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141-449: Dissection has been used for centuries to explore anatomy . Objections to the use of cadavers have led to the use of alternatives including virtual dissection of computer models . In the field of surgery, the term "dissection" or "dissecting" means more specifically the practice of separating an anatomical structure (an organ , nerve or blood vessel ) from its surrounding connective tissue in order to minimize unwanted damage during

282-412: A basal lamina , the upper layer of the basement membrane , the lower layer is the reticular lamina lying next to the connective tissue in the extracellular matrix secreted by the epithelial cells. There are many different types of epithelium, modified to suit a particular function. In the respiratory tract there is a type of ciliated epithelial lining; in the small intestine there are microvilli on

423-460: A cataract , treatment for bladder stones , and the setting of fractures . Celsus wrote on the anatomy of the eye and was the first to call one of its layers the choroid . During the twentieth century, many historians claimed that Celsus believed that the crystalline lens is in the exact center of the eye. In fact, Celsus made no specific statement about the position of the crystalline lens, and his Graeco-Roman contemporaries did understand that

564-450: A copulatory organ present in most species. The eggs are surrounded by amniotic membranes which prevents them from drying out and are laid on land, or develop internally in some species. The bladder is small as nitrogenous waste is excreted as uric acid . Turtles are notable for their protective shells. They have an inflexible trunk encased in a horny carapace above and a plastron below. These are formed from bony plates embedded in

705-481: A microscope . Human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are complementary basic medical sciences, which are generally taught to medical students in their first year at medical school. Human anatomy can be taught regionally or systemically; that is, respectively, studying anatomy by bodily regions such as the head and chest, or studying by specific systems, such as the nervous or respiratory systems. The major anatomy textbook, Gray's Anatomy , has been reorganized from

846-470: A sessile lifestyle). Most animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues and these animals are also known as eumetazoans . They have an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings; the gametes are produced in multicellular sex organs, and the zygotes include a blastula stage in their embryonic development . Metazoans do not include the sponges , which have undifferentiated cells. Unlike plant cells , animal cells have neither

987-421: A surgical procedure . Plant and animal bodies are dissected to analyze the structure and function of its components. Dissection is practised by students in courses of biology , botany , zoology , and veterinary science , and sometimes in arts studies. In medical schools, students dissect human cadavers to learn anatomy . Zoötomy is sometimes used to describe "dissection of an animal". A key principle in

1128-402: A "fresh" or "prepared" specimen. A "fresh" specimen may be dissected within some days, retaining the characteristics of a living specimen, for the purposes of training. A "prepared" specimen may be preserved in solutions such as formalin and pre-dissected by an experienced anatomist, sometimes with the help of a diener . This preparation is sometimes called prosection . Most dissection involves

1269-599: A "fresh" specimen so as to be as realistic as possible—for example, when training surgeons. Cadavers may also be pre-dissected by trained instructors. This form of dissection involves the preparation and preservation of specimens for a longer time period and is generally used for the teaching of anatomy. Some alternatives to dissection may present educational advantages over the use of animal cadavers, while eliminating perceived ethical issues. These alternatives include computer programs, lectures, three dimensional models, films, and other forms of technology. Concern for animal welfare

1410-589: A "self-selected audience". In Britain, dissection remained entirely prohibited from the end of the Roman conquest and through the Middle Ages to the 16th century, when a series of royal edicts gave specific groups of physicians and surgeons some limited rights to dissect cadavers. The permission was quite limited: by the mid-18th century, the Royal College of Physicians and Company of Barber-Surgeons were

1551-402: A "treatise on the heart", with vessels carrying all the body's fluids to or from every member of the body. Ancient Greek anatomy and physiology underwent great changes and advances throughout the early medieval world. Over time, this medical practice expanded due to a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. Phenomenal anatomical observations of

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1692-421: A California student, Jenifer Graham, sued to require her school to let her complete an alternative project. The court ruled that mandatory dissections were permissible, but that Graham could ask to dissect a frog that had died of natural causes rather than one that was killed for the purposes of dissection; the practical impossibility of procuring a frog that had died of natural causes in effect let Graham opt out of

1833-517: A cadaver is donated voluntarily, a funeral home in conjunction with a voluntary donation program identifies a body who is part of the program. After broaching the subject with relatives in a diplomatic fashion, the body is then transported to a registered facility. The body is tested for the presence of HIV and hepatitis viruses. It is then evaluated for use as a "fresh" or "prepared" specimen. Cadaveric specimens for dissection are, in general, disposed of by cremation . The deceased may then be interred at

1974-528: A cell wall nor chloroplasts . Vacuoles, when present, are more in number and much smaller than those in the plant cell. The body tissues are composed of numerous types of cells, including those found in muscles, nerves and skin. Each typically has a cell membrane formed of phospholipids , cytoplasm and a nucleus . All of the different cells of an animal are derived from the embryonic germ layers . Those simpler invertebrates which are formed from two germ layers of ectoderm and endoderm are called diploblastic and

2115-433: A class of arachnids have four pairs of legs; a body of two segments—a cephalothorax and an abdomen . Spiders have no wings and no antennae. They have mouthparts called chelicerae which are often connected to venom glands as most spiders are venomous. They have a second pair of appendages called pedipalps attached to the cephalothorax. These have similar segmentation to the legs and function as taste and smell organs. At

2256-552: A coat of glycoproteins . In more advanced animals, many glands are formed of epithelial cells. Muscle cells (myocytes) form the active contractile tissue of the body. Muscle tissue functions to produce force and cause motion, either locomotion or movement within internal organs. Muscle is formed of contractile filaments and is separated into three main types; smooth muscle , skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle . Smooth muscle has no striations when examined microscopically. It contracts slowly but maintains contractibility over

2397-463: A few species have no limbs and resemble snakes. Lizards have moveable eyelids, eardrums are present and some species have a central parietal eye. Snakes are closely related to lizards, having branched off from a common ancestral lineage during the Cretaceous period, and they share many of the same features. The skeleton consists of a skull, a hyoid bone, spine and ribs though a few species retain

2538-513: A high metabolic rate , a light skeletal system and powerful muscles . The long bones are thin, hollow and very light. Air sac extensions from the lungs occupy the centre of some bones. The sternum is wide and usually has a keel and the caudal vertebrae are fused. There are no teeth and the narrow jaws are adapted into a horn-covered beak. The eyes are relatively large, particularly in nocturnal species such as owls. They face forwards in predators and sideways in ducks. The feathers are outgrowths of

