Page:The Hunterian oration, for the year 1819.djvu/16

12 mation of opinions deduced from the facts belonging to the subject under consideration. The body of the monkey so much resembles that of man, that a moderately good idea of the latter may be obtained by the examination of the former; the desire to understand function would also lead to experimental enquiry; and consequently we find Galen, whom they say had passed several years at the Alexandrian school, making various experiments on animals, to determine the office of different parts of the body.

Medicine was, doubtless, much promoted by the opportunities of information which the Alexandrian school afforded; and it seems to have proceeded as prosperously as could be expected, in the still very deficient state of elementary knowledge, for several centuries; when a revolution happened, by which all the sciences of southern Europe were in common overthrown, and their lights extinguished, so that a great district of the world was involved in darkness and ignorance for many ages. As the account which I am giving of the causes that pro-