Andreas Vesalius, the Reformer of Anatomy

Part 1

ANDREAS VESALIUS THE Reformer of Anatomy

BY JAMES MOORES BALL, M. D.

SAINT LOUIS MEDICAL SCIENCE PRESS MDCCCCX

Copyrighted, 1910 By James Moores Ball All rights reserved

TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN WHO OFTEN UNDER ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SOMETIMES IN DANGER OF DEATH SUCCEEDED IN UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERIES OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY, TO THE FATHERS OF ANATOMY AND TO THE ARTIST-ANATOMISTS THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

PREFACE

In the annals of the medical profession the name of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels holds a place second to none. Every physician has heard of him, yet few know the details of his life, the circumstances under which his labors were carried out, the extent of those labors, or their far-reaching influence upon the progress of anatomy, physiology and surgery. Comparatively few physicians have seen his works; and fewer still have read them. The reformation which he inaugurated in anatomy, and incidentally in other branches of medical science, has left only a dim impress upon the minds of the busy, science-loving physicians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That so little should be known about him is not surprising, since his writings were in Latin and were published prior to the middle of the sixteenth century. His books, which at one time were in the hands of all the scientific physicians of Europe, are now rarely encountered beyond the walls of the great medical libraries of the world. They are among the incunabula of the medical literature. That English-speaking physicians know little of Vesalian literature is due to the fact that no extensive biography of the great anatomist has appeared in our language. Most of the Vesalian literature which has been written by English and American authors has been in the form of brief articles for the medical press; these oftentimes have been incorrect and unillustrated. Perhaps the best example of this class is the article by Mr. Henry Morley which appeared originally in Fraser’s Magazine, in 1853, and later was published in his Clement Marot and Other Studies, in 1871. The chief data for Vesalius’s biography are to be found in his own writings, in the archives of the Universities in which he taught, and in the controversial literature of the period. Extensive as are these sources they leave much to be desired. A vast mass of Vesalian literature was printed, chiefly in the Latin language, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Much of it is based on insufficient evidence or on national prejudice. The Germans, the French, the Dutch and the Italians have all taken a turn at it. In modern times the monumental work of Roth, Andreas Vesalius Bruxellensis, Berlin, 1892, has served to epitomize this literature and to make clear many points which formerly were not understood. I have taken Roth’s book as a basis for this monograph, without using the voluminous references which are found in the work of this thorough historian.

The man who overthrew the authority of Galen; revolutionized the teaching of the structure of the human body; started anatomical, physiological, and surgical investigation in the right channels; first correctly illustrated his dissections; destroyed ancient dogmas, and made many new discoveries—this man, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, deserves the name which Morley has given him, “the Luther of Anatomy.”

At long intervals a bright particular star appears in the intellectual horizon, endowed with genius of such a superlative order as seemingly to comprise within itself the whole domain of an entire science. These men do not belong to any particular epoch in the development of the human mind. They are the eternal symbols of progress, and their history is the history of the science which they profess. Such men were Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Newton, Lavoisier, and Bichat; and such also was Andreas Vesalius the anatomist. Young, enthusiastic, courageous and diligent, Vesalius dared to contradict the authority of Galen, corrected the anatomical mistakes of thirteen centuries and before his thirtieth year published the most accurate, complete, and best illustrated treatise on anatomy that the world had ever seen. His industry, the success which crowned his efforts, the jealousies which his discoveries aroused in the breasts of his contemporaries, the honors which were conferred upon him by Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second, his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and his tragic death—these are events which deserve to be chronicled by an abler pen than mine.

The year 1543 marks the date of a revolution which was won, not by force of arms but by the scalpel of an anatomist and the hand of an artist. The whole of human anatomy, as a study involving correct descriptions of the component parts of the body and accurate delineations thereof, may be said to have been founded by Andreas Vesalius and Jan Stephan van Calcar. As light pouring into a prism attracts little notice until it emerges in iridescent hues, so it was with anatomy: after passing through the brain of Vesalius it bore rich fruit which has been gathered by many hands. To turn from the writings of Galen, Mondino, Hundt, Peyligk, Phryesen, and Berengario da Carpi to the beauties of Vesalius’s De Humani Corporis Fabrica is like passing from darkness into sunlight. To both anatomists and artists this book was a revelation. For more than a century after its appearance the anatomists of Europe did little more than make additions to, and compose commentaries upon the conjoint triumph of Vesalius and van Calcar. For more than two centuries the osteologic and myologic figures of the Fabrica formed the basis of all treatises on Art-Anatomy.

JAMES MOORES BALL.

