Galen on the Brain: Anatomical Knowledge and Physiological Speculation in the Second Century Ad (Studies in Ancient Medicine)

347 Pages·2003·2.33 MB·English

by  Julius Rocca

GALEN ON THE BRAIN:
Anatomical Knowledge
and Physiological
Speculation in the Second
Century AD
Julius Rocca
BRILL
GALEN ON THE BRAIN
STUDIES IN
ANCIENT MEDICINE
EDITED BY
JOHN SCARBOROUGH
PHILIP J. VAN DER EIJK
ANN HANSON
NANCY SIRAISI
VOLUME 26
GALEN ON THE BRAIN
Anatomical Knowledge and Physiological
Speculation in the Second Century AD
BY
JULIUS ROCCA
BRILL
LEIDEN •BOSTON
2003
Cover Illustration
Galen in Roman dress forms part of a striking stained-glass triptych in the Old Medical
School, University of Sydney, Australia. With kind permission of Professor Jonathan Stone,
Department of Anatomy, and Professor Anne Sefton, Department of Physiology, University
of Sydney.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Rocca, Julius:
Galen on the brain
Anatomical knowledge and physiological speculation in the second century
AD/ by Julius Rocca. – Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2003
(Studies in ancient medicine ; Vol. 26)
ISBN 90-04-12512-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is also available
ISSN 0925–1421
ISBN 90 04 12512 4
© Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
To my mother, Joan Alice
and
to the memory of her parents,
Emma Jane Crowley and Thomas Samuel Bull
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ...................................................................... xi
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xiii
Illustrations .................................................................................. xv
Note to the Reader .................................................................... xvii
Preface ........................................................................................ xix
General Introduction: Galen and his time .............................. 1
PART ONE
THE FRAMEWORK OF
GALEN’S ANATOMICAL METHODOLOGY
Chapter One: The development of the hegemonic concept:
the medical and philosophical background
1.1 Introduction .................................................................. 17
1.2 Presocratic knowledge of the brain ............................ 21
1.3 The brain in the Hippocratic Corpus ........................ 24
1.4 Aristotle on the brain and the heart .......................... 28
1.5 Hellenistic medicine and the hegemonikon .................... 31
1.6 The second century AD: a recovery of anatomical
knowledge ...................................................................... 42
1.7 Conclusion ...................................................................... 46
Chapter Two: Galen’s methods and materials for the
investigation of the brain
2.1 Introduction .................................................................. 49
2.2 Galen’s claims for anatomical demonstration ............ 50
2.3 Galen’s pneumatic physiology ...................................... 59
2.4 Galen’s empirical substrate: animal material .............. 67
2.5 Conclusion ...................................................................... 77
viii 
PART TWO
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BRAIN
Chapter Three: The exposure and dissection of the brain
3.1 Introduction .................................................................. 81
3.2 The parts of the brain: orientation and
nomenclature .................................................................. 82
3.3 The cranial cavity and the anatomical exposure of
the brain ........................................................................ 86
3.4 The meninges (i): the dura mater and the dural
foldings ............................................................................ 91
3.5 The meninges (ii): the dural venous sinuses .................. 94
3.6 The meninges (iii): the venous sinuses and the torcular
Herophili .......................................................................... 96
3.7 The meninges (iv): the pia mater ...................................... 104
3.8 Ventricular protection and support: the brain’s
deeper bodies ................................................................ 106
3.9 Conclusion ...................................................................... 112
Chapter Four: The anatomy of the ventricular system
4.1 Introduction .................................................................. 113
4.2 Ventricular symmetry: a constructed harmony .......... 114
4.3 An overview of Galen’s ventricular system ................ 116
4.4 The anterior ventricles .................................................. 119
4.5 The middle ventricle .................................................... 135
4.6 The “duct of Erasistratus” and the vermiform
epiphysis ........................................................................ 151
4.7 The “cavity of Herophilus”: the fourth ventricle ...... 160
4.8 Conclusion ...................................................................... 167
PART THREE
A PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIN
Chapter Five: A methodology of ventricular function
5.1 Introduction .................................................................. 171
5.2 Galen’s method of ventricular experimentation .......... 172
5.3 The effects of pressure: chance and the youth from
Smyrna .......................................................................... 181
 ix
5.4 Pressure as an experimental technique ...................... 187
5.5 The effects of ventricular incision ................................ 192
5.6 The soul and the ventricles .......................................... 196
5.7 Conclusion ...................................................................... 198
Chapter Six: The elaboration of psychic pneuma
6.1 Introduction .................................................................. 201
6.2 The anatomy of the retiform plexus .......................... 202
6.3 The physiology of the retiform plexus: Galen’s
“paradigm” for pneumatic elaboration ........................ 208
6.4 The anatomy and physiology of the choroid plexus .. 219
6.5 The experiment of carotid ligation .............................. 224
6.6 The limits of Galenic pneumatic physiology .............. 235
6.7 Conclusion ...................................................................... 237
Chapter Seven: Conclusion ...................................................... 239
Appendix One
The doctrine of ventricular localisation .................................. 245
Appendix Two
Galenism and the status of the retiform plexus ...................... 249
Glossary of Anatomical Terms ................................................ 255
Bibliography ................................................................................ 261
Index of Sources and List of Editions .................................... 283
General index ............................................................................ 299