THIS Place is sacred to the study of God's Works , for the benefit of Mankind ; the Occasion of this Assembly , rare , inaugural , and worthy of the greatest solemnity ; the Assembly it self , frequent , and consisting ( for the major part ) of Men Noble , Wise , Learned and Curiose ; and my talent , but a mite . Highly then it concerns me , before I advance one step , to stand still , a moment or two , and seriously consider , what my Subject is , and what my Province .

My SUBIECT is , the most abstruse Oeconomy of Nature in the body of Man ; a System of innumerable smaller Machines or Engines , by infinite Wisdom fram'd and compacted into one most beautiful , greater Automaton : all whose parts are among themselves different in their sensible elements , in their magnitudes , figures , positions , textures , motions , actions and uses ; yet all ordain'd and adjusted to one common End , namely , to compose a Living Ergasterium or Work-house , in which a Reasonable and Immortal Soul may , not only commodiously , but also with delight , exercise all her divine Faculties , to her own felicity , and to the praise and glory of her Omnipotent Creator . A Subject ( as ye , Noble and most judicious Auditors , will all readily acknowledge ) admirable even to astonishment ; full of variety , and no less full of wonders : a Subject , wherein the most acute and piercing Wits have found more , much more to amuse , than to satisfie their Curiosity ; and which hath forced them , after all their anxious disquisitions , to sigh forth that pious Exclamation of King David , Quàm admirabili nos structurâ Deus formavit !

My PROVINCE is , the Anatomic Administration of these ruines of a Man , i. e. to take asunder some few at least of the various Organs of this Master-piece of the Creation , so that we may explore their several conduit-pipes , their springs , movements , actions , communications , offices , in fine , their whole Mechanism or Construction , upon which their respective Functions necessarily depend . For , most certain it is , that the Divine Architect hath fram'd all things , as in the Greater World , so likewise in this Microcosm , in number , weight , and measure : and we have it , as a precept , from our Oracle Hippocrates ( lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) that a genuine Physician ought [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] to evince whatsoever he delivers as doctrine ( if it be possible ) by demonstration .

These things consider'd , I appeal to You , Most Prudent and Venerable President , who have been pleas'd , from Your good opinion , not of my sufficiency , but only of my diligence , this day to place me where I deserve not to sit ; and to You , my most Learned Collegues of this Illustrious Society , who honour me by your presence : whether it be not necessary for me to set before you , in a short Proem , some at least of the many sentiments I have conceiv'd in my mind , of the singular Dignity and Excellency of the task assign'd me . When by so doing , I shall at once pay some part of the debt I owe , both to the honour of this Temple of Philosophy , in which we now sit ; and to the Solemnity of this Convention : and shew my self , however unfit worthily to administre so noble a Province , yet duely conscious of the weight of it ; which may perhaps somewhat conduce to render my faileurs the more Venial .

That I may therefore both invite your Attention , and pre-ingage your Candor ; I ask leave to make my self , for a few minutes , your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Remembrancer , by recalling into your memory , what ye have heretofore read , in the monuments of the Antients , concerning the Antiquity of the Art of Dissection ; and what ye have , from your own happy Experience and Observation , collected , touching the great and manifold Utility of the same . Which , I shall endeavour to do , with as much of Perspicuity , as the Umbrage of the Argument , and the Scantness of my Readings will permit ; with as much of Conciseness , as can be brought to consist with that Perspicuity . ¶ .