2679-457: A local cemetery. If the family wishes, the ashes of the deceased are then returned to the family. Many institutes have local policies to engage, support and celebrate the donors. This may include the setting up of local monuments at the cemetery. Human cadavers are often used in medicine to teach anatomy or surgical instruction. Cadavers are selected according to their anatomy and availability. They may be used as part of dissection courses involving

2820-746: A mammal. Humans have a head, neck, trunk (which includes the thorax and abdomen ), two arms and hands, and two legs and feet. Generally, students of certain biological sciences , paramedics , prosthetists and orthotists, physiotherapists , occupational therapists , nurses , podiatrists , and medical students learn gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy from anatomical models, skeletons, textbooks, diagrams, photographs, lectures and tutorials and in addition, medical students generally also learn gross anatomy through practical experience of dissection and inspection of cadavers . The study of microscopic anatomy (or histology ) can be aided by practical experience examining histological preparations (or slides) under

2961-400: A need to better understand human anatomy, so as to have educated surgeons. Dissection was limited by the religious taboo on cutting the human body. This changed the approach taken to accomplish the goal. The process involved the loosening of the tissues in streams of water before the outer layers were sloughed off with soft implements to reach the musculature. To perfect the technique of slicing,

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3102-459: A new socio-religious and cultural context in which the human cadaver was no longer seen as sacrosanct. A non-existent "Ecclesia abhorret a sanguine" edict of the 1163 Council of Tours and an early 14th-century decree of Pope Boniface VIII have mistakenly been identified as prohibiting dissection and autopsy, misunderstanding or extrapolation from these edicts may have contributed to reluctance to perform such procedures. The Middle Ages witnessed

3243-496: A number of branches, including gross or macroscopic anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and also includes superficial anatomy or surface anatomy, the study by sight of the external body features. Microscopic anatomy is the study of structures on a microscopic scale, along with histology (the study of tissues), and embryology (the study of an organism in its immature condition). Regional anatomy

3384-420: A pump action in which air is first drawn into the buccopharyngeal region through the nostrils. These are then closed and the air is forced into the lungs by contraction of the throat. They supplement this with gas exchange through the skin which needs to be kept moist. In frogs the pelvic girdle is robust and the hind legs are much longer and stronger than the forelimbs. The feet have four or five digits and

3525-586: A screen as large as a body on a table. In a variant of this, a "virtual anatomy" approach being developed at New York University, students wear three dimensional glasses and can use a pointing device to "[swoop] through the virtual body, its sections as brightly colored as living tissue." This method is claimed to be "as dynamic as Imax [cinema]". Proponents of animal-free teaching methodologies argue that alternatives to animal dissection can benefit educators by increasing teaching efficiency and lowering instruction costs while affording teachers an enhanced potential for

3666-445: A similar database and a loans system. Anatomy Anatomy (from Ancient Greek ἀνατομή ( anatomḗ )  ' dissection ') is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy

3807-543: A skeleton to support or protect the body. An exoskeleton is a thickened, rigid cuticle which is stiffened by mineralization , as in crustaceans or by the cross-linking of its proteins as in insects . An endoskeleton is internal and present in all developed animals, as well as in many of those less developed. Epithelial tissue is composed of closely packed cells, bound to each other by cell adhesion molecules , with little intercellular space. Epithelial cells can be squamous (flat), cuboidal or columnar and rest on

3948-401: A state of health. On occasions, however, he boldly recommends the use of the scalpel ; his rules for blood letting and purgatives are laid down with detail and precision; and many of the rules he prescribes were not very different from those still in use at the beginning of the 19th century. His work contains detailed descriptions of the symptoms and different varieties of fever , and he

4089-497: A systems format to a regional format, in line with modern teaching methods. A thorough working knowledge of anatomy is required by physicians, especially surgeons and doctors working in some diagnostic specialties, such as histopathology and radiology . Academic anatomists are usually employed by universities, medical schools or teaching hospitals. They are often involved in teaching anatomy, and research into certain systems, organs, tissues or cells. Invertebrates constitute

4230-431: A vast array of living organisms ranging from the simplest unicellular eukaryotes such as Paramecium to such complex multicellular animals as the octopus , lobster and dragonfly . They constitute about 95% of the animal species. By definition, none of these creatures has a backbone. The cells of single-cell protozoans have the same basic structure as those of multicellular animals but some parts are specialized into

4371-479: A vertebrate is the vertebral column , formed in the development of the segmented series of vertebrae . In most vertebrates the notochord becomes the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs . However, a few vertebrates, such as the sturgeon and the coelacanth , retain the notochord into adulthood. Jawed vertebrates are typified by paired appendages, fins or legs, which may be secondarily lost. The limbs of vertebrates are considered to be homologous because

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4512-693: A vestige of the pelvis and rear limbs in the form of pelvic spurs . The bar under the second fenestra has also been lost and the jaws have extreme flexibility allowing the snake to swallow its prey whole. Snakes lack moveable eyelids, the eyes being covered by transparent "spectacle" scales. They do not have eardrums but can detect ground vibrations through the bones of their skull. Their forked tongues are used as organs of taste and smell and some species have sensory pits on their heads enabling them to locate warm-blooded prey. Crocodilians are large, low-slung aquatic reptiles with long snouts and large numbers of teeth. The head and trunk are dorso-ventrally flattened and

4653-594: A wide range of stretch lengths. It is found in such organs as sea anemone tentacles and the body wall of sea cucumbers . Skeletal muscle contracts rapidly but has a limited range of extension. It is found in the movement of appendages and jaws. Obliquely striated muscle is intermediate between the other two. The filaments are staggered and this is the type of muscle found in earthworms that can extend slowly or make rapid contractions. In higher animals striated muscles occur in bundles attached to bone to provide movement and are often arranged in antagonistic sets. Smooth muscle

4794-655: Is also no expensive disposal of equipment or hazardous material removal. Some programs also allow educators to customize lessons and include built-in test and quiz modules that can track student performance. Furthermore, animals (whether dead or alive) can be used only once, while non-animal resources can be used for many years—an added benefit that could result in significant cost savings for teachers, school districts, and state educational systems. Several peer-reviewed comparative studies examining information retention and performance of students who dissected animals and those who used an alternative instruction method have concluded that

