epiglottis are very rudimentary. Mondino describes the closure of an incised intestinal wound by having large ants bite on its edges and then cutting off their heads, which one scholar interprets as an anticipation of the use of staples in surgery. Anathomia also includes a detailed passage on the surgical treatment of a hernia, both with and without castration, as well as a description of a type of cataract surgery. Mondino's treatment of the skull provides only inexact directions for its dissection, suggesting that the cranial cavity was opened infrequently and with little technical skill. Nonetheless, Anathomia contains a description of the cranial nerves derived from Galen's Uses of the parts of the body of man. Furthermore, the brain is divided into three vesicles, with the anterior vesicle serving as the meeting place of the senses, the middle vesicle housing the imagination, and the posterior vesicle containing the memory. Movement of the choroid plexus is said to control mental processes by opening and closing passages between the ventricles. Mondino follows Galen and the Islamic commentators in placing the lens in the center of the eye. Much of the medical information included in Anathomia is derived from commentaries on Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen written by Islamic scholars. Although Mondino makes frequent references to his personal dissection experiences, he nonetheless repeats numerous fallacies reported by these textual authorities. For example, he propagates the incorrect Galenic notion that a rete mirabile ("miraculous network") of blood vessels exists at the base of the human brain when it is in fact present only in ungulates. Other errors contained in Anathomia are the result of an attempt to reconcile the teachings of Galen and Aristotle. This is exemplified by Mondino's description of the heart: he combines Aristotle's notion of a triventricular heart with Galen's claim that a portion of the blood can flow directly from one side of the heart to the other though a permeable interventricular septum. He also propagates information about the human reproductive system that is not corroborated by anatomical evidence, including the existence of a seven-celled uterus with hornlike appendages. Legacy He made lasting, even if not entirely accurate, contributions to the fields of anatomy and physiology. Anathomia quickly became a classic text and, after his death, Mondino was regarded as a "divine master" to such an extent that anything differing from the descriptions in his book was regarded as anomalous or