Galen (or Claudius Galenus, 2nd century ad) Biography
(or Claudius Galenus, rete mirabile, (Published 1987), Opera omnia, Claudius Galenus
Greek physician, born at Pergamum in Mysia. He studied medicine there, and also at Smyrna, Corinth, and Alexandria, and became physician to Marcus Aurelius. He probably died in Sicily.
Galen wrote extensively on medical and on philosophical subjects and his extant works consist of 83 treatises on medicine and 15 commentaries on Hippocrates. He dissected animals and developed, to our minds, somewhat fanciful physiological theories. His clinical discoveries include diagnosing by the pulse. He was the authority from whom all later Greek and Roman medical writers quoted, with more or less accuracy.
Galen considered that the body worked by three types of spirit: natural spirit (located in the liver), vital spirit (located in the left ventricle of the heart), and animal spirit (located in the brain). He postulated several anatomical features, such as the rete mirabile (wonderful network) on the undersurface of the brain, which is found in some animals (especially those with hooves) but not in man, although on Galen's authority it was accepted as present in the human brain for over thirteen centuries. It was also believed on his authority that the septum of the heart contained minute pores—these were essential for Galen's physiological system as he believed that blood passes from the heart to the body from both the arteries and the veins, new blood being manufactured in the liver and supposedly burnt up in the tissues. The exhalation of breath, when concentrated, was known to be asphyxiating, and was compared to the smoke of fire. Galen made considerable discoveries in neurology and especially the kinds of paralysis associated with damage at various places to the spinal cord (see Greek investigations of the mind and senses).
(Published 1987)
"Galen Biography." Galen Biography. Ed. Richard L. Gregory. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2009.
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