4935-498: Is also the namesake of Paracelsus ( lit. Above Celsus), a great Swiss alchemist and physician prevalent in the Medical Renaissance . Nothing is known about the life of Celsus. Even his praenomen is uncertain; he has been called both Aurelius and Aulus, with the latter being more plausible. Some incidental expressions in his De Medicina suggest that he lived under the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius ; which

5076-541: Is commonly taken to refer to human anatomy . However, substantially similar structures and tissues are found throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, and the term also includes the anatomy of other animals. The term zootomy is also sometimes used to specifically refer to non-human animals. The structure and tissues of plants are of a dissimilar nature and they are studied in plant anatomy . The kingdom Animalia contains multicellular organisms that are heterotrophic and motile (although some have secondarily adopted

5217-572: Is confirmed by his reference to the Greek physician Themison as being recently in his old age. It is not known with any certainty where he lived. He has been identified as the possible dedicator of a gravestone in Rome , but it has also been supposed that he lived in Narbonese Gaul , because he refers to a species of vine ( marcum ) which, according to Pliny , was native to that region. It

5358-430: Is credited with recording the cardinal signs of inflammation known as " Celsus tetrad of inflammation ": calor (warmth), dolor (pain), tumor (swelling) and rubor (redness and hyperaemia ). He goes into great detail regarding the preparation of numerous ancient medicinal remedies including the preparation of opioids . In addition, he describes many 1st century Roman surgical procedures which included removal of

5499-445: Is deteriorating. The number of hours spent in dissection labs during medical school has decreased substantially over the last twenty years. The future of anatomy education will probably be an elegant mix of traditional methods and integrative computer learning. The use of dissection in early stages of medical training has been shown more effective in the retention of the intended information than their simulated counterparts. However, there

5640-475: Is doubtful whether he practised medicine himself, and although Celsus seems to describe and recommend his own medical observations sanctioned by experience, Quintilian says that his volumes included all sorts of literary matters, and even agriculture and military tactics . Of the numerous volumes of his encyclopedia published before 47 CE, only one remains intact, his celebrated treatise On Medicine ( De Medicina ). "The work's encyclopedic arrangement follows

5781-473: Is found in the walls of the uterus , bladder , intestines , stomach , oesophagus , respiratory airways , and blood vessels . Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart , allowing it to contract and pump blood round the body. Nervous tissue is composed of many nerve cells known as neurons which transmit information. In some slow-moving radially symmetrical marine animals such as ctenophores and cnidarians (including sea anemones and jellyfish ),

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5922-429: Is inherently tied to developmental biology , embryology , comparative anatomy , evolutionary biology , and phylogeny , as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated, both over immediate and long-term timescales. Anatomy and physiology , which study the structure and function of organisms and their parts respectively, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and are often studied together. Human anatomy

6063-440: Is often at the root of objections to animal dissection. Studies show that some students reluctantly participate in animal dissection out of fear of real or perceived punishment or ostracism from their teachers and peers, and many do not speak up about their ethical objections. One alternative to the use of cadavers is computer technology. At Stanford Medical School , software combines X-ray, ultrasound and MRI imaging for display on

6204-410: Is one of the best sources concerning medical knowledge in the Roman world. The lost portions of his encyclopedia likely included volumes on agriculture, law, rhetoric , and military arts. He made contributions to the classification of human skin disorders in dermatology , such as myrmecia , and his name is often found in medical terminology regarding the skin, e.g., kerion celsi and area celsi . He

6345-399: Is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine, and is often studied alongside physiology . Anatomy is a complex and dynamic field that is constantly evolving as discoveries are made. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the use of advanced imaging techniques, such as MRI and CT scans , which allow for more detailed and accurate visualizations of

6486-568: Is one thing. Using a scalpel and an actual, recently-living person is an entirely different matter." The way in which cadaveric specimens are obtained differs greatly according to country. In the UK, donation of a cadaver is wholly voluntary. Involuntary donation plays a role in about 20 percent of specimens in the US and almost all specimens donated in some countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe. Countries that practice involuntary donation may make available

6627-483: Is quite distinct from physiology and biochemistry , which deal respectively with the functions of those parts and the chemical processes involved. For example, an anatomist is concerned with the shape, size, position, structure, blood supply and innervation of an organ such as the liver; while a physiologist is interested in the production of bile , the role of the liver in nutrition and the regulation of bodily functions. The discipline of anatomy can be subdivided into

6768-407: Is rarely published on due to the religious and social stigma. Tibetan medicine developed a rather sophisticated knowledge of anatomy , acquired from long-standing experience with human dissection. Tibetans had adopted the practice of sky burial because of the country's hard ground, frozen for most of the year, and the lack of wood for cremation . A sky burial begins with a ritual dissection of

6909-494: Is startlingly rapid". Between 1275 and 1326, the anatomists Mondino de Luzzi , Alessandro Achillini and Antonio Benivieni at Bologna carried out the first systematic human dissections since ancient times. Mondino's Anatomy of 1316 was the first textbook in the medieval rediscovery of human anatomy. It describes the body in the order followed in Mondino's dissections, starting with the abdomen, thorax, head, and limbs. It

7050-399: Is the study of the interrelationships of all of the structures in a specific body region, such as the abdomen. In contrast, systemic anatomy is the study of the structures that make up a discrete body system—that is, a group of structures that work together to perform a unique body function, such as the digestive system. Anatomy can be studied using both invasive and non-invasive methods with

7191-411: Is the vertebral column, composed of articulating vertebrae which are lightweight yet strong. The ribs attach to the spine and there are no limbs or limb girdles. The main external features of the fish, the fins , are composed of either bony or soft spines called rays, which with the exception of the caudal fins , have no direct connection with the spine. They are supported by the muscles which compose

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7332-427: Is use for the computer-generated experience as review in the later stages. The combination of these methods is intended to strengthen the students' understanding and confidence of anatomy, a subject that is infamously difficult to master. There is a growing need for anatomist—seeing as most anatomy labs are taught by graduates hoping to complete degrees in anatomy—to continue the long tradition of anatomy education. From

7473-609: The Hippocratic Corpus , an Ancient Greek medical work written by unknown authors. Aristotle described vertebrate anatomy based on animal dissection . Praxagoras identified the difference between arteries and veins . Also in the 4th century BCE, Herophilos and Erasistratus produced more accurate anatomical descriptions based on vivisection of criminals in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period . In

