Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/844

Rh 800 to signify a blood-vessel, without being aware of the distinction of vein and artery ; and the term dpr^pt a, or air-holder, is restricted to the windpipe. He appears to have been unaware of the existence of the nervous chords ; and the term nerve is used by him, as by Grecian authors in general, to signify a smew or tendon. On other points his views are so much combined with peculiar physiological doctrines, that it is impossible to assign them the character of anatomical facts; and even the works in which these doctrines are contained are with little probability to be ascribed to the second Hippocrates. If, however, we over look this difficulty, and admit what is contained in the genuine Hippocratic writings to represent at least the sum of knowledge possessed by Hippocrates and his immediate descendants, we find that he represents the brain as a gland, from which exudes a viscid fluid ; that the heart is muscular and of pyramidal shape, and has two ventricles separated by a partition, the fountains of life and two auricles, receptacles of air ; that the lungs consist of five ash-coloured lobes, the substance of which is cellular and spongy, naturally dry, but refreshed by the air ; and that the kidneys are glands, but possess an attractive faculty, by virtue of which the moisture of the drink is separated, and descends into the bladder. He distinguishes the bowels into colon and rectum (6 apxs)- The knowledge possessed by the second Hippocrates was transmitted in various degrees of purity to the descend ants and pupils, chiefly of the family of the Heracleidae, who succeeded him. Several of these, with feelings of grateful affection, appear to have studied to preserve the written memory of his instructions, and in this manner to have contributed to form part of that collection of treatises which have long been known to the learned world under the general name of the Hippocratic writings. Though composed, like the genuine remains of the physician of Cos, in the Ionian dialect, all of them differ from these in being more diffuse in style, more elaborate in form, and in studying to invest their anatomical and medical matter with the fanciful ornaments of the Platonic philosophy. Hippocrates had the merit of early recognising the value of facts apart from opinions, and of those facts especially which lead to general results ; and in the few genuine writings which are now extant it is easy to perceive that he has recourse to the simplest language, expresses himself in terms which, though short and pithy, are always precise and perspicuous, and is averse to the introduction of philosophical dogmas. Of the greater part of the writings collected under his name, on the contrary, the general character is verboseness, prolixity, and a great tendency to speculative opinions. For these reasons, as well as for others derived from internal evidence, while the Aphorisms, the Epidemics, and the works above mentioned, bear distinct marks of being the genuine remains of Hippocrates, it is impossible to regard the book irepl 4&amp;gt;vcrtos AvOpwTrov as entirely the composition of that physician; and it appears more reasonable to view it as the work of some one of the numerous disciples to whom the author had communicated the results of his observation, which they unwisely attempted to combine with the philosophy of the Platonic school and their own mysterious opinions. Among those who aimed at this distinction, the most fortunate in the preservation of his name is Polybus, the son-in-law of the physician of Cos. This person, who must not be confounded with the monarch of Corinth immor talised by Sophocles in the tragic story of CEdipus, is represented as a recluse, severed from the world and its enjoyments, and devoting himself to the study of anatomy and physiology, and to the composition of works on these subjects. To him has been ascribed the whole of the book on the Nature of the Child and most of that On Man ; [HISTORY. both physiological treatises interspersed with anatomical sketches. His anatomical information, with which we are specially concerned, appears to have been rude and inaccurate, like that of his preceptor. He represents the large vessels of the body as consisting of four pairs ; the first proceeding from the head by the back of the neck and spinal chord to the hips, lower extremities, and outer ankle ; the second, consisting of the jugular vessels (at o-&amp;lt;aym&amp;lt;$s), proceeding to the loins, thighs, hams, and inner ankle; the third proceeding from the temples by the neck to the scapula and lungs, and thence by mutual intercrossings to the spleen and left kidney, and the liver and right kidney, and finally to the rectum ; and the fourth from the fore part of the neck to the upper extremities, the fore-part of the trunk, and the organs of generation. This specimen of the anatomical knowledge of one of 363. the most illustrious of the Hippocratic disciples differs not essentially from that of Syennesis, the physician of Cyprus, and Diogenes, the philosopher of Apollonia, two authors for the preservation of whose opinions we are indebted to Aristotle. They may be admitted as representing the state of anatomical knowledge among the most enlightened men at that time, and they only show how rude and erroneous were their ideas on the structure of the animal body. It may indeed, without injustice, be said that the anatomy of the Hippocratic school is not only erroneous, but fanciful and imaginary, in often substituting mere supposition and assertion for what ought to be matter of fact. From this censure it is impossible to exempt even the name of Plato himself, for whom some notices in the TimcBUs on the structure of the animal body, as taught by Hippocrates and Polybus, have procured a place in the history of the science. Amidst the general obscurity in which the early history Aristot of anatomy is involved, only two leading facts may be admitted with certainty. The first is, that previous to the time of Aristotle there was no accurate knowledge of anatomy ; and the second, that all that was known was derived from the dissection of the lower animals only. By the appearance of Aristotle this species of knowledge, which was hitherto acquired in a desultory and irregular manner, began to be cultivated systematically and with a definite object ; and among the services which the philo sopher of Stagira rendered to mankind, one of the greatest and most substantial is, that he was the founder of Com parative Anatomy, and was the first to apply its facts to the elucidation of zoology. The works of this ardent and original naturalist show that his zootomical knowledge was extensive and often accurate ; and from several of his descriptions it is impossible to doubt that they were derived from frequent personal dissection. Aristotle, who was born 384 years before the Christian era, or in the first 384. year of the 99th Olympiad, was, at the age of 39, requested by Philip to undertake the education of his son Alexander. During this period it is said he composed several works on anatomy, which, however, are now lost. The military expedition of his royal pupil into Asia, by laying open the animal stores of that vast and little known continent, furnished Aristotle with the means of extending his know ledge, not only of the animal tribes, but of their structure, and of communicating more accurate and distinct notions than were yet accessible to the world. A sum of 800 talents, and the concurrent aid of numerous intelligent 334-32 assistants in Greece and Asia, were intended to facilitate his researches in composing a system of zoological know ledge ; but it has been observed that the number of instances in which he was thus compelled to trust to the testimony of other observers led him to commit errors in description which personal observation might have enabled him to avoid.