Page:Greek Biology and Medicine.djvu/109

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

PROGRESS IN ANATOMY tween the brain and spinal cord and the nerves which proceeded from these centres; also the connection of the digestive system with the lacteals; and by the aid of the clepsydra he made a study of pulse variations as a gauge of the patient's condition. Realizing the dangers of medical theory, he fell back upon the sound clinical methods of Hippocrates; and like the master, avoided the finely drawn distinctions of unproved diagnoses. His own further ex- perience and his greater knowledge of anatomy were brought to bear upon his treatment of diseases, while he also made improvements in surgery and obstetrics. A great and admi- rable figure this Herophilus. Less conservative and Hippocratic was Erasistratus (also a great practitioner), who would have nothing to do with the four humors or four anything. Believing that a general knowledge of the human body and its function- ing in health was not necessarily of practical use to the physician, he tended to specialize in his own anatomical researches, which were, however, brilliant in result. He gave a better description of the liver and its gall ducts, and for the first time gave a correct description of the heart. He advanced the knowledge of the

[87]

[87]