi," says, that the whole mass ofblood passes through the lungs by meansof the pulmonic veins and arteries ; andfrom this passage many have attributed toServetus the discovery of the circulationof the blood, and ha% e vainly endeavouredto deprive our immortal countryman,Harvey, of the honour of this importantdiscovery.Columbus, Aucantius, and Caesalpinus,

are spoken of as discoverers of the circu-

* Michael Servetus, of Arragon, wasburnt alive, through the intrigues of Cal- Ivin, in 1:33, at Geneva.

Andreas C&aelig;salpinus, an Italian, diedA.D. 1603, aged 81. ;

lation; yet we find nothing in them butwhat is copied from Galen. C&aelig;salpinus,indeed, goes one step further, and besidesmentionltlg the lesser circulation throughthe lungs, supposes a larger through therest of the body ; but then he proceedsentirely on conjecture, and thinks it byno means constant and rapid ; intimatingthat, when we were awake, the bloodpasses by the heart and arteries, and that,in time of sleep, it again returns by theveins, they being then more dilated, owingto the warmth and other circumstances.He imagines, too, that, at certain times,the blood may turn back again from theextremities of the body by the arteries tothe heart, and there forcing its valves,may go to the lungs, the locus refrigerans,as it was called. With as little reason canFabricius* be quoted, because he de-scribes the valves that are to be found inthe veins in many places. If, indeed, weattend to the full use of these, it follows;that the Galenical doctrine must be re-versed, the blood, in reality, taking a

directly opposite course to that which hesupposes for it.

But, by looking into him, we find thatthe valves are thought to prevent theblood from being driven in the Galenicalcourse with too much impetus. The onlyauthor, therefore, that can have the most,distant pretensions to such knowledge, isVesalius. Not contented with specula-tions upon the subject, he undertook it

by experiments; and the experiments ofthis great man are sufficient to establishthe admirable Harveian system. It is

surprising they were not referred to bythe opponents of Harvey, for they appearwith greater force than all those we haveyet mentioned

In the last book of his Anatomy, uponthe subject of the arteries of animals, heproves with Galen, agamst Erasistratusand others, that the arteries naturally con-tain blood ; he repeats the experiment oftying and cutting out an intermediatepiece. He next observes against Galen,that the arteries possess no inherent

power of dilating themselves ; that indilatation they are pasive, and not active,or possessed of a vis iusita, as he conjec-tured, which Vesalius proves by this de-cisive experiment :-He cuts an arterythrough transversely, by which means themotion instantly ceases beyond the inci-sion ; and leEt it might be supposed thatthe vessel was deprived of its energy orinfluence, he joins the two parts again bya tube, and the motion is then restoredeven in the most distant parts of the body.He insists upon the rapid motion of the

* Fabricius, commonly called ab Aqua.

Pendente, of Italy, died 1603.

49

blood in tne artery, and upon the greatquantity that is evacuated in a given timewhen an artery is wounded. He goes evena step further, and inquires by what powerthe arteries strike the fingers; and hesolves Jt justly, that the arteries swell whenthe heart contracts, and that the contrac-tion of the heart and the expulsion of theblood are the case of the turgescence,the contractions and dilatations beingexactly synchronous, and the force of the strokes proportioned to the degree of thecontractions.

In various parts of his works, borrowingperhaps from Galen, he mentions the in-termixture of the minute branches of thearteries and veins, and presumes that acotnmunication takes place between them;observing, that when a ligature is thrownround the arm, the veins swell. He de-scribes the valves of the heart, and, withGalen aud Aristotle, assigns the true useof them; he admits of the lesser circula-tion through the lungs, and, to show thisin t’he clearest manner, he describes a verycurious experiment, which, strange as itmay appear, has in our days been consi-dered as the discovery of Dr. Hooke.

