Physiology of the Ancients.--This subject began to attract the attention of ancient medical men who wished to fathom the activities of the body in order to heal its diseases, but it is such a difficult thing to begin to comprehend the activities of life that even the simpler relationships were imperfectly understood, and they resorted to mythical explanations. They spoke of spirits and humors in the body as causes of various changes; the arteries were supposed to carry air, the veins only blood; and nothing was known of the circulation. There arose among these early medical men the idea that the body was dominated by a subtle spirit. This went under the name _pneuma_, and the pneuma-theory held sway until the period of the Revival of Learning. Among the ancient physiologists the great Roman physician Galen is the most noteworthy figure. As he was the greatest anatomist, so he was also the greatest physiologist of ancient times. All physiological knowledge of the time centered in his writings, and these were the standards of physiology for many centuries, as they were also for anatomy. In the early days anatomy, physiology, and medicine were all united into a poorly digested mass of facts and fancies. This state of affairs lasted until the sixteenth century, and then the awakening came, through the efforts of gifted men, endued with the spirit of independent investigation. The advances made depended upon the work or leadership of these men, and there are certain periods of especial importance for the advance of physiology that must be pointed out. Period of Harvey.--The first of these epochs to be especially noted here is the period of Harvey (1578-1657). In his time the old idea of spirits and humors was giving way, but there was still much vagueness regarding the activities of the body. He helped to illuminate the subject by showing a connection between arteries and veins, and by demonstrating the circulation of the blood. As we have seen in an earlier chapter, Harvey did not observe the blood passing through the capillaries from arteries to veins, but his reasoning was unassailable that such a connection must exist, and that the blood made a complete circulation. He gave his conclusions in his medical lectures as early as 1619, but did not publish his views until 1628. It was reserved for Malpighi, in 1661, actually to see the circulation through the capillaries under the microscope, and for Leeuwenhoek, in 1669 and later years, to extend these observations. It was during Harvey's life that the microscope was brought into use and was of such great assistance in advancing knowledge. Harvey himself, however, made little use of this instrument. It was during his life also that the knowledge of development was greatly promoted, first through his own efforts, and later through those of Malpighi.