VESPASIAN
379
VESPASIAN
adua, where he took the degree of Doctor of Medi-
ne, and on 6 Dec. was appointed professor of
irgery and anatomy at Padua. Contrary to cus-
im, Vesalius dissected the bodies himself and ex-
ained the different parts: tlie former usage had
>en for a surgeon to dissect while a physician read
oud suitable chapters from Galen or the "Ana-
imie" of Mundino. In 1538 he published the
Tabulae anatomica;" from his own drawings and
lose of the painter Johann Stephan of Kalkar;
lis was the first fruits of his investigations. His
hours led him to the conviction that Claudius
alenus had never dissected the dead body of a
human being, and
that Galen's cele-
brated "Anat-
omy" lacks the
stamp of truthful-
ness, as it is
based almost en-
tirely on the dis-
section of apes.
In 1540 he began
his celebrated
work "Fabrica",
in 1542 went to
Basle in order to
stipervise the
lirinting of it, re-
turned to Padua
at the end of 1.543
after the publica-
tion was com-
pleted, spent a
short time in
Bologna and Pisa,
Andreas Vera
Painting by G. Calpa
id in 1544 was appointed court physician to the
mperor Charles V. Up to the time of the emperor's
)dication in 1556, Vesalius accompanied Charles
1 all his journeys and campaigns. After the abdica-
3n he entered the service of King Philip II of Spain.
jT unknown reasons, in the spring of 1564 he under-
ok a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, from which he
'ver returned.
The services of Vesalius to anatomy were that he IS the first to lead the way to independent invest i- ition in the examination of the structure of the iman body, and in the teaching concerning it, id that he discovered the numerous errors of Galen. 1 so doing he destroyed the foimdation of the whole aching of Galenism and of the belief in its authority, id pointed out the way for the free investigation of iture. However, the numerous followers of Galen ^gan a bitter struggle against the daring investiga- r, and even the medical school of Padua turned
- ainst him. Jacobus Sylvius called him a madman
esanus) and declared that an advance beyond the lowledge of Galen was impossible, and] that Galen id not erred, but probably the human body had langed since then. Bartholomew Eustachius of ome declared he would rather err with Galen than icept the truth from the innovator. His enemies •en sought to prevent his appointment ,as physician the emperor and si)read slanders broadcast, so that psalius, depressed by his troubles, threw a large irt of his manuscript works into the fire. Never- leless his works and drawings were frequently ied by opponents unrighteously for their own ivantage.
His most important works are: "Paraphrasis in )num librum Rhaza' ad Almansorem" (Basle, )37); "Tabuhe anatomic*" (Venice, 1.538); "Epis- ila docens venam axillarem dextri cubiti in dolore terali secandam" (Ba-sle, 1.543, 1555); "De humani jrporis fabrica libri septem" (Ba.sle, 1.543, 1555), s chief work, containing numerous plates, and
- peatedly reprinted; "Suonim de humani corporis
fabrica librorum epitome" (Basle, 1543); "Epistola
rationem modumque propinandi radicis Chyna;
decocti, quo nuper invictissimus Carolus V imperator
usus est, pert ractans" (Basle, 1546); "Anatomicarum
Gabrielis Fallopii observationum examen" (Venice,
1564); "Opera omnia anatomiea et chirurgica", ed.
by H. Boerhaave and B. S. Albinus (Leyden, 1725).
In addition, in "Galeni opera omnia" (Venice, 1541),
the following translations: I, ii, p. 49, "Galeni de
nervorum dissectione liber"; I, ii, p. 50, "Galeni de
venarura arteriarumque dissectione liber"; I, ii, p. 58,
"Galeni de anatomicis administrationibus libri
novem". The treatise "GabrieUs Cunei Medio-
lanensis apologia; Franc. Putei pro Galeni anatome
examen" (Venice, 1564) is not by Vesalius, as H.
Haeser ("Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Medizin", II,
1881, 39) beUeves.
The story, that towards the end of his life Vesalius came into conflict with the Inquisition, is found in a letter, written at Paris under date of 1 Jan., 1565, by Hubertus Languetus to Kaspar Peucer. A rumour brought from Spain said that Vesalius had dissected a distinguished man whose heart still beat, and was therefore accused of murder by the family of the deceased. In order to secure a more severe punish- ment the family also made an accusation of atheism against him before the Inquisition. Only the personal intervention of Philip II saved him from the death penalty, and Vesalius was obliged as penance to under- take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. Modern historians regard the report as a malicious invention, and aU the more as, according to his own statement, Vesalius never had an opportunity in Spain to perform a dissection. At that era a scholar with so many enemies, one who generally struck out new ideas in opposition to the commonly-held opin- ion, could easily be accused of heresy. To many his relations with Protestant scholars appeared suspicious. When a young man he had a dispute about 1536 with the theologians of Louvain because he differed from them as to the seat of the soul. About the same time an opponent characterized Vesalius in connexion with a dispute about blood-letting, as the "Luther of the physicians". There is not a single sentence in his writings which has even the appearance of heresy. In speaking of the seat of the soul he blames the theo- logians for wishing to solve such questions without understanding anatomy. Personally he avoided expressing his opinion, in order not to fall under sus- picion of heresy. In that age there could be only one reason for such a dangerous journey as one to the Holy Land, namely strong religious feeling.
Roth, Aiuireas Vesalius Bruxeltensis (Berlin, 1892), an ex- haustive authority.
Leopold Senfelder.
Vespasian (Titus Flavitjs Ve.spasianus), Roman Emperor, b. at Reate (now Rieti), the ancient capital of the Sabines, 18 Nov., A. D. 9; d. there, 23 June, 79. His father was a prosperous tax-gatherer and money- lender, while the fact that his mother's brother was a senator may have at lea.st encouraged him to enter the public service. Early in his career he had opportu- nities to become famihar with conditions in the Le- vant, where he served as qua'stor; before entering his thirty-fourth year he had filled still more important magistracies. After serving with the army in Ger- many, he made a successful expedition into Southern Britain in command of the Second Legion, and at- tained con.sular rank in a. d. 51. Ten years later he was proconsul in Africa. He first apiiears in history as a member of the imperial suite when he accom- panied Nero on a tfnir through Greece; but Vespasian was evidently a very poor co\irtier, for it is said that he fell asleep in Nero's presence while the emperor was reciting one of his own poems. In spite of this offen- sive conduct, and cither because Nero could be sensi- ble enough to forget personal animosities when rea-
