Editing History of medicine (section)

==== Herophilus and Erasistratus ====
[[File:Heraklas Plinthios Brokhos Jaw Sling.jpg|thumb|The ''plinthios brochos'' as described by Greek physician [[Heraklas]], a sling for binding a [[Bone fracture|fractured]] [[Human mandible|jaw]]. These writings were preserved in one of [[Oribasius]]' collections.<ref name="cldquipu">{{cite book | vauthors = Day CL | title = Quipus and Witches' Knots | url = https://archive.org/details/quipuswitcheskno0000dayc | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Kansas Press | year = 1967 | location = Lawrence, Kansas | pages = [https://archive.org/details/quipuswitcheskno0000dayc/page/86 86]–89, 124–26 }}</ref>]]
Two great [[Alexandria]]ns laid the foundations for the scientific study of anatomy and physiology, [[Herophilus of Chalcedon]] and [[Erasistratus of Ceos]].<ref name="Longrigg1993">{{cite book| vauthors = Longrigg J |title=Greek Rational Medicine: Philosophy and Medicine from Alcmaeon to the Alexandrians |year=1993|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-02594-2 }}</ref> Other Alexandrian surgeons gave us ligature (hemostasis), [[lithotomy]], [[hernia]] operations, [[ophthalmic surgery]], [[plastic surgery]], methods of reduction of dislocations and fractures, [[tracheotomy]], and [[mandrake]] as an [[anaesthetic]]. Some of what we know of them comes from [[Aulus Cornelius Celsus|Celsus]] and [[Galen]] of Pergamum.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book | vauthors = Galen | title = On the Natural Faculties, Books I, II, and III | publisher = Loeb Classical Library | location = Harvard | date = 2000 }}</ref>

[[Herophilos|Herophilus of Chalcedon]], the renowned Alexandrian physician, was one of the pioneers of human anatomy. Though his knowledge of the anatomical structure of the human body was vast, he specialized in the aspects of neural anatomy.<ref name="Vallance_1993">{{cite journal | vauthors = Vallance JT | title = Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria. | journal = Ancient Philosophy | date = April 1993 | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 237–241 | doi = 10.5840/ancientphil199313163 }}</ref> Thus, his experimentation was centered around the anatomical composition of the blood-vascular system and the pulsations that can be analyzed from the system.<ref name="Vallance_1993" /> Furthermore, the surgical experimentation he administered caused him to become very prominent throughout the field of medicine, as he was one of the first physicians to initiate the exploration and dissection of the human body.<ref name="Britannica_Herophilus">{{cite encyclopedia | title = Herophilus (Alexandrian physician) | encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica Online | date = 2020 | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica Inc | url = https://www.britannica.com/science/anatomy | access-date = 2022-09-20 | archive-date = 2019-04-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190408004804/https://www.britannica.com/science/anatomy | url-status = live }}</ref>

The banned practice of human dissection was lifted during his time within the scholastic community. This brief moment in the history of Greek medicine allowed him to further study the brain, which he believed was the core of the nervous system.<ref name="Britannica_Herophilus" /> He also distinguished between [[vein]]s and [[artery|arteries]], noting that the latter [[pulse]] and the former do not. Thus, while working at the medical school of [[Alexandria]], Herophilus placed intelligence in the brain based on his surgical exploration of the body, and he connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. In addition, he and his contemporary, [[Erasistratus|Erasistratus of Chios]], continued to research the role of veins and [[nerve]]s. After conducting extensive research, the two Alexandrians mapped out the course of the veins and nerves across the human body. Erasistratus connected the increased complexity of the surface of the human brain compared to other animals to its superior [[intelligence]]. He sometimes employed experiments to further his research, at one time repeatedly weighing a caged bird, and noting its weight loss between feeding times.<ref name="Mason_1962" /> In [[Erasistratus]]' physiology, air enters the body, is then drawn by the lungs into the heart, where it is transformed into vital spirit, and is then pumped by the arteries throughout the body. Some of this vital spirit reaches the brain, where it is transformed into animal spirit, which is then distributed by the nerves.<ref name="Mason_1962">{{cite book | vauthors = Mason SF |title=A History of the Sciences. |date=1962 |publisher=Collier Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02-093400-4 |edition=New rev. | page = 57 }}</ref>