[The brothers of Jumiege--the peripheral nervous system in early French mythology].
This article reviews the process of discovery of the nervous system from Pythagoras (570-500 BC) to Galen (130-201 AD). After Galen, no anatomical studies were performed before the renaissance. According to a legend, probably produced for political reasons, two brothers, sons of the French king Clovis II, revolted against their father and were sentenced to loose their physical powers by having the nerves of their arms and legs cut. They were then set adrift on the river Seine, stranding at the Jumiège monastery. The earliest written version of this legend stems from the fourteenth century; it was probably a part of the local French mythology. This indicates that the existence of the peripheral nervous system, and therefore also in part the knowledge contained in the early anatomical works, quite early may have been more or less known outside academic circles.
Brean
Are
A
Nevrologisk avdeling Universitetssykehuset Nord-Norge 9038 Tromsø. are.brean@rito.no
D005602:France; D018645:Greek World; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009229:Mythology; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history*; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D018644:Roman World