Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 47.5

NEMESIUS (fl. 390) Nemesiou, philosophou kai episkopou, Peri physeōs anthrōpou, biblion hen = Nemesii, philosophi & episcopi, De natura hominis, liber unus. E Theatro Sheldoniano 1671 [16], 345, [5], 42 [i.e. 50] p. 19 cm.

Nemesius wrote this treatise of psychology and physiology at the end of the 4th century, and it is remarkable for containing a description of the circulation of the blood in very plain terms considering the state of physiology at that time, and of the function of bile, the purpose of which, he maintained, is to aid digestion, purify the blood and impart heat to the body. Also in this treatise, he tried to form a system of anthropology from a Christian standpoint. He believed in the rational soul, and in the powers of the soul and man’s emotions. He had much of the Aristotelian philosophy and was a Galenist.

Cited references: Morton, 571; Osler, 3492; Keynes, 3283; Waller, 6833; Krivatsy, 8288; Wellcome IV, p. 220

Gift of John Martin, M.D.