Anat´idæ, a family of swimming birds, including the Ducks, Swans, Geese, &c.
Anato´lia (from Gr. anatolē, the sunrise, the Orient), the modern name of Asia Minor (q.v.).
Anatolian Railway. See Bagdad Railway, Turkey.
ANATOMY
Anat´omy, in the literal sense, means simply a cutting up, but is now generally applied both to the art of dissecting or artificially separating the different parts of an organized body (vegetable or animal) with a view to discover their situation, structure, and economy; and to the science which treats of the internal structure of
organized bodies. By means of the dissection of the human body the surgeon and physician acquire the knowledge of the geography of the territory in which all their professional operations are carried on. Comparative anatomy is the science which compares the anatomy of different classes or species of animals, as that of man with quadrupeds, or that of quadrupeds with fishes. The anatomy of an animal may be studied from various standpoints: with relation to the succession of forms which it exhibits from its first stage to its adult form (developmental or embryotical anatomy); with reference to the general properties and structure of the tissues or textures (general anatomy, histology); with reference to the changes in structure of organs or parts produced by disease and congenital malformations (morbid or pathological anatomy); or with reference to the function, use, or purpose performed by the organs or parts (teleological or physiological anatomy). According to the parts of the body described, the different divisions of human anatomy receive different names; as, osteology, the description of the bones; myology, of the muscles; arthrology, of the ligaments and sinews; splanchnology, of the viscera or internal organs, in which are reckoned the lungs, stomach, and intestines, the liver, spleen, kidneys, bladder, pancreas, &c. Angiology describes the vessels through which the liquids in the body are conducted, including the blood-vessels, which are divided into arteries and veins, and the lymphatic vessels, some of which absorb matters from the bowels, while others are distributed through the whole body, collecting juices from the tissues and carrying them back into the blood. Neurology describes the system of the nerves and of the brain; dermatology treats of the skin.—Among anatomical labours are particularly to be mentioned the making and preserving of anatomical preparations. Preparations of this sort can be preserved (1) by macerating the body so as to obtain the bones of the skeleton; or (2) by treating the body or some part of it with alcohol, formalin, or other preservative, which renders its tissues imperishable.
Among the ancient writers or authorities on human anatomy may be mentioned Hippocrates the younger (460-377 B.C.), Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Herophilus and Erasistratus of Alexandria (about 300 B.C.), Celsus (53 B.C.-A.D. 37), and Galen of Pergamus (A.D. 130-200), the most celebrated of all the ancient authorities on the science. From his time till the revival of learning in Europe in the fourteenth century anatomy was checked in its progress. In 1315 Mondino, professor at Bologna, first publicly performed dissection, and published a System of Anatomy which was a textbook in the schools of Italy for about 200 years. In the sixteenth century Fallopio of Padua, Eustachi of Venice, Vesalius of Brussels, Varoli of Bologna, and many others, enriched anatomy with new discoveries. In the seventeenth century Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, Asellius discovered the manner in which the nutritious part of the food is conveyed into the circulation, while the lymphatic system was detected and described by the Dane T. Bartoline. Among the renowned anatomists of later times we can only mention Malpighi, Boerhaave, William and John Hunter, the younger Meckel, Bichat, Rosenmüller, Quain, Sir A. Cooper, Sir C. Bell, Carus, Joh. Müller, Gegenbaur, Owen, and Huxley.
Until 1832 the law of Great Britain made very insufficient provision for enabling anatomists to obtain the necessary supply of subjects for dissection. An Act of some years previously had, it is true, empowered a criminal court, when it saw fit, to give up to properly-qualified persons the body of a murderer after execution for dissection. This, however, was far from supplying the deficiency, and many persons, tempted by the high prices offered for bodies by anatomists, resorted to the nefarious practice of digging up newly-buried corpses, and frequently, as in the case of the notorious Burke and Hare of Edinburgh, to murder. To remedy these evils a statute was passed in 1832, which was intended to make provision for the wants of surgeons, students, or other duly-qualified persons, by permitting, under certain regulations, the dissection of the bodies of persons who die friendless in alms-houses, hospitals, &c. The Act also appointed inspectors of anatomy, regulated the anatomical schools, and required persons practising the operations to obtain a licence. Relatives may effectually object to the anatomical examination of a body even though the deceased had expressed a desire for it.—Bibliography: D. J. Cunningham, Textbook of Anatomy; J. Quain, Elements of Anatomy; A. M. Buchanan, Manual of Anatomy; A. Thomson, Anatomy for Art Students.
Anaxag´oras, an ancient Greek philosopher of the Ionic school, born at Clazomenæ, in Ionia, probably about 500 B.C. When only about twenty years of age he settled at Athens, and soon gained a high reputation, and gathered round him a circle of renowned pupils, including Pericles, Euripides, Socrates, &c. At the age of fifty he was publicly charged with impiety and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to perpetual banishment. He thereupon went to Lampsacus, where he died about 428. Anaxagoras belonged to the atomic school of Ionic philosophers. He held that there was an infinite number of different kinds of elementary atoms, and that these, in themselves motionless and originally existing in a state of