7614-503: The Greek physicians Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Chios in the early part of the third century BC. Before then, animal dissection had been carried out systematically starting from the fifth century BC. During this period, the first exploration into full human anatomy was performed rather than a base knowledge gained from 'problem-solution' delving. While there was a deep taboo in Greek culture concerning human dissection, there

7755-511: The Triassic period. There is one living species, Sphenodon punctatus . The skull has two openings (fenestrae) on either side and the jaw is rigidly attached to the skull. There is one row of teeth in the lower jaw and this fits between the two rows in the upper jaw when the animal chews. The teeth are merely projections of bony material from the jaw and eventually wear down. The brain and heart are more primitive than those of other reptiles, and

7896-400: The epidermis and are found in localized bands from where they fan out over the skin. Large flight feathers are found on the wings and tail, contour feathers cover the bird's surface and fine down occurs on young birds and under the contour feathers of water birds. The only cutaneous gland is the single uropygial gland near the base of the tail. This produces an oily secretion that waterproofs

8037-533: The extracellular matrix . Often called fascia (from the Latin "fascia," meaning "band" or "bandage"), connective tissues give shape to organs and holds them in place. The main types are loose connective tissue, adipose tissue , fibrous connective tissue, cartilage and bone. The extracellular matrix contains proteins , the chief and most abundant of which is collagen . Collagen plays a major part in organizing and maintaining tissues. The matrix can be modified to form

8178-424: The heart , connects such as the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava are separated. If pathological connections exist, such as a fibrous pericardium , then this may be deliberately dissected along with the organ. Dissection is used to help to determine the cause of death in autopsy (called necropsy in other animals) and is an intrinsic part of forensic medicine. Human dissections were carried out by

8319-461: The mouthparts . The thorax has three pairs of segmented legs , one pair each for the three segments that compose the thorax and one or two pairs of wings . The abdomen is composed of eleven segments, some of which may be fused and houses the digestive , respiratory , excretory and reproductive systems. There is considerable variation between species and many adaptations to the body parts, especially wings, legs, antennae and mouthparts. Spiders

8460-400: The stomach . All vertebrates have a similar basic body plan and at some point in their lives, mostly in the embryonic stage, share the major chordate characteristics: a stiffening rod, the notochord ; a dorsal hollow tube of nervous material, the neural tube ; pharyngeal arches ; and a tail posterior to the anus. The spinal cord is protected by the vertebral column and is above

8601-417: The 13th century may have practiced dissection, but it remains ambiguous whether or not human dissection was practiced. Ibn al-Nafis, a physician and Muslim jurist, suggested that the "precepts of Islamic law have discouraged us from the practice of dissection, along with whatever compassion is in our temperament", indicating that while there was no law against it, it was nevertheless uncommon. Islam dictates that

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8742-847: The 1920s, and were gradually introduced at earlier stages of education. By 1988, some 75 to 80 percent of American high school biology students were participating in a frog dissection, with a trend towards introduction in elementary schools. The frogs are most commonly from the genus Rana . Other popular animals for high-school dissection at the time of that survey were, among vertebrates, fetal pigs , perch , and cats; and among invertebrates, earthworms , grasshoppers , crayfish , and starfish . About six million animals are dissected each year in United States high schools (2016), not counting medical training and research. Most of these are purchased already dead from slaughterhouses and farms. Dissection in U.S. high schools became prominent in 1987, when

8883-426: The 21st century, the availability of interactive computer programs and changing public sentiment led to renewed debate on the use of cadavers in medical education. The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in the UK, founded in 2000, became the first modern medical school to carry out its anatomy education without dissection. In the United States, dissection of frogs became common in college biology classes from

9024-420: The 2nd century, Galen of Pergamum , an anatomist, clinician , writer, and philosopher, wrote the final and highly influential anatomy treatise of ancient times. He compiled existing knowledge and studied anatomy through the dissection of animals. He was one of the first experimental physiologists through his vivisection experiments on animals. Galen's drawings, based mostly on dog anatomy, became effectively

9165-412: The Greek ἀνατομή anatomē "dissection" (from ἀνατέμνω anatémnō "I cut up, cut open" from ἀνά aná "up", and τέμνω témnō "I cut"), anatomy is the scientific study of the structure of organisms including their systems, organs and tissues . It includes the appearance and position of the various parts, the materials from which they are composed, and their relationships with other parts. Anatomy

9306-562: The K-12 science classroom because observing and working with animals firsthand can spark students' interest in science as well as a general respect for life while reinforcing key concepts" of biological sciences. NSTA also supports offering dissection alternatives to students who object to the practice. The NORINA database lists over 3,000 products which may be used as alternatives or supplements to animal use in education and training. These include alternatives to dissection in schools. InterNICHE has

9447-582: The United States found that students who modeled body systems out of clay were significantly better at identifying the constituent parts of human anatomy than their classmates who performed animal dissection. Another study found that students preferred using clay modeling over animal dissection and performed just as well as their cohorts who dissected animals. In 2008, the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) affirmed its support for classroom animal dissection stating that they "Encourage

9588-569: The ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles , who believed the soul resided in the heart. Human dissection was also practised by Renaissance artists . Though most chose to focus on the external surfaces of the body, some like Michelangelo Buonarotti , Antonio del Pollaiuolo , Baccio Bandinelli , and Leonardo da Vinci sought a deeper understanding. However, there were no provisions for artists to obtain cadavers, so they had to resort to unauthorised means, as indeed anatomists sometimes did, such as grave robbing, body snatching, and murder. Anatomization

9729-541: The arts and sciences from the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt helped raise Alexandria up, further rivalling other Greek states' cultural and scientific achievements. Some of the most striking advances in early anatomy and physiology took place in Hellenistic Alexandria. Two of the most famous anatomists and physiologists of the third century were Herophilus and Erasistratus . These two physicians helped pioneer human dissection for medical research, using

9870-496: The atria were parts of the heart. Herophilus's knowledge of the human body has provided vital input towards understanding the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs, and nervous system and characterizing the course of the disease. Erasistratus accurately described the structure of the brain, including the cavities and membranes, and made a distinction between its cerebrum and cerebellum During his study in Alexandria, Erasistratus

10011-518: The basis of sense organs and there is a central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and a peripheral nervous system . The latter consists of sensory nerves that transmit information from sense organs and motor nerves that influence target organs. The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system which conveys sensation and controls voluntary muscle , and the autonomic nervous system which involuntarily controls smooth muscle , certain glands and internal organs, including

