CELLULAR SCIENCES
Histological dissection: landmarks and pointers past, present and future
The story of histological dissection and the development of understandings of human anatomy and physiology spans the past centuries and has always been linked to the history of medicine itself. Here, Guy Orchard looks at the latest laboratory equipment in this area.
A glance at the history books tells us a great deal. Let’s begin with the word ‘dissection’ derived from the Latin ‘dissecare’ meaning ‘to cut to pieces’. This is perhaps quite a blunt description of what we now understand by modern dissection; however, it reflects the key premise of the act to dissect. Dissection was used primarily as a
process to explore and evaluate anatomy and later improve understanding of physiology. Early reports suggest that human dissection was carried out by the Greek physicians Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Chios in the early part of the 3rd century BC. The Romans had a significant role to play in the development of medicine and were largely acknowledged for the development and divisions of specialisation within medicine, most notably ophthalmology and urology. The most widely recognised practitioner of the time was Galan (129 CE), who was originally of Greek descent but moved to Rome in 162 CE, where he lectured, wrote and exhibited extensively on anatomy and the value of dissection as a learning tool. It was Galan who largely adapted and refined the work of his predecessor, Hippocrates. Indeed, Galen once wrote that a physician “must be skilled at reasoning about the problems presented to him, must understand the nature and function of the body within the physician world and must practise temperance and despise all money”. Despite strong resistance to the practice of human dissection, the Greeks were keen
THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST AUGUST 2016
to establish a hub of medical knowledge, and the government of the time supported its practice. Resistance to human histological dissection was not just something experienced in Greece, and became a taboo subject around the globe. This was as a result of religious beliefs merged with fear and trepidation about what might happen to the preservation of the human soul if dissection was performed on corpses. This resistance continued in the UK up
until 1832 when the first Human Anatomy Act was passed. Up to this point, it was an outlawed practice and medical professionals of the time would go to great lengths to acquire the cadavers required to study human anatomy. This spawned the era of the ‘body snatchers’, brought to life by the tales of Burke and Hare, the two most famous villains of the time. The passing of the Human Anatomy Act paved the way for the modern- day study of anatomy and physiology, and gave licence to doctors, teachers of anatomy and bona fide medical students to dissect donated bodies. Further back in time, the issue of
dissection was recorded in religious works. One of the 12 Apostles of Jesus, St Bartholomew, was reputed to have met an unpleasant end. In works of art he is often depicted holding a large knife, or, as in The Last Judgment by Michelangelo, with his own skin hanging over his arm (Fig 1). Tradition holds that in Armenia he was flayed alive and then crucified upside down. What then have been the significant
Fig 1. St Bartholomew holding his flayed skin. From Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement, in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City.
advances in terms of the practice and equipment used for medical practice and more specifically histological dissection? Again, the Romans made significant strides forward in this area, with the development of a wide range of surgical instruments, many of which are still used today. Many of these instruments have been unearthed at archaeological excavations and are referenced in the Roman medical literature. The most widely known example is the scalpel. Made mainly from bronze or steel, arguably this is the most valuable dissection instrument for incisional, deep or long cutting of tissue, and the almost identical form is retained in scalpels used today. Other
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©Vladislav Gajic/Fotolia
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