It is of some interest to note that these priests of I-em-hotep, themselves learned men, not only saw and prescribed daily for vast numbers of sick persons but also performed innumerable necropsies. They removed the heart, large blood-vessels, viscera, and brain from the bodies of deceased persons, also from the bodies of sacred animals, prior to embalmment; the heart was placed in a separate jar by itself and the remainder of the viscera in a larger vessel. We are told by Pliny that in later times an examination of the body was made after death in order to ascertain the nature of the disease which was the cause of death.[14] Thus these men had an opportunity of learning something of anatomy and pathology. They may have gained some insight into the intricate problem of the action of the heart, the movement of the blood, and the changes of heart and vessels produced by disease; no nation of antiquity had such opportunities. Did they discover anything? I think I can demonstrate to you that they did obtain a partial knowledge of the circulation; they did not solve the problem, but they approached it as nearly as did the Greeks, and probably from them the Greeks obtained such knowledge as they possessed in early times. References to the Circulation in the Medical Papyri Certain of the contents of the medical papyri are at present almost incomprehensible, partly on account of the difficulty of translating technical terms; these parts I shall not refer to at all; those portions which are more easily understood still present difficulties, and translations must necessarily be free and at times vague. It must be remembered that the hieratic script was not a good medium for the clear and definite statement of facts, also that the modes of thought and forms of expression of the time were far removed from our own, even far remote from those of the Hellenes. We enter a different world when we try to comprehend the beliefs and conceptions of the ancient Egyptian, the platform of thought on which he built is imperfectly known to us. Furthermore, the philosophic conceptions which the Greeks gave to mankind and their lucidity of expression had not then come into existence. In addition to these negative aspects of difference there are positive ones. The Egyptian believed himself to dwell in a universe peopled by spirits and demons, good and evil, whose influence must be propitiated or averted by charms and spells. It will, therefore, be understood that a hieratic papyrus is vastly more difficult to interpret than a Greek manuscript.