[Galen's "On the anatomy of veins and arteries" translation from the Greek text and discussion].

Galen's treatise "On the anatomy of veins and arteries" was translated literally from the Greek text (Kühn's edition, vol. 2, pp. 779-830) into Japanese, utilizing a knowledge of anatomy. The previous Latin and English translations, as well as the descriptions of the vascular system in the other Galenic texts such as "Anatomical Procedures" were utilized as references for the present translation. The present study has identified many branches of veins and arteries, and discussed the influence on anatomy until Vesalius. For example, Galen considered that the main trunk of the portal vein sent off 7 branches, and Avicenna's "Canon" and Mondino's "Anatomia" identified a trunk and 8 branches, whereas Vesalius found bifurcation of the portal vein as in the modern anatomy. As to the vein of the forearm, Galen found 3 superficial veins including the central largest one and Vesalius' "Tabulae anatomicae" depicted this arrangement of veins, whereas Vesalius' 'Fabrica" corrected this erroneous description, based on anatomical findings. The precise understanding of Galenic anatomy provides essential information to understand the developing process of Vesalius' anatomy.