Ambrose Parey claims a greater share of attention. His works may he even at this time read with considerable profit, as he treats of every branch of the science with considerable judgment and precision. He was the first who condemned the practice of dressing gun shot wounds with hot irritating oils; and to him the checking haemorrhages by ligatures on the arteries has been attributed. He possesses such a variety of merit, that he may resign his claim to this discovery without any injury to his fair fame. Franco is a French surgeon, who treats with singular precision on hernia, and mentions the use of the seton in hydrocele. He was the inventor of the high operation for the stone, urged by necessity, as it was too large to be extracted by De Romanis' plan. Paracelsus was also a surgeon of this era, but of no credit; Forestus deserves a higher character, and his works even at this time are valuable.

It may appear that we have forgotten the history of anatomy; but in the whole of this period no anatomist of character has appeared to claim our attention. We now, however, approach a period when the science was assiduously cultivated; and we have passed over Fallopius and Vesalius, who, though distinguished as surgeons, yet merit more particular notice as anatomists.

Anatomy, in the sixteenth century, dawned with Sylvius; but, servilely attached to Galen, he did little more than explain that author's works. Vesalius was his pupil; and, ardent in the study of anatomy, he soon discovered many errors in the descriptions of Galen, and clearly showed that they were taken from the dissections of brutes, particularly apes. The clamour which this accusation excited was inconceivable: even deny -ing the infallibility of the pope would have been, among the anatomists of that era, a comparatively venial crime. His master, Sylvius,continued for ever,on this account, his irreconcilable enemy. Science, however, gained by the contest; for, if Vesalius and Galen were at issue, the contest must be decided by actual observation. The result was, on the whole, favourable to Vesalius; but unfortunately he was, in some instances, detected in the same disingenuity of which he accused Galen. The anatomy of Vesalius, however, continued to be for ages a work of peculiar interest and value. The early editions are illustrated with wooden cuts, it is said, from the drawings of Titian. They are, indeed, executed in a style truly masterly; but the great painters of that era, Raphael, Titian, and Leonardo de Vinci, were excellent anatomists, so far as the structure of the parts influenced the external form.

Fallopius was also an author of this century, though later than Vesalius. His Observationes Anatomicae were published in 1561, and his discoveries were numerous. The tubes which convey the ovum to the uterus still bear his name. Eustachius lived some later. His tables, which he himself engraved, were found without any explanations, and published by Lan-cisi, in 1714, with some short and imperfect elucidations. They were republished by Albinus, with a copious commentary; and even at this time are, with a few exceptions, very correct and satisfactory. Eustachius was. however, no man's friend, and a violent enemy of Vesalius. His anatomical discoveries were numerous and important. Though able and scientific, yet, from a spirit of opposition, he often defended Galen; and thought that he had gained a victory, when he proved that some of the parts were not described from apes, as Vesalius supposed, though he admitted that they were copied from brutes. He intended that his plates should be explained by a geometrical gnomon, to avoid the obscurity which letters of reference would occasion; but. his plan is lost.

The other anatomists of this century are not of sufficient importance to detain us long. Yet we ought. not to omit, in the Italian school, the only one to which we are indebted for anatomical knowledge, Mercurials. who merits more particular attention as a practical physician, but who was also an expert anatomist; Caesal-pinus, who clearly described the lesser circulation through the lungs; Varolius, whose name is preserved in a distinguished part of the brain; Schenckius, whose collections furnish us with so many singular, often incredible narratives; Casper Bauhine, the botanist: Laurenti; Castellus, our predecessor in lexicography . Fabricius, ab Aquapendente; Hildanus; Kepler, the astronomer; Riolan: the elder Bartholine. C. Hoffman. Sennertus, Spigelius. and Severinus.

We have, contrary to our intention, stepped beyond the limits of the sixteenth century, to extend our historical sketch to the period of Harvey. The early part of the seventeenth century was the era of discoveries, Asellus ascertained the existence of the lacteals, Harvey of the circulation of the blood; while he, at the same time, established many important facts respecting the generation of animals, establishing, on the firmest foundation, that universal axiom, omne ex ovo. The discovery of the circulation has immortalized the name of Harvey; yet we must add, that the facts already established left little more to be done than to collect and compare them; nor have we any hesitation in remarking, that the greatest discoveries, that of Newton, respecting the universal influence of gravitation, and of a new world by Columbus, were in the same way prepared, so as to require only "patient thinking,"attentive examination, and a comparison of facts already known. Servetus alluded to the lesser circulation through the lungs; Caesalpinus described it more distinctly, and proved it by the structure and situation of the valves. May not then all the blood in the body circulate? The question was ready and obvious; and the chief merit of Harvey and of Newton was that of bringing a simple suggestion to such a rigorous examination, as incontestably to demonstrate its truth. It has been triumphantly asked, What have we gained by either ? Were it no more, we have divested superstition of its terrors, and quackery of its vain pretensions; but the discovery of Harvey imperceptibly mixes in every step, either of speculation or practice: the result is now so interwoven with every thought, that its influence is not perceived.