One of the leading physicians of the eighteenth century, who wielded broad influence throughout Europe, was Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738). His work, entitled "Aphorismi," published in Leyden, 1709, was immensely popular. It was translated into all the European and several Asiatic languages. His reputation now depends upon his chemical discoveries and his medical teachings. One of the most brilliant students of Boerhaave's medical school was Albrecht von Haller (1708-77). Haller published many medical works and monographs. His "Elements of Human Physiology," (1759-66) is the best known. The function of bile in the digestion of fats, the demonstration of Glisson's hypothesis that irritability in an excised muscle is a specific property of all living tissues, and several theories explaining the heart's activities, were among his best contributions to medical science. The discovery of the existence of lacteal and lymphatic vessels in birds, reptiles, and fish brought William Hewson into prominence and secured him membership in the Royal Society. He published his monograph on the coagulation of the blood in 1771. William Cumberland Cruikshank (1745-1800) investigated the surgery of the nerves, the functioning of the Fallopian tubes, the physiology of absorption. The electrical discoveries of Galvani, Volta, Benjamin Franklin, Henly and others caused much experimenting with the electric current in the treatment of muscular diseases. The Monros, father, son and grandson, by their wonderful teaching abilities, caused the medical teaching center of Europe to be transferred from Leyden to Edinburgh in 1720. These men, and many of their students, did brilliant work in all branches of medicine. The medical school which they so established in Edinburgh University still maintains its great reputation. The best anatomists of the eighteenth century were Cheselden, Pott, the Monros, the Hunters, Desault, and Scarpa. Their work was largely topographical. Surgical anatomy started with the writings of Joseph Lieutaud (1703-1780), Albinus, Eisenmann, Soemmering, Mascagni, Sandifort, and Caldani. The anatomical textbooks in use in the year 1800 gave general accounts of the body's structure and included current theories of the functions of organs and their relationships to injuries and disease. More than half of the chapters were occupied with morbid anatomy and the recital of cases. The anatomy of the tissues and finer structures was neglected because the microscopes of the period were little better than simple lenses.