Includes the first recorded experiment in hypnotism in animals.

Borelli originated the neurogenic theory of the heart’s action and first suggested that the circulation resembled a simple hydraulic system. He was the first to insist that the heart beat was a simple muscular contraction. One of the founders of biomechanics, Borelli was a representative of the Iatro-Mathematical School, which treated all physiological happenings as rigid consequences of the laws of physics and mechanics.

Borelli’s experiments included what are probably the first measurements of masticatory force.

English translation by P. Maquet from the 1743 edition as On the movement of animals. Berlin: Springer, 1989. 

Digital facsimile of the 1743 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Proof that the spleen is not essential to life. For a translation and notes on the book, see Bull. Hist. Med., 1941, 9, 144-76, 311-31 (S. Jarcho).

Dalgarno considered that the deaf had an advantage over the blind in opportunities of learning languages. He invented an alphabet for the use of deaf-mutes.

The first medical book written in the British colonies of North America. The introduction, "To all ingenious students and practitioners in physick and chyrurgery", is signed Robert Couch, but the extent of additions in the rest of the book by the book's London editor and publisher, the chemist Christopher Packe, is difficult to determine. Couch emigrated from England to Boston in 1663 and spent the remainder of his life in the colonies. After his death prior to 1680 his manuscript was acquired by Francis Willis of Ware River, Virginia, who sent it to Packe, who arranged for its publication with a dedication to Willis.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

“The first comprehensive manual of comparative anatomy based on the original and literary researches of a working anatomist” (Cole). Blaes anticipated Cowper in finding the Cowper’s glands, which he illustrated in his plate of the genitalia and os penis of the rat. The 85 pages devoted to the anatomy of the dog was the first comprehensive and original treatise on a vertebrate since Ruini (No. 285).

Blasius first published much of the material in this work, including the treatise on the anatomy of the dog, in his ‎Miscellanea anatomica, hominis, brutorumque variorum, fabricam diversam magna parte exhibentia‎ (Amsterdam: Caspar Commelin, 1673.). In that work the Anatome canis appeared on pp. 168-252. Other material previously appeared in Blasius's Observata anatomica in homine, simia, equo, virtulo, ovo....(Leiden, 1674). Digital facsimile of the Anatome animalium from Google Books at this link; of the Miscellanea anatomica from Google Books at this link.

Grew, secretary to the Royal Society, compiled this illustrated catalogue of its museum, then housed at Gresham College. Published with the catalogue is Grew’s study of the stomach organs, which is the first zoological book to have the term “comparative anatomy” on the title page, and also the first attempt to deal with one system of organs only by the comparative method. Digital facsimile from the Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

The editor, Joseph Labrosse, "was born in Toulouse in 1636 and entered a Carmelite order, taking the name of Fr. Angelus of St Joseph. In 1662 he went to Rome and studied Arabic for two years before travelling to Isfahan to study Persian. While in Iran, he used medicine as a means of propagating Christianity and in the process read many Arabic and Persian books on medicine and 'visited the houses of the learned people of Isfahan and paid hundreds of visits to the shops of the druggists, the pharmacists, and the chemists.' After returning to France in 1678 he published his 'Pharmacopoea persica', which consisted of a Latin translation of a Persian book on compound remedies written in the previous century by Muzaffar ibn Muhammad al-Husayni (d. 1556), with additional comments by Labrosse" (in: I. Loudon [ed.], Western Medicine [1997], p. 52f.). 
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

The first treatise devoted entirely to molluscs, and the first practical guide for shell collectors.
"Bonanni's work is significant for his careful attempts to precisely describe shell morphology. Unfortunately, due to the printing and engraving process, the spirals shown on the shells were reversed from dextral to sinistral, a mirror image problem that later books avoided. Zoological taxonomies of the time were based on visual characteristics, and Bonanni paid special attention to both form and color, and showed details (sometimes fanciful) of the creatures inside the shells. Although his work predated the adoption of Linnaeus' system of binomial nomenclature (genus + species), Bonanni laid the foundation for the new discipline of conchology.^[1] Several later Linnaean names were based on Bonanni's work, including the name of the class Bivalvia, which he introduced." (Wikipedia article on Filippo Bonanni, accessed 12-2021).

