Bujalkova Maria
Department of Foreign Languages, Comenius University, Martin, Slovakia.
Acta Med Hist Adriat. 2011;9(1):89-100.
Rufus of Ephesus, a famous ancient physician, lived about the years 80 - 150 CE. His theories stressed the importance of anatomy and he preferred pragmatic approach to diagnosis and treatment. In his work "On the Names of the Parts of the Human Body", he put in pragmatic effort to make a lexicon of anatomy for his pupils. In the introduction, he described it as a manual for the students of medical art which relied on demonstration in teaching; visible (outer) parts of the body were shown on a demonstrator and invisible (inner) parts were shown on a dissected monkey. The brief explanation of the anatomical terms includes position, shape, and functions of organs, and this is what makes his work a pioneering effort to explain the anatomy clearly, systematically, and using consistent terminology. Rufus stressed the importance of exact nomenclature to prevent misunderstandings in medical practice. This anatomy manual had a major influence on the development of anatomical terminology. It is an important contribution to the history of teaching. The other essential contribution of Rufus' lexicon (also known for its briefer title Onomastikon) is that the author recognised and critically reviewed the knowledge and views of his predecessors, physicians of the pre-Galenic period. No less important was his teaching to anatomists and physicians who followed, as they often cited or paraphrased Rufus in their own works (Galen, Oribasius). Many fragments of Rufus' work have been preserved by medieval Arabic medical writers, especially by Rhazes.
以弗所的鲁福斯是一位著名的古代医生，生活在公元80年至150年左右。他的理论强调了解剖学的重要性，并且他更倾向于采用务实的方法进行诊断和治疗。在他的著作《论人体各部分的名称》中，他切实努力为他的学生编纂一部解剖学词汇表。在引言中，他将其描述为一本医学艺术学生手册，该手册在教学中依赖演示；身体的可见（外部）部分在演示者身上展示，而不可见（内部）部分在解剖的猴子身上展示。对解剖学术语的简要解释包括器官的位置、形状和功能，而这正是他的著作在清晰、系统且使用一致术语解释解剖学方面的开创性努力。鲁福斯强调准确命名法对于防止医学实践中出现误解的重要性。这本解剖学手册对解剖学术语的发展产生了重大影响。它是教学史上的一项重要贡献。鲁福斯词汇表（也以其更简短的标题《名词汇编》而闻名）的另一项重要贡献是，作者认可并批判性地审视了他的前辈、前盖伦时期医生的知识和观点。他对后来的解剖学家和医生的教导同样重要，因为他们在自己的著作（盖伦、奥里巴西乌斯）中经常引用或转述鲁福斯的观点。鲁福斯著作的许多片段被中世纪阿拉伯医学作家保存下来，尤其是拉齐斯。