As for the ANTIQUITY of Anatomie ; that doubtless is , if not equal , yet not much inferiour in age to Medicine it self , which seems to have been invented by men in the very infancy of the World . For , ( 1. ) If Necessity be , as hitherto on all hands it hath been admitted , to have first suggested to Man all those profitable inventions , whereby Humane life has been render'd either more defensible , or more comfortable : we may with good reason infer , that the Art of Medicine , i. e. of preserving and restoring health , had its beginning as early in the morning of Time , as any of the rest : it being certain that mens bodies were then not only liable to , but actually infested with various distempers , pains , infirmities and other maladies ; the Laws and Constitutions of Nature continuing perpetually the same : and no less certain , that men observing what things were agreeable , what disagreeable to the body , what mitigated , what exasperated their maladies , were by the very dictates of Reason taught to provide for the conservation of their Health , by abstaining from things noxious , and for the restitution of it when impair'd , by using things convenient and beneficial ; as the Divine old man of Coos hath with admirable sagacity observ'd in his excellent Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Now if Medicine be so antient , 't is highly probable , that Anatomy , which is the principal fundament thereof , is not much less antient , if not equal . Could Men ( think ye ) feel themselves tormented in any member or part of the body , or unable to use the same in the actions to which it was originally destin'd and comparated , and which it had with facility and indolency alwayes perform'd before ; could they ( I say ) be sensible of this , and at the same time not highly solicitous to know in what part of that disaffected member the pain or defect chiefly lay , what piece of the Organ had been broken , stopp'd , displaced or otherwise vitiated , so as to discompose the whole frame , and make it unfit to execute its proper functions ? Or how was it possible for them to acquire this knowledge , unless by first acquainting themselves with the natural composition of that same member , i. e. with the various similar parts whereof it is made up , with their several constitutions , slzes , figures , textures , positions , connexions , &c. in fine , with the whole Mechanical ration of the organ , upon which its aptitude to perform its proper actions necessarily depends ? But this they never could do , otherwise than by dextrous dissection of that member in the body of some one or more defunct . I ghess therefore , that the Art of Dissection and that of Medicine were Twins , that had Humane Wit for their Father , and Necessity for their Mother : and ( 2. ) That they neither were born in Grece , nor are so young by a thousand years , as even most Antiquaries themselves have concluded them to be . For , tho' that great devourer of its own productions , Time , hath consumed the greatest part of the monuments of the younger world ; leaving us very few , and those too imperfect , full of chasms and decayes : yet I am able to prove , from the records of an Author or two of unquestion'd credit , and venerable antiquity , that both are much elder than most Learned men have , after long raking in the rubbish of old Athens , determin'd them to be .

It is not unknown to the Learned part of this assembly , that Ptolomaeus Philadelphus King of Aegypt , a Prince of a curious spirit and large heart , finding in the immense treasure of Books he had collected and stored up in his Library , the Histories of most other Nations , but none of his own the Aegyptians ; to supply that defect , imploy'd one Manetho , a man of solid Erudition , a Priest and Master of the Rolls kept in the Temple of Memphis , to compose a History de rebus Aegyptiacis , from the first original of that mighty people , down to his own times : and that accordingly Manetho , consulting the antique Volumes of Mercurius Secundus , which had been many hundred of years preserved in the most sacred recesses of the Temple , and the more antique Hieroglyphic Marbles , compiled out of them a true History of Aegyptian Antiquities ; a Book , whose loss all Learned Chronologers lament , whose dispers'd fragments they religiously venerate . From this Book , Syncellus , an excellent Chronographer , who flourish'd in the year 800. after our Saviours Nativity , is said to have transcribed whatever he wrote in Graec in his so much admir'd work , concerning the Dynasties of the Kings of Aegypt , and other Antiquities of that Nation ; which our most profound Reformer of the vulgar Computation of Times , Sr. John Marsham , thus commends . Quicquid supellectilis hodie superest ad instaurandas Aegyptiorum origines , id fere totum debetur Syncello ; neque tanti sunt momenti quoe Herodotus omnium primus , aut illum secutus Diodorus Siculus , de Regibus Aegypti tradiderunt .

This Syncellus , among many other memorable things pag. 54. c. recounted of the Aegyptian Kings of the first Age , delivers , That after the decease of Menes , first King of the Thinites , Son of Cham , Founder of Memphis , call'd by the Hebrews Ham , by the Aegyptians Jupiter Hammon ; Aegypt came to be divided into two Kingdoms , Thebes and Memphis : this , under Athothes or Mercury ; that , under Tosorthus or Aesculapius ; both after honor'd with Divine titles and worship . Then commemorating the virtues and merits of these two Kings , he saith of Mercury , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : he built a palace in the City of Memphis , and wrote P. 55. 6. Books of Anatomy ; for he was a Physician : of Aesculapius , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. he is held to be Aesculapius by the Aegyptians for his skill in Medicine ; and he found out the art of building with squar'd stones . This Record is attested also by Clemens Stromat . lib. 1. p. 634. b. Alexandrinus , an Author of no less credit , and near upon six hundred years elder than Syncellus , who saith expresly ; Ex 42. Mercurii Libris , 36. ad Aegyptiorum Philosophiam , 6. reliqui ad artem Medicam pertinent ; quorum primus fuit Anatomicus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , de constructione corporis .