Briggs’ treatise on the physiology of vision influenced Sir Isaac Newton, who reprinted it in book form with his own introduction, London, 1685.

One of the earliest studies of Chinese medicine published in the West. (See also Nos. 6472.10 et seq.). Cleyer edited these translations of Chinese medical texts, reproducing a series of 30 plates dealing with Chinese pulse-lore. Acu-tracts are illustrated but no acu-points. The book concerns Chinese doctrines of the pulse rather than acupuncture. Abridged English translation in No. 2670.

Probably the first monograph in English on surgery of the head and brain. Yonge was a naval surgeon who set up in practice in Plymouth after he gave up the sea. He had just performed the operation for an injury of the head outlined in the title of his book when a local physician, Dr. Durston, asserted that wounds of the brain were always fatal. To prove this was untrue, Yonge published this book, which includes details of the operation in great detail, followed by extracts from and references to 65 earlier authors, five of whom are English.

"Sydenham so precisely describes the symptoms of hysteria that even today little can be added to what he said. He maintained that is was the most common chronic disease, and he recognized that in spite of the fact that hysteria refers to the uterus (Greek, hysteron, uterus), males suffer form this disease also... Sydenham recognized for the first time that hysterical symptoms may simulate almost all forms of organic diseases" (Alexander & Selesnick, History of psychiatry, pp. 94-95).

Discusses 63 topics on medical ethics and decorum, patient behavior, medical diagnosis, prognosis, and practice guidelines, including how to relate to the patient in all matters, including extreme old age and death. "Momentously, Theophile Bonet set for his carefully considered views about how fatally ill persons should be related to, cared for and treated...."(Vanderpool, Palliative care [2015] 15-17).Translated into English as A guide to the practical physician: Shewing from the most approved authors, both ancient and modern, the truest and safest way of curing all diseases, internal and external, whether by medicine, surgery, or diet (London: Printed for Thomas Flesher..., 1684). Digital facsimile of the 1682 edition from Google Books at this link. Full English text available from quod.lib.umich.edu at this link.

Digital text from Early English Books Online at this link.

Of the many great works of Sydenham, this is considered his masterpiece. He clearly differentiated gout from rheumatism. For an English translation, see his Works, published by the Sydenham Society, 1850, 2, 123-84.

Bellini began to develop his hydraulic iatromechanics in this work, in which he considered the blood as a physical fluid with simple mechanical and mathematicizable properties.  He realized the value of the urine as an aid to diagnosis and insisted on its chemical analysis in pathological conditions.

The first scientific account of the structure, function and diseases of the ear. Du Verney showed that the bony external meatus develops from the tympanic ring and that the mastoid air cells communicate with the tympanic cavity. He it was who first suggested the theory of hearing later developed by, and accredited to, Helmholtz. Du Verney also identified a temporal bone tumor, which is believed to be the earliest description of cholesteatoma. English translation, 1737. See also A bibliography of editions of Du Verney’s Traité … published between 1683 and 1750, compiled by N. Asherson, J. Laryng. Otol., 1979, Suppl. No. 2, and book-form edition, London, H. K. Lewis, 1979. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Tyson gave one of the first descriptions of the anatomy of Ascaris lumbricoides.

Brunner came near to discovering pancreatic diabetes. His experiments on the dog represent pioneer work on internal secretion. Following excision of the pancreas, he recorded extreme thirst and polyuria. Translated in Ann. med. Hist., 1941, 3, 91-100.

This work by the resident physician at Deshima, the Dutch East India Company’s trading station in Nagasaki Bay, Japan, contains the first detailed description of acupuncture, and the first illustration of acu-points published in the West. Ten Rhijne correctly described fourteen acu-tracts but confused them with blood-vessels, a misidentification that persisted in later Western studies of acupuncture.