10152-677: The beginning of the Islamic faith in 610 A.D. , Shari'ah law has applied to a greater or lesser extent within Muslim countries, supported by Islamic scholars such as Al-Ghazali . Islamic physicians such as Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) (1091–1161) in Al-Andalus , Saladin 's physician Ibn Jumay during the 12th century, Abd el-Latif in Egypt c.  1200 , and Ibn al-Nafis in Syria and Egypt in

10293-420: The bodies of dead criminals or unclaimed or unidentified bodies for the purposes of dissection. Such practices may lead to a greater proportion of the poor, homeless and social outcasts being involuntarily donated. Cadavers donated in one jurisdiction may also be used for the purposes of dissection in another, whether across states in the US, or imported from other countries, such as with Libya. As an example of how

10434-462: The body and they swim by undulating their body from side to side. Reptiles are a class of animals comprising turtles , tuataras , lizards , snakes and crocodiles . They are tetrapods , but the snakes and a few species of lizard either have no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their bones are better ossified and their skeletons stronger than those of amphibians. The teeth are conical and mostly uniform in size. The surface cells of

10575-435: The body be buried as soon as possible, barring religious holidays, and that there be no other means of disposal such as cremation. Prior to the 10th century, dissection was not performed on human cadavers. The book Al-Tasrif , written by Al-Zahrawi in 1000 A.D., details surgical procedure that differed from the previous standards. The book was an educational text of medicine and surgery which included detailed illustrations. It

10716-427: The body's structures. The discipline of anatomy is divided into macroscopic and microscopic parts. Macroscopic anatomy , or gross anatomy, is the examination of an animal's body parts using unaided eyesight. Gross anatomy also includes the branch of superficial anatomy . Microscopic anatomy involves the use of optical instruments in the study of the tissues of various structures, known as histology , and also in

10857-399: The brain, appreciated the division between cerebellum and cerebrum and recognized that the brain was the "seat of intellect" and not a "cooling chamber" as propounded by Aristotle Herophilus is also credited with describing the optic, oculomotor, motor division of the trigeminal, facial, vestibulocochlear and hypoglossal nerves. Incredible feats were made during the third century BCE in both

10998-516: The cadavers of condemned criminals, which was considered taboo until the Renaissance—Herophilus was recognized as the first person to perform systematic dissections. Herophilus became known for his anatomical works, making impressive contributions to many branches of anatomy and many other aspects of medicine. Some of the works included classifying the system of the pulse, the discovery that human arteries had thicker walls than veins, and that

11139-516: The careful isolation and removal of individual organs, called the Virchow technique . An alternative more cumbersome technique involves the removal of the entire organ body, called the Letulle technique. This technique allows a body to be sent to a funeral director without waiting for the sometimes time-consuming dissection of individual organs. The Rokitansky method involves an in situ dissection of

11280-414: The case of Herophilos and Erasistratos , who he asserts practised vivisection . In the treatment of disease, Celsus's principal method was to observe and watch over the operations of Nature , and to regulate rather than oppose them, conceiving that fever consisted essentially in an effort of the body to throw off some morbid cause, and that, if not unduly interfered with, the process would terminate in

11421-578: The customization and repeat-ability of teaching exercises. Those in favor of dissection alternatives point to studies which have shown that computer-based teaching methods "saved academic and nonacademic staff time … were considered to be less expensive and an effective and enjoyable mode of student learning [and] … contributed to a significant reduction in animal use" because there is no set-up or clean-up time, no obligatory safety lessons, and no monitoring of misbehavior with animal cadavers, scissors, and scalpels. With software and other non-animal methods, there

11562-409: The deceased, and is followed by the feeding of the parts to vultures on the hill tops. Over time, Tibetan anatomical knowledge found its way into Ayurveda and to a lesser extent into Chinese medicine . Throughout the history of Christian Europe, the dissection of human cadavers for medical education has experienced various cycles of legalization and proscription in different countries. Dissection

11703-418: The dermis which are overlain by horny ones and are partially fused with the ribs and spine. The neck is long and flexible and the head and the legs can be drawn back inside the shell. Turtles are vegetarians and the typical reptile teeth have been replaced by sharp, horny plates. In aquatic species, the front legs are modified into flippers. Tuataras superficially resemble lizards but the lineages diverged in

11844-402: The digestive and reproductive systems. Herophilus discovered and described not only the salivary glands but also the small intestine and liver. He showed that the uterus is a hollow organ and described the ovaries and uterine tubes. He recognized that spermatozoa were produced by the testes and was the first to identify the prostate gland. The anatomy of the muscles and skeleton is described in

11985-424: The dissection of human cadavers (sometimes called androtomy ) is the prevention of human disease to the dissector. Prevention of transmission includes the wearing of protective gear, ensuring the environment is clean, dissection technique and pre-dissection tests to specimens for the presence of HIV and hepatitis viruses. Specimens are dissected in morgues or anatomy labs. When provided, they are evaluated for use as

12126-491: The educational outcomes of students who are taught basic and advanced biomedical concepts and skills using non-animal methods are equivalent or superior to those of their peers who use animal-based laboratories such as animal dissection. Some reports state that students' confidence, satisfaction, and ability to retrieve and communicate information was much higher for those who participated in alternative activities compared to dissection. Three separate studies at universities across

12267-402: The egg-laying monotremes , the platypus and the echidnas of Australia. Most other mammals have a placenta through which the developing foetus obtains nourishment, but in marsupials , the foetal stage is very short and the immature young is born and finds its way to its mother's pouch where it latches on to a teat and completes its development. Humans have the overall body plan of

12408-532: The end of each male pedipalp is a spoon-shaped cymbium that acts to support the copulatory organ . In 1600 BCE, the Edwin Smith Papyrus , an Ancient Egyptian medical text , described the heart and its vessels, as well as the brain and its meninges and cerebrospinal fluid , and the liver , spleen , kidneys , uterus and bladder . It showed the blood vessels diverging from the heart. The Ebers Papyrus ( c.  1550 BCE ) features

12549-467: The epidermis are modified into horny scales which create a waterproof layer. Reptiles are unable to use their skin for respiration as do amphibians and have a more efficient respiratory system drawing air into their lungs by expanding their chest walls. The heart resembles that of the amphibian but there is a septum which more completely separates the oxygenated and deoxygenated bloodstreams. The reproductive system has evolved for internal fertilization, with

