by the branches of the hepatic duct and gall-bladder; the
black bile being attracted by the spleen, and the aqueous humour by the
two kidneys; while the liver itself retained the pure blood, which was
afterwards attracted by the heart through the vena cava, by whose
ramifications it was distributed to the various parts of the body.

Following Aristotle especially, he regarded hair, nails, arteries,
veins, cartilage, bone, ligament, membranes, glands, fat, and muscle as
the simplest constituents of the body, formed immediately from the
blood, and perfectly homogeneous in character. The organic members,
_e.g._ lungs, liver, etc., he looked upon as formed of several of the
foregoing simple parts.

The osteology contained in Galen's works is nearly as perfect as that of
the present day. He correctly names and describes the bones and sutures
of the cranium; notices the quadrilateral shape of the parietals, the
peculiar situation and shape of the sphenoid, and the form and character
of the ethmoid, malar, maxillary, and nasal bones. He divides the
vertebral columns into cervical, dorsal, and lumbar portions.

With regard to the nervous system, he taught that the nerves of the
senses are distinct from those which impart the power of motion to
muscles--that the former are derived from the anterior parts of the
brain, while the latter arise from the posterior portion, or from the
spinal cord. He maintained that the nerves of the finer senses are
formed of matter too soft to be the vehicles of muscular motion;
whereas, on the other hand, the nerves of motion are too hard to be
susceptible of fine sensibility. His description of the method of
demonstrating the different parts of the brain by dissection is very
interesting, and, like his references to various instruments and
contrivances, proves him to have been a practical and experienced
anatomist.

In his description of the organs and process of nutrition, absorption by
the veins of the stomach is correctly noticed, and the union of the
mesenteric veins into one common _vena portae_ is pointed out. The
communications between the ramifications of the vena portae and of the
proper veins of the liver are supposed by Galen to be effected by means
of anastomosing pores or channels. Although it is evident that Galen was
ignorant of the true absorbent system, yet he appears to have been aware
of the _lacteals_; for he says that in addition to those mesenteric
veins which by their u