First book in English on equine anatomy, largely a translation of Ruini (No. 285).

One of the first works on medicine practiced in Brazil, published by Mourão under the pseudonym Romaõ Mõsia Reinhipo. Mourão distinguished clearly between smallpox and measles. There was still much confusion in the seventeenth century about the clear individualization of these diseases. Digital facsimile from Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal at this link.

Tryon, an English merchant, was the author of popular self-help books and an early advocate of vegetarianism. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

A deluxe folio work with numerous full-page engravings illustrating the architecture, floor plans etc. of the Hôtel des Invalides by its administrator, who signed the dedication "L.J.D.B." Designed by Libéral Bruant, and built to house wounded military veterans, the hospital was modelled on El Escorial. It was was commissioned by Louis XIV in 1670. Digital facsimile from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

The work was translated into English by James Fraser and published in the much smaller 8vo format, with some new material, but only one folding plate, as A pattern of a well-constituted and well-governed hospital: Or, a brief description of building, and full relation of the establishment, constitution, discipline, oeconomy and administration of the government of the Royal Hospital of the Invalids near Paris. Partly translated from a large book printed some years ago in French; and partly extracted out of some manuscriptions never before published. London: Richard Baldwin, 1695.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

“Bartholin’s duct” and “gland”, the sublingual salivary gland and ducts.

The first analysis of blood, Boyle’s Memoirs may be considered the first scientific study in physiological chemistry, exhibiting methods which have become universally adopted. This is Boyle’s most important medical work.

Vieussens, professor at Montpellier, was the first to describe the centrum ovale correctly. The publication of the above work threw new light on the subject of the configuration and structure of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. With numerous large folding copperplates, it is considered the best illustrated work on the nervous system published in the 17th century. Second issue, identical except dated 1685. Both issues have the words, “editio nova” on the title page. Digital facsimile of the 1584 issue from Google Books at this link.

Includes a brief description of “Cowper’s glands”.

An early account of the anatomy, physics and physiology of hearing, preceded by a historical summary of earlier work.

Redi was among the first of the parasitologists. He demonstrated the reproductive organs of Ascaris lumbricoides and also ascaris eggs. The results of his experiments appear in the above work, which also records his study and description of 108 different species.

De Blégny explained the obligation of surgeons to report any suspicion of crime, and explained how to prepare expert opinion for presentation before the court.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Abercromby advanced the idea that syphilis was caused by a parasite, and promoted mercury as a treatment. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Records discovery of bacteria in the mouth, with the first illustrations of the basic types – what were much later called cocci (round or oval), bacilli (rod-shaped) and spiriillum (spiral) forms. Although Leeuwenhoek had observed bacteria earlier, calling them animalcules, this paper is usually considered the first memoir on what were later called bacteria. At this early date the concept of microbiome did not yet exist; however, this paper also marks the beginning of our understanding of how parts of the human body are normally populated by bacteria. Digital facsimile from the Royal Society at this link.

Includes the first known description of nyctalopia.

The English translation of Blankaart’s dictionary was the first medical dictionary to be printed in the British Isles. The original Greek-Latin text was published in Amsterdam, 1679.

The first sex manual in English, neither by Aristotle or a "masterpiece", provided its readers with practical advice on copulation, conception, pregnancy and birth.This anonymous, inexpensively printed work proved to be enormously popular: At least three editions were issued by J. How in 1684, and literally hundreds of editions and translations followed, right up to the early decades of the 20th century. 

The only complete edition of Willis's works in English, translated by the poet Samuel Pordage. It contains the translations of all his works except his Affectionum quae dicuntur hystericae (1671). The collection includes the First Edition in English of Willis's De anima brutorum. The volume is divided into six separately paginated sections, each with its own title-leaf. Included are English versions of Willis's three great works on the brain--Cerebri anatome, Pathologiae cerebri and De anima brutorum--as well as his clinical and pharmaceutical treatises. In Treatise III, pp. 128-158 Willis’s described the intercostal and spinal nerves. He described the ganglion chain as the “intercostal nerve” and thought it came from the head.

