ALBINUS, BERNARD Sizq::ItEo, or Smornot, one of the most eminent of the foreign anatomists. and pro fessor of anatomy and surgery at Leyden, was horn at Frankfort upon the Oder, in the year 1698. Ile recei ved the first part of his education at Leyden, where hi.. father, Bernard Albinus 1Veiss, was professor ol medi• clue : and in very early life he showed an uncomnion to the studies which he afterwards prosecuted with so much success. His diligence and zeal, as well as his undivided attention to anatomical pursuits, gained him the friendship of Ruysch, who then flourished in Leyden. Under the notice of that distinguished man, and the guidance of Raw, the celebrated lithotomist, Albinus made such progress in his favourite studies, that the latter is said never to have undertaken any operation of consequence, without inviting hint to be. present. This encouragement was great, and it was not without its effect. The young Albinos persevered in his investigations, and redoubled his diligence : and it is perhaps owing to the timely patronage of Ruysch and of Raw that the medical world is now in possession of the " Historia Musculorum Hominis," and the various Taid,c which have contributed so much to facilitate the study of anatomy in every country of Europe. Having finished his education at Leyden, Albinus removed to Paris, and attended the most eminent lecturers and de monstrators in that city. But he had scarcely been there a year, when, upon the recommendation of Boerhaave, he was appointed first lecturer and then professor of anatomy and surgery in the university of Leyden. He was admitted into his office A. D. 1718, and delivered an inaugural oration, "De Anatme Comparata," which was received with universal applause.
When settled at Leyden, Albinus devoted himself exclusively to those branches of medical science which he had engaged to teach. In surgery, and especially in anatomy, more can be done by patient inspection and minute examination, than in any other department of human knowledge. Here genius has little room for ex ercise. The chief business of the anatomist is to dissect, and to observe ; to mark the designs or nature, and the wonderful adaptation of means to the accomplishment of her purposes. But to the qualities which are neces
sary for this, the teacher of anatomy must add the power of exhibiting the different parts of the body, and their uses and dependencies, or the talent of communicating to others the information which he has acquired. On this his success as a lecturer will materially depend ; and without it, his knowledge, however extensive and accurate, will be of little use to any but himself. For all these qualities Albinos was remarkable. His dili gence was unwearied; and though we have not learned that be was distinguished by the fluency of his expres sion, or the oratorical elegance of his style, yet his abi lities as a demonstrator were such as to place him on a level with the most successful teachers of anatomy. Nor did he confine himself to the exercise of private instrue tion. Ile aspired after more general utility, and a high er degree of fame. Besides many other works with which, says Haller, " rem anatomicam ditavit," Albinus published, A. 1). 1734, the Historia illasculorum Homi nis ; a performance which is alone sufficient to entitle hint to It is divided into four books: In the first, he treats of the muscles in general, of their structure, and of the cellular substance which lubr.cates and supports them ; in the second, he considers their pos.tion, beginning with those which are nearest the surface ; in the third book, he describes the muscles inclivalualiy, and attends to their origin, the direction of the fibres, awl their insertion; and in the last, he arranges them into classes, and takes a view of their action and use. The chief of Albinos, however, are his Anatomical Plates and Illustrations. They appear ed at dillerent times, as the reader will see by the hst which is subjoined to this article ; but they are common ly to be met wi,h in 3 vols. folio. The first contains, an explication of the Tables of Eustachius; the second presents to us the Figures of the Muscles ; and the third exhibits the Bones. The plates are execut«I with the utmost accuracy and elegance, and are unquestionably the most useful of any to which the student of anatomy can have recourse.