Galen's System of Physiology and Medicine, by Rudolph E. Siegel, 419 pp, with illus, $23.50, Basel: S. Karger (White Plains, NY: Albert J. Phiebig), 1968
Galen was a prolific writer, yet the modern student can have trouble in finding texts to study. Very few scholars can consult the original Greek, and those restricted to modern languages find only a few works available in English. The almost simultaneous publication of two major Galenic studies represents an important event in medical history.
Mrs. May translated into English one of Galen's most significant writings, the De Usu Partium—On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body. The only other modern translation was into French, by Daremberg, published over a century ago and now relatively rare.
The text is a combination of anatomy and physiology, describing the body parts and their function, with special reference to the purposes and goals for which these were