Words, names and phrases in medicine : an address delivered at the opening of the Course of lectures in Physiology in the University of Manchester / by William Stirling.

  • William Stirling
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Words, names and phrases in medicine : an address delivered at the opening of the Course of lectures in Physiology in the University of Manchester / by William Stirling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    in this country, but not one of them knew anything about it. It takes us to the time of Riolan, who was a contemporary of Harvey as well as an opponent of Harvey's doctrine of the circulation of the blood. The “Bouquet of Riolan” lias reference to the muscles and ligaments—red and white struc- tures—that arise from the styloid process of the temporal bone. Some bear the names of Anatomists, such as Poupart, of Le Mans (1616-1708), although it was known also by the name of Yesalius and Fallopius. Its continuation is known as Grimbertiat’s ligament. Don Antonio Gimbernat was Professor in Barcelona (1762-1774) and afterwards in Madrid. The treatise in which he described this ligament, “Nuevo metodo de ojterar en la hernia crural,” was published in Madrid in 1793, and translated into English by Th. Beddoes in 1795. The most interesting, however, from the legendary point of view, is the “ Tendo Achillis.” THE TENDO ACHILLIS. Achilles, the principal hero of the “ Iliad ”—the handsomest and bravest of the Greeks—was the son of Peleus by the Nereid Thetis. When he was an infant, his mother plunged him into the waters of the Styx, which made liis whole body invulnerable, excepting the ankles, by which she held him. Knowing and fearing greatly, his mother took pains to conceal him, disguising him by clothing him in female garments and placing him amongst the daughters of King Lycomodes, with what results those who are interested can read. The cunning, resourceful, crafty Ulysses, however, in the guise of a merchant, reached the Palace and displayed his wares before the admiring eyes of the members of the Court. The ladies selected jewels and gems, but one, who, of course, was Achilles, disdained the gems and seized the sword, thus betraying his manly inclina- tions. Rescued from his inglorious ease, Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, joined the expedition against Troy. The story of his valour is known to all as told in the Homeric legend. Inflamed by the sight of Polyxena, a daughter of Priam, he went without arms to the Temple of Apollo at Thymbra, where he was slain by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow, the only part of his body not rendered invulnerable by being dipped in the Styx. A similar legend hangs round the Mistletoe and Balder, who was killed by an arrow made from the mistletoe. THE MUSCLES. The muscles at once introduce us to the mouse; in fact, to a “ musculus,” or little mouse. Some muscles are named
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