1. History of Anatomy

2. Early Egyptians 1600 BC Masters of mummification
Removed heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, hypothalamus, uterus, bladder

4. Knew that blood vessels came from heart
Thought some vessels carried air, while other carried mucus

5. Early Greeks Explained illness in terms of the 4 body humors (fluids):
blood
phlegm
yellow bile
black bile

6. Healthy person had all four humors in balance.

7. Bloodletting was a way of getting rid of excess humors.

8. Hippocrates (460 to 379 BC) Earliest anatomist Greek physician
Rejected superstitions
Based medical treatments on observations

9. Herophilus (275 BC) Egyptian teacher Performed dissections
Described organs
Student of Hippocrates
First to measure the pulse, for which he used a water clock.

10. Claudius Galen (120 to 200)
Roman physician, “team doctor” for the gladiators.
Kept them alive so they could fight again.

11. Did not dissect humans, but did extensive work on pigs and monkeys.
His writings were taken as “law” for hundred of years.

12. Early anatomical drawing based on misinformation.

13. 1235
First European medical school founded in Italy
Human bodies publicly dissected

15. Books
1450s - Moveable type invented
1491 – First medical book published

16. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 to 1519)
Artist in Renaissance period
Interested in human form, so studied anatomy.
Dissected bodies in secret.

17. Da Vinci made hundreds of anatomically correct drawings.

18. Andreas Vesalius (1514 to 1564)
Barber surgeon (combination barber, dentist, doctor).
First scientist to accurately draw bodies.

19. Got special permission from the Pope to
dissect criminals.
Wrote the first accurate book on human anatomy – Fabrica.

20. Shortage of cadavers
In England and Scotland, medical schools opened in 1600s.
Relied on executed prisoners for cadavers

21. Serious Crimes
The added punishment of being dissected after death was considered another deterrent to crime.
Ex. – Steal a pig: you were hung
Kill a person: you were hung & dissected
Anatomists were often associated with executioners.

22. Because anatomists needed body parts, they bought odd things.
A man could sell the leg of his son if it had to be amputated

23. William Harvey (English) Circa 1590
“Father of Anatomy”; studied circulatory system
Harvey dissected his own freshly dead family members (his father and sister) before burial.

25. Grave Robbing
Some medical students raided grave yards; some professors did also.
In certain Scottish schools in 1700s, you could trade a corpse for your tuition.

26. Resurrectionists
By 1828 in London, body snatchers (or resurrectionists) provided the medical schools with corpses.

27. Wealthy people chose to be buried in iron cages, some covered in concrete.
Also churches built “dead houses” which were locked and guarded.
String tied to bell.

28. Anatomy Act of 1832 – bodies of poor who were not claimed for burial could be used by anatomists.
Operated under this same concept until recently.
Donations are on the rise.