title: Wrong theories on the origin of blood vessels: Polybus and De Natura Hominis.
abstract: Polybus of Cos (approximately 400 B.C.) was the son-in-law and the successor of Hippocrates. He is credited with founding the school of Dogmatism, and writing "The Nature of Man" which was important in advancing the theory of the four body humors (humoralism). Some earlier scholars negated Polybus' role as an independent medical figure. However, Corpus Aristotelicum quoted him as having a unique theory regarding the body vasculature which stated that this system was composed of four pairs of blood vessels originating from the head and that these supplied the whole body. In an interpretation of this theory, we opined that numerological mysticism might have been the common motive for both Hippocrates' humoralism and Polybus' theory of the vasculature. A discussion on this issue is presented.
authors.affiliation: Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Research Center, Tabriz Medial University, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammadali M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shoja
authors.forename: R Shane
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Tubbs
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loukas
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ardalan
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D036262:Empirical Research; D000076145:Greece, Ancient; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D019364:Humoralism