more particularly necessary for the faculties and Artes of Phisicke and Chirurgery, the perfection whereof doth much avayle to the safety health and comfort of the whole Commonwealth in the conservation of theire persons: And that there is as yet in neither of the Vniversities of this Kingdome (thoughe otherwise the most florisshing of the whole Christian world) any such Anatomy Lecture founded or established.[48] If we may believe John Caius, writing after the middle of the century, the first early enthusiasm for Greek studies had worn off among physicians. Caius, himself a very competent Grecist, wrote in advocacy of the study of Greek medicine in the Greek language, that as each is more capable in his own tongue so he is consistent and always remains himself which contributes much to clarity, since each tongue has its own idioms and inexpressible terms which when translated do not retain the same emphasis or a like grace. In short, translators some times do not understand certain things, elsewhere they fall asleep, do not retain exactness of diction, restrain freedom, and since we are all human and so desirous of variety, from time to time they slip so that not only may there be obscurity but even ambiguity. Nevertheless, wrote Caius, in his day ‘everyone turns to the Latin editions and no one touches the Greek’.[49] It is certainly true that after that first generation of men like Linacre, there was little interest in England in the original language of Galen and Hippocrates. The surgeons, certainly, knew no Greek, and the physicians were not interested in anatomy. There was to be little controversy, therefore, as to the meaning of any of Galen’s anatomical terms and less likelihood of investigating and disputing Galenic assertions. Acceptance without demur of the translation was a long step toward unquestioned acceptance of the content of the original. Hence it appears that by the middle of the sixteenth century the authority of Galen in Latin dress, or of his commentators, was not very likely to be opposed. On the Continent it had been instances of questions and opposition which had brought about anatomical advancement by resort to the only arbiter of doubts and questions, that is, the cadaver. With conditions as they have been portrayed it is no wonder, therefore, that little initiative was displayed in England. The most popular of the foreign works in England, as on the Continent, appears to have been the _De Re Anatomica_ of Colombo which held its position until well after the opening of the seventeenth century. It was excellent for its time, not certainly the equal of the _Fabrica_, but on the other hand much cheaper to purchase, less bulky to hold, and not so detailed as to be confusing. It was probably this particular work in its several editions which more than any other prevented the appearance of a native English anatomical text.