Vesalius observes, that upon openingthe thorax of an animal, the lungs col-lapsed, and the motion of the heart

ceased ; but upon fixing a tube into thetrachea, and driving in air, the free mo-tion of the heart was again, restored, andit performed its functions as before withviolence, the contraction of the arteriescorresponding to it. Now, from all this,we should suppose that nothing was want-ing to describe the circulation. For ifthe whole quantity be expelled from theheart, where is the blood lodged?No organ is sufficient to contain what

the arteries are continually transmitting,and whence does the heart receive its sup-ply without having’ some organ behind it,giving it as much blood as it sends out?Nay, he bad discovered the exact course

as well as fountain of the blood; viz., its

being sent through the lungs from theright to the left ventricle. Yet Vesaliusdid not see any such conclusions; he saysthere is no occasion to make any such ex-

periments on the veins, because it is suffi-ciently known that the motion of the bloodin them is from the heart; but he imme-diately starts the difficulty, Why do notveins beat, if the blood is conveyed in thevery same manner as in the arteries ? Andthis he ascribes to the softness of theircoats, though he had said before that thepulsation of the arteries did not depend ontheir coats, but upon the force of the heartdriving the blood into them.Upon the whole, you will not find, in

the history of physic, a stronger proof how

far prejudice may influence the mind evenof the most inquisitive genius.And it is unquestionable, beyond all

dispute, that we are indebted to Dr. Har-vey for having explained the true’motionof the blood, and that before him any cir-cumstances relating to it were merely hy-pothetical.

Haller, that learned physiologast, says,"Dr. Win. Harvey is the first who expe-rimentally asserted the motion of theblood returning in the veins to the heart,in such a manner as to render the wholeintelligible, and leave no room to doubtit." Again he says, " the Harveian cir-culation is, therefore, now received as anundoubted medical truth by everyone."=(Dr. Hunter.)We are, at first sight, pleased with the

system of Galen : the drawing in the airby the lungs, and the finding the arteriesempty, the two hearts divided by a partition not perforated, readily led him to sup-pose that the one side was intended for themotion of the blood, and the other only forthe motion of the spirit.

Prejudice prevented those before himfrom seeing the true force of their experi-ments ; and it may be doubted whetherour most illustrious countryman, Harvey,has not more merit in seeing through theplausible systems of Galen and others,than if he had found it out by first makingexperiments upon the subject.Notwithstanding this clear evidence,

which Dr. Harvey produced in proof ofhis opinions, yet several years elapsed be-fore we find them generally received

amongst anatomists.But soon after their inquiries took a

different turn ; and, instead of endeavour-ing to describe the larger masses com-posing the body, we find them by new artsattempting to disclose its structure and

economy ; and within the space of thirtyyears, from the date of Dr. Harvey’s pub-lication, we find very tolerable compendiaof anatomy published, adapted to the newmethod byGlisson,* Highmore, and others,and several considerable improvementsdistinguished this period.The duct of a curious gland, named the

Pancrcas, was now discovered; t and

* Francis Glisson, England, died A.D.1667

t By Maurice Hoffman, professor of

physic at Altdorf, in a cock turkey, 1641.Soon after, a complete system of vesselswas observed by Bartholine and Rudbeck,named valvular lymphatics, from the co-lour of their contents, and from their par-,ticular structure, which vessels we shallprove c o 11 l1 the absorbent system ofanimals.

50

Pecquet traced the lacteals, and tho-racic duct, of which only an obscure de-scription bad been given by a formerauthor, and the use before him was un-known ; namely, to convey the chyle tothe mass of blood.. Now, Malpighi, plainly observing thatfromour dissections we could only disco-ver the larger masses and out sides ofthings, endeavoured, by other means, alsoto improve our anatomical knowledge, asby a comparison of different animals, andby the application of the microscope.

Ruysch, likewise, by means of injec-tions, discovered a more beautiful vascu-larity in many parts of the body than wasknown in former ages. I shall forbear toenlarge at present on the anatomical abilities of Ruysch,* as I shall have occasionto speak of them when I come to. treat ofthe method of making anatomical prepa-rations, and the art of injecting animal bo-flies, in which he excelled, and from him itis called the Ars Ruyschiana, although, inreality, he was not the inventor, but onlyimprgved what he had been taught bySwammerdam, his master.We are now come down to the time at

which public societies for the improvementof science were instituted in different coun.tries of Europe, of which the Royal So-ciety of London, though not the mostancient, was the first that included ana-tomy in its plan, by which means thisknowledge is more generally communi-cated. In the Philosophical Transactions,published by the Royal Society, there aremany. curious experiments throwinglight upon the economy of animals. Thegeneral absorption which takes place inthe body was demonstrated by throwingthin liquors into differents parts of it. An