12690-413: The epidermis is normally formed of epithelial cells and secretes an extracellular matrix which provides support to the organism. An endoskeleton derived from the mesoderm is present in echinoderms , sponges and some cephalopods . Exoskeletons are derived from the epidermis and is composed of chitin in arthropods (insects, spiders, ticks, shrimps, crabs, lobsters). Calcium carbonate constitutes

12831-429: The epithelial lining and in the large intestine there are intestinal villi . Skin consists of an outer layer of keratinized stratified squamous epithelium that covers the exterior of the vertebrate body. Keratinocytes make up to 95% of the cells in the skin . The epithelial cells on the external surface of the body typically secrete an extracellular matrix in the form of a cuticle . In simple animals this may just be

12972-610: The equivalent of tissues and organs. Locomotion is often provided by cilia or flagella or may proceed via the advance of pseudopodia , food may be gathered by phagocytosis , energy needs may be supplied by photosynthesis and the cell may be supported by an endoskeleton or an exoskeleton . Some protozoans can form multicellular colonies. Metazoans are a multicellular organism, with different groups of cells serving different functions. The most basic types of metazoan tissues are epithelium and connective tissue, both of which are present in nearly all invertebrates. The outer surface of

13113-405: The father of microscopical anatomy, discovered that plants had tubules similar to those he saw in insects like the silk worm. He observed that when a ring-like portion of bark was removed on a trunk a swelling occurred in the tissues above the ring, and he unmistakably interpreted this as growth stimulated by food coming down from the leaves, and being captured above the ring. Arthropods comprise

13254-435: The feathers when the bird preens . There are scales on the legs, feet and claws on the tips of the toes. Mammals are a diverse class of animals, mostly terrestrial but some are aquatic and others have evolved flapping or gliding flight. They mostly have four limbs, but some aquatic mammals have no limbs or limbs modified into fins, and the forelimbs of bats are modified into wings. The legs of most mammals are situated below

13395-443: The features of ancient fish. They have a bony skeleton, are generally laterally flattened, have five pairs of gills protected by an operculum , and a mouth at or near the tip of the snout. The dermis is covered with overlapping scales . Bony fish have a swim bladder which helps them maintain a constant depth in the water column, but not a cloaca. They mostly spawn a large number of small eggs with little yolk which they broadcast into

13536-457: The first US high school to use synthetic frogs for dissection in its science classes, instead of preserved real frogs. As for the dissection of cadavers in undergraduate and medical school, traditional dissection is supported by professors and students, with some opposition, limiting the availability of dissection. Upper-level students who have experienced this method along with their professors agree that "Studying human anatomy with colorful charts

13677-664: The first recorded public dissection around 1315. At this time, autopsies were carried out by a team consisting of a Lector, who lectured, the Sector, who did the dissection, and the Ostensor who pointed to features of interest. The Italian Galeazzo di Santa Sofia made the first public dissection north of the Alps in Vienna in 1404. Vesalius in the 16th century carried out numerous dissections in his extensive anatomical investigations. He

13818-457: The forbidden". This decision allowed for the investigation of questionable deaths by autopsy. In 1982, the decision was made by a fatwa that if it serves justice, autopsy is worth the disadvantages. Though Islam now approves of autopsy, the Islamic public still disapproves. Autopsy is prevalent in most Muslim countries for medical and judicial purposes. In Egypt it holds an important place within

13959-488: The goal of obtaining information about the structure and organization of organs and systems. Methods used include dissection , in which a body is opened and its organs studied, and endoscopy , in which a video camera -equipped instrument is inserted through a small incision in the body wall and used to explore the internal organs and other structures. Angiography using X-rays or magnetic resonance angiography are methods to visualize blood vessels. The term "anatomy"

14100-482: The head. The dermis is covered with separate dermal placoid scales . They have a cloaca into which the urinary and genital passages open, but not a swim bladder . Cartilaginous fish produce a small number of large, yolky eggs. Some species are ovoviviparous and the young develop internally but others are oviparous and the larvae develop externally in egg cases. The bony fish lineage shows more derived anatomical traits, often with major evolutionary changes from

14241-470: The history of India (2nd to 3rd century), the Arthashastra described the 4 ways that death can occur and their symptoms: drowning, hanging, strangling, or asphyxiation. According to that source, an autopsy should be performed in any case of untimely demise. The practice of dissection flourished during the 7th and 8th century. It was under their rule that medical education was standardized. This created

14382-516: The human body were made, which contributed to the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs, and nervous system. The Hellenistic Egyptian city of Alexandria was the stepping-stone for Greek anatomy and physiology. Alexandria not only housed the biggest library for medical records and books of the liberal arts in the world during the time of the Greeks but was also home to many medical practitioners and philosophers. Great patronage of

14523-468: The judicial structure, and is taught at all the country's medical universities. In Saudi Arabia, whose law is completely dictated by Shari'ah, autopsy is viewed poorly by the population but can be compelled in criminal cases; human dissection is sometimes found at university level. Autopsy is performed for judicial purposes in Qatar and Tunisia . Human dissection is present in the modern day Islamic world, but

14664-492: The largest phylum of invertebrates in the animal kingdom with over a million known species. Insects possess segmented bodies supported by a hard-jointed outer covering, the exoskeleton , made mostly of chitin . The segments of the body are organized into three distinct parts, a head, a thorax and an abdomen . The head typically bears a pair of sensory antennae , a pair of compound eyes , one to three simple eyes ( ocelli ) and three sets of modified appendages that form

14805-399: The length of the sides of fish, and these respond to nearby movements and to changes in water pressure. Sharks and rays are basal fish with numerous primitive anatomical features similar to those of ancient fish, including skeletons composed of cartilage. Their bodies tend to be dorso-ventrally flattened, they usually have five pairs of gill slits and a large mouth set on the underside of

14946-410: The lens is located to the front. Hippocrates used the Greek word καρκίνος, karkínos 'crab, crayfish' to refer to malignant tumors as carcinomas. It was Celsus who translated the Greek term into the Latin cancer , also meaning 'crab'. The first printed edition of Celsus' work was published in 1478. His style has been much admired as being equal in purity and elegance to that of the best writers of

