Start of the sale:
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at 3:57 AM
Item n°472426337
Sale ends:
Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 4:09 PM
IMPERF PAIR, Galen, Physician, Anatomy, Physiology, Physics, Medicinal Plant, Flower, Health, MNH 1966 Yemen Arab Republic
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Galen´s works covered a wide range of topics, from anatomy and physiology, and medicine to logic and philosophy, both summarising what was known and adding his own observations.Thus much of his explanation of pathology relies on Hippocrates´ humoral theories.
He proceeded by observation, deductive reasoning and experimentation, such as his demonstration of the effect of ligating the ureters, and the functions of the spinal cord. His medical practice drew on the biological theory and anatomical observations from Aristotle to the Alexandrians in addition to his own research. Galen developed an interest in anatomy from his studies of Herophilus and Erasistratus, who had dissected the human body and even living bodies (vivisection). Although Galen studied the human body, dissection of human corpses was against Roman law, so instead he used pigs, apes, and other animals. He performed vivisections of numerous animals to study the function of the kidneys and the spinal cord. His favorite animal subject was the Barbary Macaque. The legal limitations forced on him led to quite a number of mistaken ideas about the body. For instance, he thought a group of blood vessels near the back of the brain, the rete mirabile, was common in humans, although it actually is absent in humans.
Galen performed many audacious operations — including brain and eye surgeries — that were not tried again for almost two millennia. To perform cataract surgery, he would insert a long needle-like instrument into the eye behind the lens, then pull the instrument back slightly to remove the cataract. The slightest slip could have caused permanent blindness.
Galen identified veins (dark red) and arterial (brighter and thinner) blood, each with distinct and separate functions. Venous blood was thought to originate in the liver and arterial blood in the heart; the blood flowed from those organs to all parts of the body where it was consumed.
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