application of the doctrine of the circula-tion was made to the cure of diseases.The practice of the transfusion of

blood, attributed to Dr. Lower, was cer-

taiuly known to Libavius, 60 years beforethe time of Dr. Lower, and the discovery is said to have been made by Sir Christo- Ipher Wren. I beg leave to refer those gen&middot;tlemen who wish for more critical infor-mation on this subject to the Pbilosophi-cal Transactions, and likewise to Mr. Por-tal’s Preface to his Hiatuire de L’Anato-mie, et de la Chirurgie. Dr. Lower, how-ever, substituted the blood of one animalfor that of another, attempting a transfu- sion of the blood by the force of the heartand arteries in one animal pushing theblood into the veins of another by meansof communicating tubes, and in this way

Ruysch’s preparations were purchasedby Peter the Great of Russia, but he soonafterwards made a fresh Museum.&mdash;Frede-rick Ruysch, Hague, b. 1638.

itwas supposed that’many diseases might b.cured; but the danger that attends theattempt, and the remaining taint beingsoon communicated to the whole mass,caused it to be laid aside, although wherethe blood, is much exhausted, and the ape-ration is performed with due care, it maypossibly be of use.*

It has been reported that an ancientgrandee of Spain died under this process,which caused it to fall into disrepute. It

is also said to have occasioned insanity,and was abolished by a public edict.

Sir Busick Harwood, the late learnedProfessor of Anatomy in the University atCambridge, has made experiments on thetransfusion of the blood.About this time the German physlciatta

began to publish the Ephemerides Ger-manicee, in which they confined them-selves chiefly to physic or such sciencesas are subservient to it.The French soon after instituted an

academy at Paris, but by them nothingwas published till about the 30th year ofthe late century.They pay a particular attention to style

and method; in consequence, their memoirs are written in a more correct waythan those of any other academy. Therewas likewise an Academic Institutionestablished at Berlin, and societies wereformed in every large city in Europe. Andwith respect to authors in general, thenumber of their Works is so greatly in-creased, that it becomes necessary to di-vide what remains into two periods, theone reaching to the end of the 17th cen-tury, and the other from that time to theclose of the last.

Many- in the 17th century were pub-lished in Italy, as those of Bellini, Gagli-ardi, Lancisi, and others ; but the mostcelebrated is Malpighi. Several of theanatomists before him contented them-selves with describing what could be de-tected with the knife ; but he found iathis way that we could hardly know morethan the surfaces of bodies ; he thereforehad recourse to a variety of other means,iie endeavoured to soften very hard organs,the bones for instance, by means of themuriatic acid. and to give a degree of firm-uess to the softer, such as the brain, &c.; in

respect to all this, we have now improvedmethods, i. e. a solution of the oxymuriMhygrargyri, and by the use of the anuneitand nitras potass&aelig;, we are enabled to pro-

* Lately, however, this operation hallbeen performed successfully by DoctatBlundell on a married woman. Theblood having been taken from her hus--band, a plethoric young man, and irnme-diately afterwards injected into a vein inhis wife’s arm, about 4 3,

51

secute our anatomical researches even inthe sultry months of summer, and to te-tain the florid colour of the muscles, or evenimprove it considerably. Malpighi com-pared the structure of different animatstogether, and noted the changes producedby disease : he injected thin colouredliquors into the extremities of the vessels,and carefully applied the microscope, so

that he is perhaps the first person whohad ocular demonstration of the Harveian

system, by seeing blood pass from the ex-tremities of the arteries into the veins) without the interposition of any paren-chymatous substance as was before sup-,posed, and he throws considerable light’upon the structure of several parts of the’body; therefore lie may be considered as’the founder of the more accurate anatomy, so eminently useful upon many occasions.

