Page:The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800.djvu/393

 one of the earliest workers in the field of comparative anatomy—a department of knowledge to which Vesalius had already made some creditable additions; and his two most important published treatises bear these titles: "De ossibus et cartilaginibus corporis humani tabulae" (Bologna, 1566), and "Externarum et internarum principalium humani corporis partium tabulae" (Nuremberg, 1573). He died in 1600.

Hieronymus Fabricius was born in 1537 at Acquapendente, a small city of Etruria, about fifty miles northwest of Rome. He studied anatomy at Padua under Fallopius, and, after the latter's death, was assigned to the duty of making the necessary dissections and anatomical demonstrations before the class. In 1565 he was appointed Professor of Surgery, with the understanding that he was to continue giving his demonstrations in anatomy. The salary which he received for this double work was 100 ducats, but it was increased from time to time until finally he was paid 1100 ducats yearly. At the end of thirty-six years he was retired upon a pension of 1000 ducats for the remainder of his life, and was allowed the privilege of appointing his successor in the Chair of Surgery. He gave the place to Julius Casserius in 1609. To distinguish him from another Fabricius, who gained great distinction in the field of surgery, it has always been customary for later historical writers to speak of him as "Fabricius ab Acquapendente." His namesake is known as "Fabricius Hildanus."

As a teacher of anatomy, especially in its relations to physiology, Fabricius was held in the highest esteem. Albert von Haller speaks of him as being one of the glories of the Italian school of medicine. Pupils came in flocks from all parts of Europe to attend his lectures, and among them were some who, like William Harvey of England, afterward attained great celebrity for the effective work which they did in advancing the science of medicine. One of the attractive features of Fabricius' teaching was to be found in his practice—something quite new at that period—of showing to the students, not only the particular organ