After Galen's time came the collapse of the Roman Empire, the extinction
of physical knowledge, and the repression of every kind of scientific
inquiry, by its powerful and consistent enemy, the Church; and that
state of things lasted until the latter part of the Middle Ages saw the
revival of learning. That revival of learning, so far as anatomy and
physiology are concerned, is due to the renewed influence of the
philosophers of ancient Greece, and indeed, of Galen. Arabic
commentators had translated Galen, and portions of his works had got
into the language of the learned in the Middle Ages, in that way; but,
by the study of the classical languages, the original text became
accessible to the men who were then endeavouring to learn for
themselves something about the facts of nature. It was a century or
more before these men, finding themselves in the presence of a
master--finding that all their lives were occupied in attempting to
ascertain for themselves that which was familiar to him--I say it took
the best part of a hundred years before they could fairly see that their
business was not to follow him, but to follow his example--namely, to
look into the facts of nature for themselves, and to carry on, in his
spirit, the work he had begun.
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