In Switzerland, there seems to have’been little opportunity of dissecting thelurnan body, and consequently of im-proving anatomy ; but Wepfer made,’and published some experiments on otheranimals. In France, the study of anatomywas soon introduced, and the system ofRiolan was followed; Du Verney, Dionis,Vieussens, and others, wrote upon thesubject, but now, later works are substi--tuted in their place. Amongst the Ger-

‘

mans, human dissections seem to ltaveteen very circumscribed for some timeback, yet many Useful and learned workshave been edited by that industrious

people.The Dutch have made some consider-

able advances in anatomy, the numberand value ef their works exceeding thatof almost any other nation. Material im-

provements were undertaken by Kerkzin- Igius, Swammerdam, Nuck, Raw, and

many others ; Riolan and Bartholine weresupplanted by Diemerbr&dgr;ec, and Verhegenwas considered as the fittest author forbeginners.

’

Bidloo undertook an original work, ex-- plaining the structure of the human bodywith figures, which so far as they regardthe painter and sculptor are excellent, butthey are less useful from his not attendingto the situation and connexion of the

parts.These have been since republished by

Mr. Cowper, an old English surgeon, witha text in the same language, as well as inEnglish. Writers in the 17th centurylikewise improved our knowledge of thehuman body very considerably, but less.60 by means of dissection, than theItalians and Dutch; several authors madea considerable figure after the knowledgeof the circulation, as Glisson, Wharton,Highmore, and since, Ridley, but particu-larly Mr. Cowper; these have been uni-

versally considered as intelligent anato-tnists.

Cowper’s first work was an account ofthe muscles, under the title of MyotomiaReformat.a; he afterwards republished histables atid those of Bidldo, with a new textto these last, so that by many Bidloo’tplates were considered as his own.With regard to the late century, we find

in Italy the spirit of anatomical inquiriesstill subsisting for some time, thoughlatterly it has ’been on the decline. Thebest works are those of Sanctorini, Val-salva, and Morgagni, the last of whommerits particular attention; we cannot

however, without great injustice, passover the minute and indefatigable labottrsof Antonio Scarpa.

In France, the chief writer is Winslow ; ;he is perhaps the first author since the16th century, who considered the body inits true situation, and his system is justlyconsidered as the most correct we. have.We have several publications, too, from

Lieutand; and still later, some very in-genious and excellent pieces by Petit,Bertin,Fosseau,Sabatier, and many others,not omitting Vic d’Azyr, &c. The studyof minute anatomy seems to have passedat this time from the Italians to the Ger- mans, the number and value of whoseworks have for some time past exceededthose of any other Country, though theyare generally diffuse and tedious.We have an excellent compendium of

anatomy by Heister ; a history of liga-ments by Weibricht ; Loder has alsofavoured the world with a most interestingwork on anatomy. We have had likewiseseveral very important observations whichhave been published in detached pieces inthe collections of different societies, by thelynx-eyed Lieberkuhn, the inventor of thesolar or camera obscura microscope, thefitst anatomist, I believe, who has had ocu-lar demonstration of the beginnings of thelacteals on the villous coat of the small in-testines in the human subject, and who haseven seen and described their patulousmouths or orifices; these appearaitces hehas represented, together with the minuteanatomy of the blood-vessels, of the villouscoat of the intestines in three of the mostaccurate and most beautiful plates that,perhaps, have ever been published. - Thisaccount of the villous coats and lactealvessels was printed in Latin in the year1744, at Leyden; it is in such high estima-tion as to have become extremely scarce ; ;for these very excellent reasons, my muchvalued-friend and former preceptor, the lateMr. John Sheldon, a most scientific antipublic spirited man, Professor of Anatomyin the Royal Aademy, has reprinted Lie-berkuhn’s work, and caused the plates tobe re-engraved with au accuracy that

52

rivals the original ; to which is added theahthor’s life, and the whole of his othereestemed works, inaugural theses, &c.The anatomy of the eye has been finely

described by Zinn, the nerves by Meikel,the gravid uterus by Roederer, and others.To close the account of the Germans, wemust mention the celebrated Haller, whohas improved anatomy and physiologymore than any in the age lie lived in ; hehas written an amazing number of volumesupon these subjects, and his writings aregenerally considered as the standard booksupon the different subjects he has treated.On osteology, the work of Dr. Monro

is certainly sufficient, with close applica-tion to the bones themselves, and a moreelegant work in very large folio by Al-btnus with plates, will furnish every de-sired information. I need scarcely add,that our countrymen, Cheselden andMouro, have published large and justlyesteemed works on this part of our science.On the muscles, Innes’s treatise, having

a very proper reference to the musclesthemselves, and the same work of Albinus,are quite sufficient.On angeiology, we have Haller and

