Erasi'stratus

Erasi'stratus, one of the most famous physicians and anatomists of ancient times, was born in the island of Ceos about 300 B.C., settled in Alexandria, and died in Asia Minor. He founded a school of medicine, wrote several works on anatomy—in which branch he was most celebrated—on practical medicine, and pharmacy. He believed that the heart was the origin both of the veins and arteries. Of his numerous writings only some obscure fragments and titles have been preserved. See the article ANATOMY; and Hieronymus, Erasistrati et Erasistrateorum Historia (Jena, 1790).