I am not ignorant , that some great Scholars of this our Age , hold it more probable , that the Art of Anatomy here attributed to Mercury the first , was the invention rather of his equal Aesculapius , who is esteem'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Medicinae Autor . But since these same Critics deny not Mercurius and Aesculapius Aegyptius to have been Contemporaries ; it makes no difference , as to the Antiquity of Anatomy , which chiefly we are now seeking , to which of the two the glory of its first invention be ascrib'd . Let others then contend about this nicety , while we remarque , that from the Texts just now recited , three considerable things are evident .

( 1. ) That the Aegyptians have a just and clear right to the honor of the invention of the noblest of all Arts , Medicine : and therefore Pliny did them no wrong in saying , non immeritò Medicinam Aegyptii apud ipsos volunt Nat. Hist. l. 29. c. 2. repertam fuisse ; & Aesculapius Memphites inter primos hominum numeratur , qui opinione humani Dii facti sunt .

( 2. ) That the most useful inventions of the first of Historical Times , were Medicine and Architecture : one to furnish mankind with helps against infirmities of the body , the other to defend him from injuries of the air : both suggested by Necessity . Hinc quippe praematurum medicandi aedificandique studium .

( 3. ) That this our Aegyptian Aesculapius was one thousand years elder than the Aesculapius of the Graecs , who was of Epidaurus , and there for many hundred years worship'd with solemn rites and religious devotion , as the God of Health . For , Clemens Alexandrinus casteth the Apotheosis Stromat . l. 1. p. 322. or Consecration of this Aesculapius Epidaurius into the fifty third year before the sackage of Troy : telling us from Apollonius the Rhodian , that he accompanied Jason in his voyage . Which , tho' the name of Aesculapius be not found in Apollonius his list of the Argonauts , is yet probable from the consent of Times : for Machaon , son to the same Aesculapius , is by Homer numbred among the noble Graecians that bore arms at the siege of Troy . Iliad . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : Quos duo ducebant , Medicorum principe nati , Praestantes Medici , Podalirius atque Machaon . So that if we compute from the second King in the first Dynastie of the Aegyptians , down to the fifty third year precedent to the Excidium Trojae , we shall find the intervenient space of time to amount to about a thousand years . Of so much greater antiquity is the first Inventor of Medicine among the Aegyptians , than that Aesculapius to whom the Graecs erroneously or arrogantly ascribe it , and of whom Lib. 1. cap. 10. institutionum divi●●● . Lactantius saith , quid fecit aliud divinis honoribus dignum , nisi quòd sanavit Hippolytum ?

This I have noted , only to shew the great Antiquity of my Profession , not to detract from the renown of the Graecian Aesculapius , who being also excellent in the Art of Medicine , augmented the honor of it in his own Nation ; and therefore deserves from me the incense of a little breath in sacrifice to his memory . Give me leave then , I pray , to speak a few words concerning him , toward the satisfaction of those among my Auditors , who perhaps have been less conversant in Books . At Epidaurus a City in Argolis or Argia ( at this day call'd by some , Saconia , and Romania Moreae by others ) situate near the Aegean sea , he was worship'd as a Divine Numen ; having there erected to him a magnific Temple , in which the Sick , after due oblations , were lay'd to sleep , and said to be secretly taught by the God himself in their dreams , by what remedy they might certainly be heal'd . This is more fully deliver'd by Pausanias : Lib. 2. Lib. 8. and Strabo reports farther , that among many others in that place and manner restor'd to health , one Archias , son of Aristaechmus of Pergamus , was freed from dreadful Convulsions in all his limbs , only by following the counsel of his dream : and that returning to Pergamus , in gratitude he brought with him the religion and worship of the Epidaurian Temple , building another in imitation of it . De quo templo etiam Corn. Tacitus ( Annal. 3. ) in asylorum apud Graecas civitates antiquitùs constitutorum origines inquirens , haec habet : Consules apud Pergamum Aesculapii compertum asylum retulerunt : caeteros obscuris ob vetustatem initiis niti . From Pergamus the same Superstition was in process of time transferr'd also to Smyrna , and a third Temple rais'd there : in which one C. Claudius Valerius Licinnianus was Chief Priest ; as appears from a Marble not long since brought from Smyrna , and now extant in the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxon. in number the forty sixth Marble .

