greco roman · Pergamon and Rome

Galen of Pergamon Γαληνός

129–c. 216

Plates

• Tab. VI: Arteries carry blood (c. 160s–190s)
  Tie off an artery at both ends, cut it, and look inside.
• Tab. VII: The squealing pig falls silent (c. 160s–190s)
  Before an audience in Rome, Galen cuts one nerve and a pig loses its voice.

What they got wrong

• Pores in the heart's wall Blood seeps from the right to the left side of the heart through invisible pores in the septum.
• A "wonderful net" under the human brain A network of vessels at the base of the brain, the rete mirabile, refines vital spirit into animal spirit.
• The lower jaw is two bones The human lower jaw is made of two bones joined at the chin.
• The liver makes the blood, and the body uses it up Blood is made continuously in the liver from digested food, flows outwards through the veins and is consumed by the tissues.