Anastasius

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the name of four Popes, the first and most eminent of whom held that office for only three years (398-401). He enforced celibacy on the higher clergy, and was a strong opponent of the Manichæans and Origen. ANASTASIUS I., Emperor of the East, succeeded Zeno, A. D. 491, at the age of 60. He distinguished himself by suppressing the combats between men and wild beasts in the arena, abolishing the sale of offices and building the fortifications of Constantinople. His support of the heretical Eutychians led to a dangerous rebellion and his anthematization by the Pope. He died A. D. 518. ANATOMY (Greek, "a cutting up or dissecting"), the science of the form and structure of organized bodies; it is practically acquired by separation of the parts of a body, so as to show their distinct formation, and their relations to one another. It is, therefore, a branch of the science of biology, and consists of two great divisions-the anatomy of animals, styled zoötomy, and that of plants, phytotomy. History of Anatomy. The real founder of the science was Aristotle, born 384 b. c. He seems to have based his systematic views of comparative anatomy on the dissection of animals, but not of men. He first gave the name aorta to the great artery. No real progress in human anatomy was made, owing to the researches being confined to animals, animal till the time of Erasistratus (250 b. c.), who was the first to dissect human bodiesthe bodies of criminals. Herophilus also is said to have dissected living subjects. Celsus (63 b. c.), in his "De Medicina," wrote on anatomy. Galen (131 A. D.) dissected apes, as being most like human subjects, though he occasionally obtained bodies of persons found murdered; and his writings show a knowledge of human anatomy. Avicenna (980 A. D.), born in the province of Khorassan, was a good osteologist, and described some structures not alluded to by Galen. The medical schools at Bologna, Padua, and Salerno became famous in the 13th century, but no very material progress was made in anatomy. Mondino, born at Milan, 1315, is considered the real restorer of anatomy in Italy. William Horman, of Salisbury, wrote in 1530, "Anatomia Corporis Humani." Thomas Gemini, of London, in 1545, engraved upon copper the anatomical figures of Vesalius, which had appeared in Germany upon wood. Thomas Vicary, in 1548, is said to be the first who wrote in English on anatomy. In the 17th century, progress was rapid. In 1619 Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, and the microscope was employed to detect the structure in minute vessels. In 1622 Aselli discovered and demonstrated the existence of the lymph vessels. The glandular organs were investigated by Wharton; Malpighi, Swammerdam, and the illustrious Ruysch, by the use of injections and the aid of the microscope, gave a new impulse to research in the minute structures. In Italy, which still retained its former pre-eminence, we find Pacchioni, Valsalva, Morgagni, Santorini, Mascagni, and Cotunni; in France, Winslow, D'Aubenton, Lieutaud, Vicq d'Azyr, and Bichat eral anatomy; in Germany, Haller and Meckel prepared the way for greater achievements in the 19th century; in Great Britain, Cowper, Cheselden, Hunter, Cruikshank, Monro, and Charles Bell contributed to the progress of science; while Holland was worthily represented by Boerhaave, Albinus, Camper, Sandifort, and Bonn. The enormous strides made in practical anatomy during the last 50 years are largely due to the use of the microscope. The necessity of a union of theory and practice led to the study of pathological anatomy, which is the dissection and study of structures as modified by disease. In the 16th century, many notices of pathological anatomy occur, but Morgagni (1767) is regarded as the true founder of pathological anatomy. He was followed by Lieutaud, Sandifort, Hunter, Bailie, Meckel the younger, and others. The recent change of direction given to the study of pathological anat omy must be ascribed to Bichat and the pupils of Broussais, among whom may be mentioned the names of Lænnec, Louis, Andral, Leber, Virchow, and Bennett. Theoretical anatomy is divided into general and special. General anatomy gives a description of the elementary tissues of which the systems and organs of the body are composed, as preliminary to an examination of them in their combined state in the various organs; it also investigates their laws of formation and -Vol. I-Cyc combination, and the changes which they undergo in various stages of life. Anatomy has been divided, though not with scientific precision, into seven branches of study. (1) Osteology, which treats of the bones, including the cartilages of the joints (chondrology). (2) Arthrology, which describes the ligaments or bands that unite the bones of various joints. (3) Myology explains the system of the muscles, which, by their contractile power, serve to impart motion to the bones and joints; while, like the bones, they contribute to form the cavities of the body, and to protect the internal organs. Their form also serves to produce the external shape and symmetry. (4) Angeiology describes the vessels and ducts, with their complex network and ramifications spreading over most parts of the body, and divided into two great systems: (a) the blood vessels with the heart, a fleshy organ propelling the blood through the pulsating vessels or arteries, from which it returns to the heart, after circulation through the veins; (b) the lymphatics, by means of which certain fluid a (lymph) is passed through a series of hat, the founder of gen- organs named lymphatic glands, and af- , terward enters the large veins at the root of the neck. The lacteals, which absorb the chyle from the intestine, also belong to this system of vessels. (5) Neurology, or the doctrine of the nerves, describes the nervous system, as divided into, first, the two central masses of the brain and the spinal cord; second, the ramifications of nerves running from the brain and spinal cord to almost all points of the surface; and lastly, the order of nerves having a peculiar structure and the ganglionic system of nerves. styled the (6) Splanchnology describes the viscera or organs formed by combination of the distinct systems of veins, nerves, lymphatics, etc., and mostly situated in the cavities of the body. These are divided into five groups, viz.: (a) the organs of the senses-sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; (b) of voice and respiration -nostrils, mouth, larynx, trachea, and lung lungs, with the thyroid gland, the thymus gland, and the diaphragm; (c) digestive organs-the mouth, with its salivary glands, the throat, gullet, the stomach, the intestines, with the liver, spleen and pancreas; (d) the urinary organs-kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra; (e) sexual organs of both sexes. (7) Embryology, the science which treats of the first or rudimentary stage of existence. The eldest of the Monros of Edinburgh University first gave this branch of the study its due prominence. Comparative anatomy, the investigation and comparison of the structures of two or more animals, has always preceded anthropotomy, or dissection of the human subject, but was first treated systematically as a distinct science by Cuvier and his pupil, Meckel the younger. Blumenbach, Tiedemann, Geoffroy, St. Hilaire, Goethe, Owen, Wagner, Bowman, Todd, Milne-Edwards, Remak, Leydig, Frey, Haeckel, Agassiz, Carpenter, Allman, Sharpey, Allen Thomson, Huxley, Turner, and Flower, may be named as eminent contributors to this branch of science. The most general and available assistance in the study of anatomy is found in anatomical engravings and plates on wood and copper. This assistance was known in ancient times. Aristotle affixed to his works on anatomy some anatomical drawings, which have been lost.