▁V es al ius ▁pos ed ▁the ▁then ▁striking ▁hypothesis ▁that ▁an atom ical ▁dis section ▁might ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁test ▁spec ulation . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 5 4 6 , ▁three ▁years ▁after ▁the ▁Fab rica , ▁he ▁wrote ▁his ▁Ep ist ola ▁r ation em ▁mod um que ▁prop inand i ▁rad ic is ▁Ch yn ae ▁de co ct i , ▁commonly ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Ep ist le ▁on ▁the ▁China ▁Root . ▁Ost ens ibly ▁an ▁app rais al ▁of ▁a ▁popular ▁but ▁in effect ive ▁treatment ▁for ▁g out , ▁sy ph ilis , ▁and ▁stone , ▁this ▁work ▁is ▁especially ▁important ▁as ▁a ▁continued ▁po lem ic ▁against ▁Gal en ism ▁and ▁a ▁reply ▁to ▁critics ▁in ▁the ▁camp ▁of ▁his ▁former ▁professor ▁Jacob us ▁Syl vi us , ▁now ▁an ▁obs ess ive ▁det ractor . ▁ ▁In ▁February ▁ 1 5 6 1 , ▁V es al ius ▁was ▁given ▁a ▁copy ▁of ▁Gab rie le ▁Fal lop io ' s ▁Observ ation es ▁an atom ica e , ▁friendly ▁add itions ▁and ▁corre ctions ▁to ▁the ▁Fab rica . ▁Before ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁year ▁V es al ius ▁composed ▁a ▁cord ial ▁reply , ▁An atomic ar um ▁Gabriel is ▁Fal lo pi i ▁observation um ▁exam en , ▁generally ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁the ▁Ex amen . ▁In ▁this ▁work ▁he ▁recogn izes ▁in ▁Fal lop io ▁a ▁true ▁equal ▁in ▁the ▁science ▁of ▁dis section ▁he ▁had ▁done ▁so ▁much ▁to