In addition to his invaluable work in the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, Willis was the first to distinguish true diabetes mellitus, and showed that the polyuria was not due to any disease of the kidneys. He anticipated the recognition of hormones in the circulation of his suggestion that the phenomena of puberty were due to a ferment distributed through the body from the genitals. He discovered the superficial lymphatics of the lungs, distinguished acute tuberculosis from the chronic fibroid type and gave the first clinical and pathological account of emphysema.  The modern treatment of asthma really begins with Willis, who considered it to be of nervous origin. ("Of the convulsive cough and asthma," Treatise VIII, pp. 92-96; No. 3165). Willis was probably the first to report an epidemic of cerebrospinal fever" ("A description of an epidemical feaver, Treatise VIII, pp. 46-54; No. 4673). Transcription of the complete text from Early English Books Online at this link.

Browne's treatise on the muscles consisted of six lectures, illustrated by copperplates. It was, however, a plagiarism, as was pointed out by James Yonge: it put together text from the Muskotomia by William Molins with illustrations from the Tabula anatomicae of Giulio Casseri. Nevertheless, Browne's book was popular, and underwent ten editions. 

The fifth edition of Browne's book, published in 1697, included on pp. 99-105 the first posthumous publication of Richard Lower's An appendix of the heart and its use; With the circulation of the blood, and the parts of which the sanguinary mass is made, etc.

Digital facsimile of a c. 1970 facsimile edition of the 5th edition (1697) from the Hathi Trust at this link.

A book intended for a popular audience on raising, educating, and caring for health problems of children. Blankaart offered advice and instructions to parents for treating all sorts of children's illnesses as well as tips on the prevention of disease. He provided detailed descriptions and instructions for many home recipes that parents could prepare and administer to children. Two appendices follow the three main parts: the first called "Verscheide aanmerkingen aangaande de kinder-ziekten" (Various notes on children's diseases) with 23 numbered case studies, including a description of a child whose body was covered with scales except for his head (gossips blamed his mother for thinking about fish when she was pregnant!); the second, translated from English, called "Historie der Japanse campher" (History of Japanese camphor). Camphor was widely used as a decongestant.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

This large folio by Dutch physician, anatomist, poet, and playwright Govert Bidloo contains an engraved title, engraved portrait of Bidloo by Abraham Bloteling after Gérard de Lairesse and 105 engraved plates after Lairesse, probably by Bloteling and Peter and Philip van Gunst. Notably, the work of de Lairesse was featured on the title page.

Lairesse displayed his figures with everyday realism and sensuality, contrasting the raw dissected parts of the body with the full, soft surfaces of undissected flesh surrounding them; placing flayed, bound figures in ordinary nightclothes or bedding; setting objects such as a book, a jar, a crawling fly in the same space as a dissected limb or torso. He thus brought the qualities of Dutch still-life painting into anatomical illustration, and gave a new, darker expression to the significance of dissection. De Lairesse’s images of dissected pregnancies and premature infants also reflect compassion—a quality unusual in art that was intended primarily to be scientific. In 1690 Bidloo's publishers issued an edition in Dutch, and in 1698 William Cowper issued an expanded English with new text using Bidloo's original plates, crediting Bidloo, but without Bidloo's permission, resulting in a famous plagiarism dispute in the era before copyright.

For further details see the entry at HistoryofInformation.com at this link. 

Nuck’s name has been attached to the glands and duct described by him.

First description of cirrhosis of the liver.

The first separate British publication on dentistry, a pamphlet of 22pp. Editions were also published in Dublin, 1686, and London, 1687. The 1685 edition was reprinted by Dawson, 1969, and the Dublin edition was reprinted by the British Dental Association, 1924.