Saint Louis, MDCCCCX.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 1-16 The Study of Medical History—The General Renaissance—The Anatomical Renaissance. ANATOMY IN ANCIENT TIMES 17-28 Anatomy in Egypt and in Greece—Hippocrates and the Asclepiadae—Alcmaeon, Empedocles and Aristotle—Early Roman Medicine—The Alexandrian University—Herophilus and Erasistratus—Claudius Galenus—The School of Salernum—Frederick II. MONDINO, THE RESTORER OF ANATOMY 29-36 Life of Mondino—He restores the Study of Practical Anatomy—His Book on Anatomy. MONDINO’S SUCCESSORS 37-51 Gabriel de Zerbi—John Peyligk—Magnus Hundt—Laurentius Phryesen—Alexander Achillinus—Berengario da Carpi—John Dryander—Charles Estienne. VESALIUS’S EARLY LIFE 52-55 Origin of the Vesalius Family—Early Life of the Anatomist—Vesalius enters the University of Louvain. SOJOURN IN PARIS 56-69 Vesalius goes to Paris to study Medicine—Celebrated Parisian Physicians of the Sixteenth Century—Jacobus Sylvius—Joannes Guinterius—Jean Fernel—Philosophy of Pierre de la Rameé—State of Anatomy at this Period. VESALIUS RETURNS TO LOUVAIN 70-72 Vesalius returns to Louvain—He conducts a Course in Anatomy—Secures a Skeleton. PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY IN PADUA 73-80 Vesalius goes to Venice, thence to Padua—Receives the Degree of Doctor of Medicine—He is appointed Professor of Anatomy—His method of Teaching—Lectures also in Bologna. FIRST CONTRIBUTION TO ANATOMY 81-83 Vesalius issues a Series of Anatomical Plates under the title “Tabulae Anatomicae”—His Plates are extensively pirated. PUBLICATION OF THE FABRICA 84-94 The Manuscript and Illustrations for the Fabrica are transported to Basel—Joannes Oporinus, the noted Printer and Greek Scholar—Publication of the Fabrica—Beauty of the Illustrations—Who was the unnamed Artist?—The Plates were erroneously ascribed to Titian—Christoforo Coriolano—Jan Stephan van Calcar—Popularity of the Illustrations among Artists and Anatomists. PUBLICATION OF THE EPITOME 95-97 Publication of the Epitome—Reasons for its Publication—Character of the Work. CONTENTS OF THE FABRICA 99-113 General Plan of the Book—A brief Review of its Contents—The First Book, on Osteology—Vesalius’s Contributions to the Anatomy of the Bones—The Second Book, on Ligaments and Muscles—Excellence of this Part of the “Fabrica”—The Third Book, on the Veins and Arteries—The Fourth Book, on the Nerves—The Fifth Book, on the Organs of Nutrition—The Sixth Book, on the Heart—Vesalius’s Idea of the Circulation—Quotation from his Book—The Seventh Book, on the Brain and the Organs of Sense—Conclusion. CONTEMPORARY ANATOMISTS 114-125 The publication of the Fabrica is followed by great activity among Anatomists—Bartholomeus Eustachius—Realdus Columbus—Gabriel Fallopius—John Philip Ingrassias. COMMENTATORS AND PLAGIARISTS 126-129 Plagiarism in Medicine—William Cowper and Bidloo’s Plates—Pirated editions of the “Tabulae Anatomicae”—Thomas Geminus’s editions of the “Fabrica”—The Microcosmographia of Helkiah Crooke—John Banister’s Book—Juan Valverde di Hamusco’s work on Anatomy—Best editions of the “Fabrica”. THE COURT PHYSICIAN 130-132 Vesalius is appointed Archiatrus to Charles the Fifth—He follows the Emperor in his Journeys—Abdication of Charles—Vesalius is appointed Archiatrus to Philip the Second. PILGRIMAGE AND DEATH 133-136 Vesalius leaves Madrid—He visits Venice, then goes to Cyprus, and passes on to Jerusalem—Reason for the Pilgrimage—Death of Vesalius.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Andreas Vesalius—from the “Epitome”, 1543 Frontispiece PAGE Andreas Vesalius—van Kalker p.; I. Troijen s.—from an old copperplate engraving XVIII. Initial Letter—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 16 Hippocrates 17 Aristotle 19 Alexander the Great 20 Ptolemy Soter 21 Galen 24 Mondino’s Diagram of the Heart 31 Anatomical Demonstration in 1493 33 Title-page of Mondino’s Anatomy by Melerstat 34 Colophon of the Anatomy of Mondino 36 Anatomical Plate by Ricardus Hela, 1493 38 Peyligk’s Diagram of the Heart, 1499 39 Anatomical Figure from Magnus Hundt, 1501 40 Anatomical Figure from Laurentius Phryesen, 1518 41 Alexander Achillinus 42 Dissection by Berengario, 1535 43 Skeleton by Berengario, 1523 44 Muscles by Berengario, 1521 45 Muscles by Berengario, 1521 46 Dryander 47 Anatomical Figure by Estienne, 1545 48 Skeleton by Estienne, 1545 49 Skull by Dryander, 1541 51 The Old University of Louvain 54 Sylvius 57 Winter of Andernach 62 Jean Fernel 64 Ramus 66 Vivisection of a Pig—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 69 Instruments used in Dissection—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 74 Initial Letter—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 80 View of the City of Basel in the Sixteenth Century 83 Joannes Oporinus 85 Mark of Oporinus—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 86 Jan Stephan van Calcar—from Sandrart’s “Teutsche Academie”, 1685 88 Second Vesalian Plate of the Muscles—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 90 Ninth Vesalian Plate of the Muscles—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 92 A Human Skull resting on the Skull of a Dog—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 94 Title-page of Vesalius’s “Epitome”, 1543 96 Skeleton by Vesalius—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 98 Fifth Vesalian Plate of the Muscles—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 100 Deep Muscles of the Back by Vesalius—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 102 Part of the First Text-page of the “Fabrica”, 1543 103 Plate of the Arterial Tree by Vesalius—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 104 Dissection of the Abdomen by Vesalius—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 106 Dissection of the Heart by Vesalius—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 107 Initial Letter—from the “Fabrica”, 1543 113 Brain and Nerves by Eustachius 116 Muscles by Eustachius 117 Title-page of Columbus’s Anatomy 120 Gabriel Fallopius 122 Ingrassias 125 Charles the Fifth 131 Philip the Second 133

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