Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/491

 ANATHOTII ANATOMICAL PREPARATIONS 459 public altars. By change of usage it after- ward became the name of anything devoted to the infernal gods, anything execrated and ex- ecrable, causing the abhorrence of men. In this sense it was adopted by the Christian church as the synonyme of the Hebrew 'herem, which signifies both a thing devoted to God and extermination, and which was used by the Jews in pronouncing the ban of excommuni- cation. The Old Testament gives many exam- ples of 'herem or anathema. Moses pronounced the anathema against those Canaanitish cities which should refuse to submit to the Lord, and Joshua declared everything captured in Jericho 'herem, and punished Achan for violating the ban. In the New Testament it is used in the sense of "set aside "or "accursed." In the Roman Catholic church it is a sentence pro- nounced against heretics and schismatics, or against those who wilfully and obstinately per- severe in a course of conduct which the church condemns. It implies exclusion from the com- munion and society of the faithful, who are taught to regard the object of this ecclesiastical penalty as one who by his crimes has cut him- self otf from the church and merited the flames of hell. The anathema, however, is not sup- posed to be a sentence of eternal reprobation ; it is a temporal punishment, similar in its effects to excommunication. Most of the dog- matical decrees of the church close with anathemas against all who presume to deny them. Thus the council of Trent employs it against such as deny the existence of purga- tory, the doctrine of the real presence, &c. A YVniOTII, a town of ancient Palestine, the birthplace of Jeremiah, about 4 m. N. of Jeru- salem. It was in the possession of the tribe of Benjamin, and a city of priests. It was once a considerable place, but is, according to Robinson, identical with the present Anata, an insignificant village. Anata is in the top of the high range of hills north of Jerusalem, and commands a prospect of the Dead sea. It was in Anathoth that Jeremiah bought the field (witnessed by Baruch), as a symbol of the return from the captivity. ANATOLIA. See ASIA MINOB. ANATOMICAL PREPARATIONS, the skeleton and other portions of the dead body preserved from decomposition by various artificial meth- ods, for the use of medical schools or science. The soft parts are usually separated from the skeleton by long-continued maceration in cold water, or by steaming or boiling ; the bones are bleached, and the articulations held to- gether by means of wires. This is called an artificial skeleton, and, when properly pre- pared, may be kept for an indefinite time. To preserve the natural articulations of the bones, the soft parts must be removed carefully by dissection, and many delicate sections and mechanical adaptations are required to display the internal structure, forms, and relative pro- portions of the skeleton and its component parts. The whole body of an animal, or any soft portion of the body, such as the heart or the intestines, may be preserved for a consid- erable time in alcohol or in spirits of turpen- tine ; and such preparations are very useful in the study of comparative anatomy. Another method of anatomical preparation consists of injecting the vessels with some colored sub- stance to distend them, and display their rami- fications in the organs, that the shape and course and relative dimensions of the vessels may be seen with ease. By means of a large syringe inserted into the main trunks of the arteries, these vessels are filled with a soft colored mass, which penetrates into the small- est branches, distends them, and makes them visible. The infused substance usually con- sists of a mixture of soap, pitch, oil, and tur- pentine, to which is added a coloring sub- stance : red for the arteries, blue for the veins, and white for the absorbents or lymphatics. For the latter vessels quicksilver is preferred, on account of its extreme divisibility. Dried preparations of the soft parts, such as muscles, nerves, and membranes, are preserved by covering them with a protecting coat of trans- parent varnish. The quicker they are dried, the better for this mode of preparation and conservation. Spirits of wine, distilled with pepper or a very strong pimento, and mixed with muriatic acid, is used for preserving them. Washing with pyroligneous acid gives firmness and whiteness to these anatomical prepara- tions. Those which are preserved in liquids are usually kept in bottles of transparent glass, with accurately ground stoppers, to prevent evaporation, and secure them against the de- structive influence of air, moisture, heat, dust, and insects. Preparations of this kind are very necessary to preserve important speci- mens of normal and abnormal development in the animal economy, but they are difficult to preserve long in a comparative state of perfec- tion. Other means have therefore been devised as substitutes for common use. Instead of anatomical preparations properly so called, anatomical imitations are now used for pur- poses of general instruction, and great perfec- tion has of late years been attained in the manufacture of these works of art. Imitations of organic form and structure were formerly made in wood, as those of the abbe" Fontana in the museum at Florence; or in wax, as those made by Laumonier and others in France and Italy ; card-board, as by Dr. Ameline of Caen ; or in lithographic drawings, woodcuts, colored prints, &c. Drawings, however per- fect, are not sufficient for all purposes; and though the anatomical imitations of organs were sometimes made with rare perfection and beauty in wax, they were too expensive for common use, and could neither be taken to pieces for detailed inspection, nor handled freely without risk of injury. In 1825 Dr. Auzoux of France conceived the idea of mak- ing imitations of all the organs of the human body ; not only of their general external form