Sex, religion and a singular anatomist

The Fabrica's early readers were the first generation of physicians and surgeons in Europe to face the daunting task of using detailed printed images to identify the organs of the body and learn about human physiology. [...]this was important because the vein was supposed to be the cause of both menstruation and haemorrhoids, thought to be analogous processes that purged corrupted blood from the body.) Thus, in a copy now in the library of Queens College at the University of Oxford, UK, someone used a quill and red ink to colour in this meandering vein, like a child playing a maze game. Stephen N. Joffe is Esteemed Professor of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and visiting professor in history of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.