Wrong theories on the origin of blood vessels: Polybus and De Natura Hominis

Polybus of Cos (~ 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 Polybusʹ 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 Hippocratesʹ humoralism and Polybusʹ theory of the vasculature. A discussion on this issue is presented.