hellenistic · Alexandria

Erasistratus of Ceos Ἐρασίστρατος

fl. c. 260 BCE

Plates

• Tab. III: Nerves are not tendons (c. 300–250 BCE)
  In Alexandria, nerves are told apart from tendons and vessels. Rumours of vivisection follow.

What they got wrong

• Arteries carry pneuma, not blood Followers of Erasistratus held that the arteries carry an air-like pneuma, and that blood appears in a cut artery only because it rushes in from the veins.