15087-437: The lungs have a single chamber and lack bronchi . The tuatara has a well-developed parietal eye on its forehead. Lizards have skulls with only one fenestra on each side, the lower bar of bone below the second fenestra having been lost. This results in the jaws being less rigidly attached which allows the mouth to open wider. Lizards are mostly quadrupeds, with the trunk held off the ground by short, sideways-facing legs, but

15228-400: The main part of the trunk. The heart has two chambers and pumps the blood through the respiratory surfaces of the gills and on round the body in a single circulatory loop. The eyes are adapted for seeing underwater and have only local vision. There is an inner ear but no external or middle ear . Low frequency vibrations are detected by the lateral line system of sense organs that run along

15369-477: The more developed animals whose structures and organs are formed from three germ layers are called triploblastic . All of a triploblastic animal's tissues and organs are derived from the three germ layers of the embryo, the ectoderm , mesoderm and endoderm . Animal tissues can be grouped into four basic types: connective , epithelial , muscle and nervous tissue . Connective tissues are fibrous and made up of cells scattered among inorganic material called

15510-475: The nerves form a nerve net , but in most animals they are organized longitudinally into bundles. In simple animals, receptor neurons in the body wall cause a local reaction to a stimulus. In more complex animals, specialized receptor cells such as chemoreceptors and photoreceptors are found in groups and send messages along neural networks to other parts of the organism. Neurons can be connected together in ganglia . In higher animals, specialized receptors are

15651-416: The notochord, and the gastrointestinal tract is below it. Nervous tissue is derived from the ectoderm , connective tissues are derived from mesoderm , and gut is derived from the endoderm . At the posterior end is a tail which continues the spinal cord and vertebrae but not the gut. The mouth is found at the anterior end of the animal, and the anus at the base of the tail. The defining characteristic of

15792-428: The only anatomical textbook for the next thousand years. His work was known to Renaissance doctors only through Islamic Golden Age medicine until it was translated from Greek sometime in the 15th century. Anatomy developed little from classical times until the sixteenth century; as the historian Marie Boas writes, "Progress in anatomy before the sixteenth century is as mysteriously slow as its development after 1500

15933-492: The only two groups permitted to carry out dissections, and had an annual quota of ten cadavers between them. As a result of pressure from anatomists, especially in the rapidly growing medical schools, the Murder Act 1752 allowed the bodies of executed murderers to be dissected for anatomical research and education. By the 19th century this supply of cadavers proved insufficient, as the public medical schools were growing, and

16074-401: The organ block, and the technique of Ghon involves dissection of three separate blocks of organs - the thorax and cervical areas, gastrointestinal and abdominal organs, and urogenital organs. Dissection of individual organs involves accessing the area in which the organ is situated, and systematically removing the anatomical connections of that organ to its surroundings. For example, when removing

16215-469: The presence of live animals in the classroom with appropriate consideration to the age and maturity level of the students …NABT urges teachers to be aware that alternatives to dissection have their limitations. NABT supports the use of these materials as adjuncts to the educational process but not as exclusive replacements for the use of actual organisms." The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) "supports including live animals as part of instruction in

16356-506: The private medical schools lacked legal access to cadavers. A thriving black market arose in cadavers and body parts, leading to the creation of the profession of body snatching , and the infamous Burke and Hare murders in 1828, when 16 people were murdered for their cadavers, to be sold to anatomists. The resulting public outcry led to the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832 , which increased the legal supply of cadavers for dissection. By

16497-546: The processes and recesses of each and whether any part is inserted into another or receives the part of another into itself." Galen was another such writer who was familiar with the studies of Herophilus and Erasistratus. The ancient societies that were rooted in India left behind artwork on how to kill animals during a hunt. The images showing how to kill most effectively depending on the game being hunted relay an intimate knowledge of both external and internal anatomy as well as

16638-412: The prospective students used gourds and squash. These techniques of dissection gave rise to an advanced understanding of the anatomy and the enabled them to complete procedures used today, such as rhinoplasty. During medieval times the anatomical teachings from India spread throughout the known world; however, the practice of dissection was stunted by Islam. The practice of dissection at a university level

16779-537: The relative importance of organs. The knowledge was mostly gained through hunters preparing the recently captured prey. Once the roaming lifestyle was no longer necessary it was replaced in part by the civilization that formed in the Indus Valley. Unfortunately, there is little that remains from this time to indicate whether or not dissection occurred, the civilization was lost to the Aryan people migrating . Early in

16920-889: The required dissection. The suit gave publicity to anti-dissection advocates. Graham appeared in a 1987 Apple Computer commercial for the virtual-dissection software Operation Frog. The state of California passed a Student's Rights Bill in 1988 requiring that objecting students be allowed to complete alternative projects. Opting out of dissection increased through the 1990s. In the United States, 17 states along with Washington, D.C. have enacted dissection-choice laws or policies that allow students in primary and secondary education to opt out of dissection. Other states including Arizona, Hawaii, Minnesota, Texas, and Utah have more general policies on opting out on moral, religious, or ethical grounds. To overcome these concerns, J. W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Florida , in 2019 became

17061-524: The revival of an interest in medical studies, including human dissection and autopsy. Frederick II (1194–1250), the Holy Roman emperor, ruled that any that were studying to be a physician or a surgeon must attend a human dissection , which would be held no less than every five years. Some European countries began legalizing the dissection of executed criminals for educational purposes in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Mondino de Luzzi carried out

17202-493: The same underlying skeletal structure was inherited from their last common ancestor. This is one of the arguments put forward by Charles Darwin to support his theory of evolution . The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always externally visible. The skeleton, which forms the support structure inside the fish, is either made of cartilage, in cartilaginous fish , or bone in bony fish . The main skeletal element

17343-670: The shells of molluscs , brachiopods and some tube-building polychaete worms and silica forms the exoskeleton of the microscopic diatoms and radiolaria . Other invertebrates may have no rigid structures but the epidermis may secrete a variety of surface coatings such as the pinacoderm of sponges, the gelatinous cuticle of cnidarians ( polyps , sea anemones , jellyfish ) and the collagenous cuticle of annelids . The outer epithelial layer may include cells of several types including sensory cells, gland cells and stinging cells. There may also be protrusions such as microvilli , cilia, bristles, spines and tubercles . Marcello Malpighi ,

17484-428: The study of cells . The history of anatomy is characterized by a progressive understanding of the functions of the organs and structures of the human body. Methods have also improved dramatically, advancing from the examination of animals by dissection of carcasses and cadavers (corpses) to 20th-century medical imaging techniques, including X-ray , ultrasound , and magnetic resonance imaging . Derived from

