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Journal of the association of physicians of india • vol 63 • march, 2015
on diet and good rules of health, rather than on drugs.
Maimonides appreciated that physical condition may
be influenced by mental state, which was regarded only by
Avicenna earlier. He relied upon philosophy in the practice
of medicine and used his clinical skill and experience in
elucidation of theology. He insisted on treating the person as
a whole and integrated the concept of body and soul.
Ibn-al-Nafis (1210-1288 AD) Originator of Pulmonary
Circulation
JV Pai-Dhungat*
Two stamps issued by Syria, 1967 commemorate “Science Week”
depicting Nafis and the heart
A
fter the coming of Prophet Muhammad,
the Arabian tribes, in a great burst of
expansionist energy, swept over Western Asia
and North Africa. They disrupted, but did not
destroy the Eastern Roman Empire, which
had survived the barbarian onslaughts that
had wiped out the empire in the West. The
Eastern Empire, particularly after the Arabian
conquests, came to be known as Byzantine
Empire, after its capital, Byzantium.
Occupying Syria and Egypt in C 640 A.D,
Arabs fell heir to much of the Greek science and
this proved of importance and even beneficial
to the history of science. It was essentially the
Arabs who were in a position to preserve and
transmit the accumulated knowledge of the
ancients. Western scholars had maintained that
they only translated Greek wisdom but lacked
originality. The strange story of Ibn-al-Nafis
about circulation demonstrates unsoundness
of the assumption about Arabic literature.
*
Professor of Medicine, T.N.
Medical College (Retd.), Hon.
Physician, Bhatia Hospital,
Mumbai
Ibn-al-Nafis or Al-Qureshi (1210-1288
AD) was born in Damascus, where he studied
medicine under Ibn-Essuri, and practiced
medicine in both Syria and Egypt. He then
became director of Al Mansauri hospital of
Cairo, which was founded by the order and
plan of the Sultan al Zahir. Nafis was honoured
Nafis and circulation Stamp-Libya, 1989
by his contemporaries as a learned physician,
skilful surgeon, and an ingenious investigator.
He was described as tireless writer and a pious
man. His major literary work was- Commentary
on Kitab-al-qunon it comprises of four booksGeneralities, Materia Medica, Commentary on
Head to toe diseases and Diseases not specific to
any organs.
Ibn-al Nafis was known to be critical of
Galenic dogma. In his greatest contribution to
medicine he disputed Galen’s view that blood
passes directly from right to the left side of
heart. Nafis based his theory on finding that
the wall between two ventricles is solid and
without pores. Indeed, the septum is especially
thick to prevent the direct passage of blood or
spirit from ventricle to ventricle. He boldly
stated that blood must pass from the right
to the left ventricle by way of the lungs. He
described this idea in his commentary on the
Canon of Avicenna. Ibn-al- Nafis thus became
the first to describe the pulmonary circulation
of blood. Some how he considered that
right ventricle has no active movement and
postulated that heated blood rises up in the
artery like vein. In the absence of any concept
of blood circulation in the modern sense, his
main contribution was, therefore, to amend an
incorrect point in cardiac anatomy.
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Journal of the association of physicians of india • vol 63 • march, 2015
The writings of Ibn-Nafis were essentially ignored until
1924, when Dr. Muhayi ad Din at- Tawatit an Egyptian
physician, presented his doctoral thesis to the medical faculty
of Freiburg, Germany. If the copy of Tawatit’s thesis had not
come to the attention of the historian Max Meyerhof, Nafisi’s
discovery might have been forgotten again. Some texts of
Nafis that were thought to be lost were rediscovered in 1950s
Ibn-al- Nafis died in Cairo in 1288. About 300 years
after Ibn-Nafis, Miguel Servetus noted the same discovery
apparently unaware of Ibn-Nafis’s earlier findings. The work
of Nafis was translated into Latin in 1547: in 1553, Servetus
was executed by burning in Geneva.
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
JV Pai-Dhungat*, Falguni Parikh**
Postal Stamps issued on Leonardo - Last supper, Self Portrait (Leonardo’s visit to Cyprus) Stamps - Cyprus, 1981 and Vitruvian man (Centenary
of Western Medicine) Stamp - Japan, 1979
L
eonardo was an illegitimate son of a
young notary, Ser Piero, and a peasant
girl Caterina, born in Italy, just outside
Florence. His father took custody of the little
fellow shortly after his birth, and his childless
stepmother looked after him. Leonardo Da
Vinci is acknowldged as one of the greatest
artist of all times, best known for his paintings,
“Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”. The latter
has become a hot topic, after the publication of
Dan Brown’s bestseller - Da Vinci Code.
Historians consider Da Vinci as the greatest
experimental scientist of his age. He was
an inventor, anatomist, civil and military
engineer, astronomer, geologist and pioneer
aeronaut. He was not merely versatile; he was
outstanding in every field. His sketchbooks and
drawings remained buried, for over 200 years.
*
Professor (Retd), **Associate
Professor, Dept. of Medicine, TN
Medical College & BYL Nair Ch.
Hospital, Mumbai 400 008
The impromptu sketches are startlingly
modern, in their accuracy and display of
physiologic knowledge. He was his own best
teacher. He made over 750 sketches, including
cross-sectional ones, which show profound
understanding of human anatomical structure.
For the first time, the position of unborn baby
in the mother, was shown with accuracy.
Descriptions of heart, the chambers, valves
and the total structure, were extraordinarily
accurate.
Dr. Frances Wells and colleagues, who
pioneered sub-valvular preservation and early
operation of mitral valve surgery (1996), were
inspired by Da Vinci’s medical drawings. BBC
announced it as “Da Vinci clue for a heart
surgeon”.
He was left-handed and the marginal notes
are recorded in mirror writing, suggesting the
cautious, secretive, spirit of the time. Around
1490, he produced the Cannon of Proportions,
in his sketchbook based on the Roman architect
Vitruvius, the Vitruvian Man, being one of his
most appreciated work.
His codices and original manuscripts are
in various museums. “Codex Leicester” is the
only major scientific work in private hands,
being owned by Bill Gates, who bought it for
$30 million at an auction. It is displayed once
a year, in different cities around the world.
Leonardo had become a cult. Men with great
wealth bid for him, yet he was a lonely man at
heart. He probably never met another human
being on his plane. He came to the world with
a social handicap, but left it with a rich heritage
during renaissance.