The testimonies I have brought , are ( you see ) authentic ; nor can you longer doubt , that among the few reliques of the younger world that have escap'd the jaws of Oblivion , some are yet extant to attest the great Age and honor of this pair of Noble Sisters , Medicine and Anatomy . So solid were their Principles , so durable have been their Constitutions , so illustrious their Propagators , so sacred their Records , and ( if I may be permitted to speak as a Platonist ) so powerful a Genius has preserv'd them . ¶ .

Was Anatomy then taught by the Founder of Memphis ? Is it by a whole Age at least elder than the eldest of those mountains of brick , or as Diodorus Siculus vainly calls Lib. 4. c. 169. them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Eternal Habitations , the Aegyptian Pyramids ? And has it from that time to this day continued in use and esteem among wise men wheresoever Letters and Civility have flourish'd ? This certainly , is alone sufficient to evince the great UTILITY of it , were all other arguments wanting . For , Human Inventions , however subtil and grateful at first to the Curious , are never long-liv'd , unless afterward they be found useful also and beneficial to Mankind . But in what do's the Utility of it consist ? In so many things , I want time to enumerate them , and must therefore content my self to touch only two or three , such as lye most open and obvious even to vulgar observation . I say then , that the study of Anatomy is singularly profitable to a Man , in respect of Himself , in respect to God , in respect of the Divine Art of Healing : each of which requires to be singly consider'd .

( 1. ) In respect of Ones-self . That Apollo , when from his Delphic Oracle ( as Plato in his Alcibiades relates ) he deliver'd that most wise precept , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Know thy self , thereby implicitly injoyn'd the study of Anatomy ; is more than I shall venture to avouch ; but this I dare boldly affirm , that no Mortal can attain to any profound knowledge of Himself , without long and strict scrutiny into the mysterious Oeconomy of Human nature ; which can be no otherwise made , than by the helps and light of Anatomy . Of the simple essence of the Rational Soul , we seem in this umbratil life uncapable to know much ▪ For , She being , as Wise men teach , and most of us believe , a pure Spirit ; we can have of her no idea or image in our Phantasie , and consequently no Notion : all our Cognition being built upon Idols or Images stamp'd in the mint of Imagination ; and all our Reasonings or Discourses , nothing but connection of many of those Images into chains , sometimes of more , sometimes of fewer links . We cannot therefore deny our ignorance of the nature of that noblest part of our selves , from which we derive all our little Science : and must be content to entertain our irrequiet Curiosity with the faint glimmerings of light , that shine through the acts and operations of that Celestial Ghest in our frail and darksom Tabernacles of flesh . What then remains to be known by us of our selves ? Nothing , I think , but the Divine Architecture of the Body , the fabrique of the various Organs , by which the Soul acts , while she sojourns in it : and these ( ye know ) are not to be understood but by dissecting and distinctly contemplating the several parts of each Organ , so as to investigate the Mechanical reason of its aptitude to its proper motions , actions and uses .

Doth any man here conceive , that the Oracle is to be expounded only of the Passions of the Mind , and the Art of moderating them by the dictates of Prudence , and rules of Virtue ? I say , that neither is the knowledge of the Passions to be acquir'd without frequenting the Scholes of Anatomists . For , the Passions seem to be in the general , only certain Commotions of the Spirits and bloud , begun in the seat of the Imagination , propagated through the Pathetic nerves to the heart , and thence transmitted up again to the brain : and therefore whosoever would duly enquire into their nature , their first sources and resorts , their most remarkable differences , tides , forces , symptoms , &c. will soon find himself under a necessity to begin at Anatomy , thence to learn the course of the bloud , the structure of the brain , the origin and productions of the nerves , the fabric of the heart with its pulses , and the wayes by which a reciprocal communication or mutual commerce is so swiftly effected , so continually maintain'd betwixt the Animal and Vital machines . Otherwise , how highly soever he might think of his own speculations , he would hardly be able clearly to solve any one of the Phaenomena of this or that particular Passion ; for instance , whence it is , that Blushing is the proper sign of Shame , Paleness the Character of suddain Fear , Sadness the inseparable concomitant of Hate , & sic de caeteris . In a word , he would as soon be at a loss in tracing the intricate Labyrinth of Human Affections , as a blind man that should undertake to give the Chorography of a whole Countrey , meerly from a relation of some memorable action done in some part of it .

