Herophilus
Herophilus (335 B.C.–280 B.C.), considered the first anatomist in history, has been called the father of anatomy, given his role in the growth of anatomical science. He was the first doctor to base his conclusions on dissection of the human body, predating Leonardo da Vinci and Vesalius, both known for their explorations into dissecting bodies, by 1,800 years. He was extremely influential during his own time and his works were used for centuries.
Although all of his works were lost because the Library of Alexandria, which kept them, was destroyed in 272 A.D., later scholars quoted him extensively. Herophilus was advanced in his scientific methods. Adrian Willis in The Lancet quoted Herophilus as having said, "Let the phenomena be described first even if they are not primary."
Herophilus was born in 335 B.C. in Chalcedon, Asia Minor (now Turkey). Little is known about his personal life or even about the date and place of his death, which along with all his writings, have been lost. From secondary sources, such as the celebrated physician Galen, the Platonist and polemical writer Celsus, and the well–known theologian Tertullian in the 2nd century A.D., it is known that Herophilus wrote about a myriad of topics, including therapeutics, aphorisms, pulse lore, anatomy, gynecology, and ophthalmology.
Started Practice of Dissection
Herophilus first studied medicine under Praxagoras of Cos., before continuing his education in Alexandria. At the time, Alexandria was the center of learning and scholarship, and learned men from througthout the known world visited its famous library. Herophilus found his niche in Alexandria and stayed there the rest of his life. He started out there as a student before teaching and practicing medicine. In Alexandria, he was allowed to practice dissection, which was banned elsewhere and seen as an unnatural desecration of the body. In Alexandria, though, dissections became a fascination, so much that Herophilus performed them publicly when he became comfortable enough to explain what he was doing. His work drew widespread praise.
He took on an apprentice, Erasistratus. With Erasistratus, Herophilus is believed to have founded an advanced medical school in Alexandria which drew people from throughout the ancient world. Herophilus' fame made the school a success. Some of his methods, however, were considered controversial because he is thought to have sometimes done vivisections on live criminals, to see how the organs worked in a live body. There were no anesthetics at the time. Adrian Wills in Lancet magazine wrote about this: "Celsus and Tertullian (in On the soul ) accused him of human vivisection ('Herophilus that doctor, or rather, butcher . . . death in his hands was not simply death, butled to error from the very process of cutting up'), but such accusations remain speculative."
When Herophilus was alive, conventional medicine revolved around the four humors: yellowbile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. To Herophilus, an imbalance of these four fluids triggered all diseases and ailments. An excess of yellow bile led to violence, vengeance, short–temperedness, and ambition. An excess of black bile led to introspection, sentimentality, and gluttony. An excess of phlegm made people sluggish, pallid, and cowardly. And an excess of blood made people more amorous, happy, generous, optimistic, and irresponsible. There were good and bad about each of the four humors, and it was only when they were in balance that a person could be happy and healthy. The veins visible through the skin were considered to be filled with air or water as well as blood. The brain was even thought as a sort of cooling chamber for emotions. Herophilus first suggested that the brain might be the seat of the intellect, and he imparted special importance on all of its ventricles. He also deduced that the veins carried only blood. He did however, have an idea about something called pneuma, which he thought was necessary to the health of the brain and the body and which flowed through the body via the arteries along with blood. According to Herophilus, diseases occurred when one of the four humors blocked the pneuma from reaching the brain.
Studied the Brain and Nerve System
Herophilus' dissections provided unprecedented knowledge of how the body and its organs worked. He was the first to suggest that intelligence resided in the brain, not the heart. He was also the first man known to differentiate between the cerebrum (larger portion) and the cerebellum (smaller portion) of the brain. He also catalogued and described many of the nerves located in the cranium, including the optic nerve for sight and the oculomotor nerve for eye movement, as well as facial, auditory, and hypoglossal (tongue) nerves. His extensive research into the nervous system differentiated between blood vessels and nerves. He also discovered the differences between the motor nerves, (those used for motion) and the sensory nerves (those used for sensation). This was especially remarkable because there were no microscopes at the time. After his discovery of the optic and oculomotor nerves he studied the eye in great detail, following the optic nerve and describing the retina.
He has also been credited with describing the calamus scriptorius, the part of the brain in which Herophilus thought the soul resided. He discovered and named the torcular herophili, which he found by investigating the brain's cavities and following the sinuses of the dura mater (the tough, stringy membranes covering the brain and the spinal cord that lines the inner surface of the skull) to their meeting point at the sinuses. He thought the sinuses seemed like a winepress, so he named the junction torcular Herophili, as torcular is the Latin word for winepress. These terms are still in use today.
Wrote Treatise on Gynecology
Herophilus thoroughly described the liver and the pancreas. He named the duo denum, the beginning of the small intestine that connects the stomach with the large intestine. He also looked at the alimentary canal, the digestive system tube that extends from the mouth all the way through the body, and which includes the pharynx, the esophagus, the stomach, and the intestines. He drew up schematics of the salivary organs. And during his research of the genital organs he drew up pictures of the ovaries, the uterus, and the Fallopian tubes—although they were not called that at the time—and was able to make a remarkably accurate treatise about the female body for midwives and other doctors.
The anatomist also researched extensively the differences between the arteries and veins, noting their functions and movements. He noticed that the arteries pulsed and he worked out standards for measuring this pulse and using it in diagnosis. He thought this arterial pulsation was reflex, due to the dilation and contraction of the arteries that occurred from the impulses sent from the heart. Herophilus corrected many of the more primitive notions prevalent at the time.
Proponent of Exercise and Healthy Eating
Herophilus was also one of the first doctors who advocated eating a good diet and exercising frequently to maintain health, two things that are still considered the most important proponents of healthy living. The World of Quotes recorded Herophilus as having said, "When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied." He was also a promoter of bleeding (the letting of blood to release excess pressures in the body) as well as drug therapy. He also invented the clepsydra, a portable water clock that measured time by marking the controlled flow of water through a small opening.
Herophilus died around 280 B.C., and his medical school dissolved soon after. And some time after that, the Library at Alexandria where all of Herophilus' works resided, was burned to the ground and all the books the Alexandrians had collected were destroyed with it. But the results of Herophilus' research passed through to the anatomists of the thirteenth century. Soon after Herophilus' death, the practice of dissection also ended, not considered a valid study again until many centuries later. In fact, when Leonardo da Vinci used the practice during the Renaissance to improve his ability to sculpt and paint realistic representations of the human body, it was still considered wrong. Gone were the days of Herophilus' dissection shows, but his scientific method and his learning have survived.
Books
World of Biology, 2 volumes, Gale Group, 1999.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Edition 6, Columbia University Press, 2000.
Merriam–Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Merriam–Webster, 1995.
Periodicals
Lancet, November 13, 1999.
Times (London, England), September 30, 2002.
Online
"History of Ancient Greek Medicine," Archaeonia: A Journey through AncientGreece, http://www.archaeonia.com/science/medicine/history.htm (January 3, 2004).
"Herophilus," Flinders University, http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/science+society/lectures/illustrations/lecture9/herophilus.html (January 3, 2004).
"Herophilus," Online Free Encyclopedia News, www.free-web-template.org/./he/herophilus.html (January 3, 2004).
"Herophilus," World of Quotes, http://worldofquotes.com (January 3, 2004).