Murray; in Eustachius and Albinus, welikewise find the blood-vessels described,as well as by many succeeding authors.On the heart, we have Senac, Lower,

and Nichols. On the nerves, Monro,Meikel, Scarpa, Albinus, and Eustachius.On the ear, Duverney, Valsalva, and

the enlightened Scarpa. For a beautifuland accurate description of the eye, wemust refer you to Zinn. For an excellentaccount of the brain, you are recommend-ed to peruse M. Vicq d’Azyr and Soem-mering, or our countryman Willis. Al-linus has written on the formation oj.bone, and you will likewise find ampleinformation on the same subject in Dr.Nesbit’s osteology, and some others. Onthe gravid uterus, the late Dr. W. Hunter,published an elaborate work enriched withvery large plates, and which alone, if othergrounds were wanting, would immortalizethe name of that celebrated anatomist.

Dr. Baillie has published an explana.tion ; he has also written a work entitled’ Morbid Anatomy," which possesses th{greatest merit.Mr. Burns, of Glasgow, has also lately

written on the gravid uterus; and Professor Soemmering has taken up the sub-ject from the earliest embryo, and con.tinued it to that state of formation a1which Dr. Hunter began. For the pecu-liarities of the foetus, we have ample as-sistance in a treatise published by DrTrew, of Nuremberg, entitled, " Disser-tato Epistotica de differentiis quibusdam.inter hominem natum et nascendum in-tercedentibus," with plates.

Nichols, too, has written on the same,subject. On the absorbent system, Mr.Hewson, the late indefatigable anatomicalteacher. Mr. Cruikshanks and Mr. JohnSheldon are the most modern and themost esteemed authors.

For a history of the properties andcomponent parts of the blood, Mr. Hew-son and my first preceptor, Magnus Fal-coner, may be consulted; also Mr. JohnHunter, whose enterprising and perse-vering anatomical spirit certainly standsunrivalled, and in whose invaluable worksmany new and important discoveries are

to be found in anatomy, especially on thesituation of the testes, and their passagein the foetus, improperly called the de-scent, and on the relation between themother and foetus, on the minute distri-bution of the olfactory nerves, andon someparticular ramifications of a twig of one ofthe branches of the nervous trigeminus ;also the structure of the placenta, &c., be-

sides an abundance of physiological obser-vations ; and in comparative anatomy,, and in natural history, Aristotle himself,with all the succour of Alexander the

Great, cannot be considered his equal., The most modern, and the most concise, anatomical treatise which I may presume

to recommend, is one published by myfriend Dr. Hooper,* entitled " The

, Anatomist’s Vade Mecum, or Haller’s. Prselectiones Anatomicae." For minuteanatomy, you must consult Winslow andt Haller, or " Soemmering de StructuraHumaiii Corporis." Cheselden is a com.tpendium for beginners, or Keill or Heister.In the " Schola Medicinae UniversalisNova," of Dr. Rowley, you will find much- useful information. The latest, however,f and probably most beneficial work, is" Lizars on Anatomy in general," illus-. by plates, in folio.1 In the ensuing course, nearly the samerorder which has by long experience beenifound the most conducive to the advan-r tage of the student will be adopted ; andc after delivering some prelimiuary Lec-

tures, we shall begin the osteology, then- the myology will succeed; angeiologyi and neurology will follow the descriptione of the muscles. ’

Splanchnology will fall in with the

y muscular subject ; the peculiarities of the- foetus, and the anatomy of the graviduterus, will be preceded by Lectures onthe female organs of generation, both ex-tternal and internal.- The male organs will be consideredduring the myulogy. -

’. The structure of the brain will be iii-

* Mr. Hey, of Leeds, has also writtenon the blood ; Dr. Corry on the vitiility of

the blood; and Dr. Weish, in Phil. Trans.