Nor should I believe such a man half so likely to temper and compose the tumults of his inordinate Passions , as a skilful Anatomist , who understands , by what impressions they are occasion'd , upon what parts of the brain those impressions are made , what sympathy and confederation Nature has instituted between those parts and the Cardiac nerves , how those nerves divided into innumerable fibres contract the ventricles of the heart , and how that Contraction , according to the various degrees of its force and velocity , necessarily impells the blood more or less copiously and violently through the arteries into the parts most concern'd in the Passion at that time most urgent . For , certainly , he that hath the advantage to understand all these things , is better instructed to appease the impetuous Commotions at any time rais'd within his breast , by reducing the rebellious appetites of his inferior Faculties to obedience to the contremands of his Superior or Reason ; in which one thing the summ of all Moral Philosophy consists , and which advanced into a Habit , becomes Virtue it self . So that take the Counsel given by Apollo , in which of the two senses ye like best , viz. either as directing to learn the admirable frame of the Body , or as intimating that wisdom consists chiefly in the regulation of the Affections ; still the study of Anatomy will be requisit to acquiring the Knowledge of Ones-self .

( 2. ) Requisite it is also to conduct even a Naturalist to the Knowledge of GOD. I mean the knowledge of not only the Existence of a Supreme Being in the World , but also of his Eternity , omnipotent Power , infinite Wisdom ▪ and inexhaustible Goodness ; for as to the Divine nature it self , that we must all with holy astonishment confess to be to Human Understanding incomprehensible ; for , how can a finite have an adaequate notion of an Infinite ? Most true it is indeed , that there are in every part of the Universe certain marks or impresses of a Divine hand ; and the smallest Insect that creeps upon the earth , the very grass whereon we tread , yea , even things Inanimate proclaim the Glory of their Maker , inciting us to venerate , praise and adore Him : so that St. Paul preach'd true Natural Theologie to Infidels , when he taught , that the invisible things of God are known by the visible things of his Creation ; and Heraclitus gave a memorable hint of his piety toward the Summum Numen , when inviting into his poor smoaky cottage some proud strangers that disdain'd to put their heads under so vile a roof ; Enter , said he , nam etiam hîc Dii sunt , here also are Gods . And in truth , every page in the great Volume of Nature , is full of real Hieroglyphicks , where ( by an inverted way of Expression ) things stand for words , and their Qualities for Letters . Whence perhaps Plato ( in Timaeo ) took a hint of that sublime thought of his , that the World is Gods Epistle written to mankind . But if we survey the Epitome of the World , the Temple of Mans Body , in which as in a Model or Exemplar , all parts of the Greater World are represented in little ; we shall there find something more august , more Majestical . Who can observe , that so magnificent a pile is rais'd only è luto , out of a little slime ; that from a few drops of the Colliquamentum or Genital humor , of a substance Homogeneous or simple , are formed more than two hundred bones , more Cartilages , very many ligaments , membranes almost innumerable , myriads of arteries and veins , of nerves more than thirty pair with all their slender branches and continued fibres ▪ near upon four hundred muscles , a multitude of glandules , and many other parts , all divers each from other in substance , consistence , colour , texture , fabric , &c. Who can , I say , observe this , without being forced to acknowledg the infinite Power of the Divine Architect ▪ who makes the very Materials of his building ? Who can look into the Sanctum Sanctorum of this Temple , the Brain , and therein contemplate the pillars that support it , the arch'd roof that covers and defends it , the fret-work of the Ceiling , the double membrane that invests it , the resplendent partition that divides it , the four vaulted cells that drain away impurities , the intricate labyrinths of arteries that bring in from the heart rivulets of vital blood to heat and invigorate it , the Meanders of veins to export the same blood , the Aqueducts that preserve it from inundation , the infinite multitude of slender and scarce perceptible filaments that compose it , the delicate nerves or chords spun from those threds , the original of that silver chord ( as Ecclesiastes calls it ) or Spinal marrow , upon which the strength of back and limbs chiefly depends ; and many other parts of the wonderful Engine : and not discern an infinite Wisdom in the design and construction of them ? And as for the infinite Goodness of God ; that is no less conspicuous in the connexion of so many and various instruments into one complex Automaton , by which they are so admirably combin'd , that every one works for it self and for the public at once ; that every one performs its peculiar office apart , yet all co-operate to one and the same common end , the subsistence , safety , and welfare of the whole ; and that if any one happen to be put out of order or tune , all the rest sympathize with it , and the whole Harmony of Functions is discompos'd . Add to this stupendous Machine an internal Principle to give it life , sense , voluntary motion , and understanding : and then ye may say with Cicero ; Jam verò animum ipsum mentémque hominis , rationem , consilium , prudentiam , qui non Divinâ curâ perfecta esse perspicit ; is his ipsis rebus nobis videtur carere .