17625-741: The tail is laterally compressed. It undulates from side to side to force the animal through the water when swimming. The tough keratinized scales provide body armour and some are fused to the skull. The nostrils, eyes and ears are elevated above the top of the flat head enabling them to remain above the surface of the water when the animal is floating. Valves seal the nostrils and ears when it is submerged. Unlike other reptiles, crocodilians have hearts with four chambers allowing complete separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Birds are tetrapods but though their hind limbs are used for walking or hopping, their front limbs are wings covered with feathers and adapted for flight. Birds are endothermic , have

17766-401: The toes are often webbed for swimming or have suction pads for climbing. Frogs have large eyes and no tail. Salamanders resemble lizards in appearance; their short legs project sideways, the belly is close to or in contact with the ground and they have a long tail. Caecilians superficially resemble earthworms and are limbless. They burrow by means of zones of muscle contractions which move along

17907-415: The tripartite division of medicine at the time as established by Hippocrates and Asclepiades — diet, pharmacology , and surgery ." It is divided into eight books. In the "Prooemium" or introduction to De Medicina there is an early discussion of the relevance of theory to medical practice and the pros and cons of both animal experimentation and human experimentation . Celsus discusses, for example,

18048-538: The trunk, which is held well clear of the ground. The bones of mammals are well ossified and their teeth, which are usually differentiated, are coated in a layer of prismatic enamel . The teeth are shed once ( milk teeth ) during the animal's lifetime or not at all, as is the case in cetaceans . Mammals have three bones in the middle ear and a cochlea in the inner ear . They are clothed in hair and their skin contains glands which secrete sweat . Some of these glands are specialized as mammary glands , producing milk to feed

18189-442: The vertebrae. Their skulls are mostly broad and short, and are often incompletely ossified. Their skin contains little keratin and lacks scales, but contains many mucous glands and in some species, poison glands. The hearts of amphibians have three chambers, two atria and one ventricle . They have a urinary bladder and nitrogenous waste products are excreted primarily as urea . Amphibians breathe by means of buccal pumping ,

18330-437: The water column. Amphibians are a class of animals comprising frogs , salamanders and caecilians . They are tetrapods , but the caecilians and a few species of salamander have either no limbs or their limbs are much reduced in size. Their main bones are hollow and lightweight and are fully ossified and the vertebrae interlock with each other and have articular processes . Their ribs are usually short and may be fused to

18471-411: The young. Mammals breathe with lungs and have a muscular diaphragm separating the thorax from the abdomen which helps them draw air into the lungs. The mammalian heart has four chambers, and oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are kept entirely separate. Nitrogenous waste is excreted primarily as urea. Mammals are amniotes , and most are viviparous , giving birth to live young. Exceptions to this are

18612-425: Was also responsible for naming and describing the function of the epiglottis and the heart's valves, including the tricuspid. During the third century, Greek physicians were able to differentiate nerves from blood vessels and tendons and to realize that the nerves convey neural impulses. It was Herophilus who made the point that damage to motor nerves induced paralysis. Herophilus named the meninges and ventricles in

18753-453: Was at the time a strong push by the Ptolemaic government to build Alexandria into a hub of scientific study. For a time, Roman law forbade dissection and autopsy of the human body, so anatomists relied on the cadavers of animals or made observations of human anatomy from injuries of the living. Galen , for example, dissected the Barbary macaque and other primates, assuming their anatomy

18894-466: Was attacked frequently for his disagreement with Galen's opinions on human anatomy. Vesalius was the first to lecture and dissect the cadaver simultaneously. The Catholic Church is known to have ordered an autopsy on conjoined twins Joana and Melchiora Ballestero in Hispaniola in 1533 to determine whether they shared a soul. They found that there were two distinct hearts, and hence two souls, based on

19035-621: Was basically the same as that of humans, and supplemented these observations with knowledge of human anatomy which he acquired while tending to wounded gladiators. Celsus wrote in On Medicine I Proem 23 , "Herophilus and Erasistratus proceeded in by far the best way: they cut open living men - criminals they obtained out of prison from the kings and they observed, while their subjects still breathed, parts that nature had previously hidden, their position, color, shape, size, arrangement, hardness, softness, smoothness, points of contact, and finally

19176-534: Was later translated and took the place of Avicenna 's The Canon of Medicine as the primary teaching tool in Europe from the 12th century to the 17th century. There were some that were willing to dissect humans up to the 12th century, for the sake of learning, after which it was forbidden. This attitude remained constant until 1952, when the Islamic School of Jurisprudence in Egypt ruled that "necessity permits

19317-580: Was not seen again until 1827, when it was performed by the student Pandit Madhusudan Gupta. Through the 1900s, the university teachers had to continually push against the social taboos of dissection, until around 1850 when the universities decided that it was more cost effective to train Indian doctors than bring them in from Britain. Indian medical schools were, however, training female doctors well before those in England. The current state of dissection in India

19458-421: Was particularly concerned with studies of the circulatory and nervous systems. He could distinguish the human body's sensory and motor nerves and believed air entered the lungs and heart, which was then carried throughout the body. His distinction between the arteries and veins—the arteries carrying the air through the body, while the veins carry the blood from the heart was a great anatomical discovery. Erasistratus

19599-537: Was rare during the Middle Ages, but it was practised, with evidence from at least as early as the 13th century. The practice of autopsy in Medieval Western Europe is "very poorly known" as few surgical texts or conserved human dissections have survived. A modern Jesuit scholar has claimed that the Christian theology contributed significantly to the revival of human dissection and autopsy by providing

19740-578: Was sometimes ordered as a form of punishment, as, for example, in 1806 to James Halligan and Dominic Daley after their public hanging in Northampton, Massachusetts. In modern Europe, dissection is routinely practised in biological research and education, in medical schools, and to determine the cause of death in autopsy. It is generally considered a necessary part of learning and is thus accepted culturally. It sometimes attracts controversy, as when Odense Zoo decided to dissect lion cadavers in public before

19881-409: Was the standard anatomy textbook for the next century. Aulus Cornelius Celsus Aulus Cornelius Celsus ( c. 25 BC – c. 50 AD) was a Roman encyclopaedist, known for his extant medical work, De Medicina , which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia . The De Medicina is a primary source on diet , pharmacy , surgery and related fields, and it

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