53

vestigated when a fit opportunity occurs,and repeated, as often as means are afford-ed. Having demonstrated the compagesof the human body, and treated of its

physiology, we shall turn our attention toa practical application of anatomy, by de-scribing such diseases as usually engagethe attention of the surgeon, and then weshalt proceed to the chirurgical opera-tions, bandages, &c. Comparative ana-tomy will come in at the latter end of thecourse, after having relieved our mindsfrom the more arduous and indispensableduties which we are bound to perform.And having achieved this part of our

engagements, we then shall be suffi-ciently at liberty to pursue speculations,which are but too much looked upon asonly amusing ; but if the distinguishedabilities of a Hunter, a Monro, or a Catn-per, the brightest medical luminaries ofthe late century, and the first comparativeanatomists then living, can at all stimu-late our enthusiasm, we shall experiencemany truths from the dissection of ani-mals.Gentlemen, now suffer me to add, that

contributing thus to diffuse the knowledgeof a science scarcely more necessary to thepractitioner than beneficial to our fellow-creatures at large, will be the pride, thepleasure, and ambition of my life.

MR. BRANSBY COOPER.

New Theatre, Guy’s Hospital.

GENTLEMEN,IT grieves me that the first word I have

to utter in this theatre is one of discord ;but most of you are aware of the circum-stances which have this day occurred inone of the theatres of this Institution. Itwas my intention to have entered into thedetails of this transaction, but when Ifound that the Treasurer of Guy’s Hospi-tal had arrived here ; when I found him, as indeed he is always to be found, at hispost, and knowing him as I do, to be a man Iof high integrity and just feeling, andfully capable of judging between the rightsof man and man, I thought I could not dobetter than leave the matter in his hands.He will no doubt form a just estimate ofthe conduct of Dr. Cholmeleyon,this occa-sion ; I have no hesitation in naming theindividual. (Cries of " Bravo !") I muststill say, however, gentlemen, that it isnot in Dr. Cholmeley’s power either to raiseor depress the name of ASTLEY COOPJER.(Bravo !), Gentlemen, before we enter into the sub-

ject of the lecture, I think it incumbent onme to say a few words on the structure ofthe building, under the roof of which weare now for the first time assembled, andwhere I trust many a lecturer may con-tinue to pour forth one uninterruptedstream of science for years to come. I willnot advert to the circumstances which haveoccurred to separate two bodies which,therewas reason to suppose, were united by theclosest bonds. I would say rather in thelanguage of the great dramatic Poet :Be all the clouds that lower’d upon our

houseIn the deep bosom of the ocean buried."But there is one topic on which I con-

sider myself bound to touch, I mean the

deep sense of gratitude which I entertaintowards the Treasurer of this house forthe honour which he has conferred uponme in placing me in this chair, and thusaffording me the opportunity of addressingyou. But I conceive he is entitled to amuch higher eulogy than my poor tributeof thanks-he is entitled to the thanks ofthe public for having so nobly applied thefunds intrusted to his hands, for the pur-pose of opening a new source for the dif-fusion of anatomical and medical know-ledge. For what would avail the muni-ficence of princes or generous subjectsiu founding institutions for the receptionof the sick, if schools were not erected toteach that science which can alone minis-terto their sufferings ?

Gentlemen, when we consider that thestudy of our profession, if pursued onscientific principles, enables us, by the re-moval f disease, to alleviate the onlysubstantial affliction to which the humanframe is exposed, we cannot but feel a

deep sense of the importance of that sta-tion which we are destined to hold in thescale of society; nor can we avoid reflect-ing how incumbent it is upon us to esta-blish the principles of the science on themost solid foundatiun. It is only by anaccurate knowledge of the structure andfunctions of the human body in a state ofhealth, that we can judge of the nature ofdisease, and act upon just and rationalprinciples in its treatment.The science which enables us- to, ascer-tain the structure and functions of or-

ganized matter is termed anatomy. Thadepartment which relates to the humanbody is termed human anatomy. Andthat which points out the differences ofstructure in man and the inferior animals,is designated by the term-comparativeanatomy. In these lectures, I shall confinemyself chiefly to the subject of humananatomy, without entering into that of theinferior animals further than may be ne-

cessary to illustrate some important differ-ences in their structure and economy.