If then the admirable fabric of our Body demonstrates the Power , Wisdom and Goodness of the Maker ; ( whom the Scripture most emphatically calls [ Yotzêr Hakkôl ] ( the Former of all things , Jer. 10. 16. ) and if it be by the help of Anatomy alone , that we come to contemplate and understand the excellency of that fabric : we may safely conclude , that to study Anatomy diligently and reverently , is to learn to know God , and consequently to venerate Him ; Deum enim colit , qui novit . After this , what others , out of ignorance , may think or speak to the prejudice of this so useful Art of Dissection ; I am neither concern'd , nor solicitous to know : but this I openly declare , that if I knew an Atheist ( if there can be such a Beast in the world ) I would do my best to bring him into this Theatre , here to be sensibly convinced of his madness . For , sure I am , that some of the Antient Heathens have call'd the structure of Mans Body , the Book of God : and that even Galen himself , an Ethnic too , slow of belief , and most alien from Superstition , learn'd so much of Piety from dissections , that in his whole seventeen Books de usu partium , he sings a perpetual Hymn as it were in praise of the Divine Architect that form'd them . Of which laudatory Hymns I have chosen one , which seeming to me more lofty and harmonical than any of the rest , and more proper for this place , deserves my recital and your remark . In his third Book , contemplating the skin that invests the sole of the foot ( a part despicable to vulgar eyes ) He breaks forth into this rapture of admiration . Cutem ipsam ( sayes he ) non laxam , aut subtilem , aut mollem ; sed constrictam , & mediocriter duram , sensilémque , ut non facilè pateretur , subdidit pedi Sapientissimus Conditor noster : cui Commentarios ego hos , ceu hymnos quosdam , compono : & in eo pietatem esse existimans , non si Taurorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ei plurimas quispiam sacrificarit , & casias aliáque sexcenta unguenta suffumigarit : sed si noverim ipse primus , deinde exposuerim aliis , quaenam sit ipsius Sapientia , quae Virtus , quae Providentia , quae Bonitas ; ignorantia quorum summa impietas est , non si à sacrificio abstineas . Quòd enim cultu convenienti exornavit omnia , nullique bona inviderit ; id perfectissimae Bonitatis specimen esse statuo : invenisse autem quo pacto omnia adornarentur , summae Sapientiae est ; ac effecisse omnia quae voluit , Virtutis est invictae . A Hymn not unworthy to be sung , with solemn Music , even in our Churches .

( 3. ) Besides these two noble uses of Anatomy , by me now explain'd , there remains here to be consider'd yet a third use , not , as the former , common to all mankind , but proper to Physicians : to whom the study of it is , not only profitable and delightful , as to their private speculations ; but also necessary , as to their well understanding the divine Art of Medicine which they profess . This Necessity is indeed so universally known and acknowledged by all wise men , that to go about to prove it , would be as supervacaneous , as to light a candle to shew the Sun at noon : yet because there are some , who either blinded with the smoak of fallacious Chymists , or corrupted by some private interest , perceive it not ; give me leave , I pray , toward the disenchantment of these , briefly to set before them two or three of the plainest causes or reasons that make Anatomy the grand fundament of Medicine .

Hippocrates ( I remember ) doth often inculcate to his 1. Epidem . Disciples , the genuine Sons of Art , three cardinal precepts , in which the whole duty of a Physician seems to be comprehended . The first is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to understand the present state of the sick , the nature of the malady , and the part affected : the second , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to prognosticate the event of the disease : the third , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to relieve or heal the sick . But in all these three duties , he that is ignorant of Anatomy , must needs be shamefully deficient .