Pp. 49-51: Cober, a German physician, reported the relationship between typhus and pediculosis.

Contains (Book 3, Cap. 2; Book 5, Cap. 4) an important account of smallpox, particularly the epidemics of 1667-69 and 1674-75. Sydenham attributed smallpox to a specific inflammation of the blood; he clearly distinguished it from measles. His treatment of fevers with fresh air and cooling drinks was an improvement on the sweating methods previously employed. English translation in his Works, ed. R. G. Latham, London, 1848, 1, 123, 219.

Portal’s important treatise included his demonstration that version could be done with one foot. He also taught that face presentation usually ran a normal course. English translation, 1705.

Includes the first complete history of early microscopes.

Edited by the author's son.

Includes both anatomical engravings and engraving that relate to astrological influences. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

At the age of 17, Dellon, who is sometimes referred to as Gabriel Dellon, embarked as second surgeon aboard the ship La Force. He arrived at Darman, in the Portuguese Indies, in 1673, where he was doctor to Luis de Mendonça Furtado, a member of the government council, then viceroy. Dellon was denounced to the Inquisition, arrested and taken to Goa, before being taken to Lisbon three years later and released. Back in France, he finished his studies and became a doctor to the Prince de Conti.

Dellon's work is divided into 12 chapters: vomiting; scurvy or sore ear; colic from Madagascar; venereal disease in Isle Dauphine; diseases of the Indies, fevers; smallpox; snake bites; what the Portuguese call Bicho. Dellon deals with the main diseases observed and Pandite doctors, "people without study, without science" having received only a certain number of precepts but whose "long experience they have of the country that they often succeed better than the foreigners ". Delon reports the remedies used in India, to which he sometimes resorted. He cites the "weird" treatment of burning the feet (at the most calloused place) with a hot iron and using a pepper-based diet in the disease called mordechi (probable food poisoning). Dellon advocates, before Lind, the consumption of lemon juice to prevent scurvy: "Individuals should, if possible, make provision of lemon juice."

Dellon's book was translated into English in 1698 as A voyage to the East-Indies giving an account of the Isles of Madagascar, and Mascareigne, of Suratte, the coast of Malabar, of Goa, Gameron, Ormus : as also A treatise of the distempers peculiar to the eastern countries : to which is annexed an abstract of Monsieur de Rennefort's History of the East-Indies, with his propositions for the improvement of the East-India Company / written originally in French by Mr. Dellon ...

With reproductions of the original engraved plates, Bibliotheca anatomica was the most extensive compilation of anatomical treatises published in the 17th century. It was an extensive anatomical library in 2 thick volumes. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

In this work on drug action or pharmacodynamics Boyle argued that remedies composed of only one or two ingredients were preferable to more complex drugs for two reasons. First, because the patient would experience fewer side effects, and second because the physician could more readily verify the effects of a specific drug upon his patient.

Digital text from Early English Books Online at this link.

Vossius, a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector, was one of the first European writers to suggest that the Chinese had anticipated William Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. In his chapter on Chinese medicine, De artibus et scientiis Sinarum, Vossius stated that the Chinese had known about the circulation of the blood for over 4,000 years, citing relevant Chinese medical texts, such as the Huang ti nei ching, that had recently been translated into European languages. Vossius also alluded to Harvey's European precursors, including Cesalpino, Paolo Sarpi, and 'an Englishman"; this last was probably Walter Warner, one of the first Englishmen to support Harvey's theory and give an acount of it in the vernacular. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

"He [Lister] had created a small version of this book for circulation to friends in 1685, but almost immediately began work on an expanded version which was produced from 1685 to 1692. This copy had 490 pages, with 1062 engraved copper plates, showing 2000 figures of molluscs.

"The illustrations were the work of two of his daughters Susanna (1670-1738) and Anna (1671–1704). Their father had encouraged their drawing abilities, and they would have used the shells in his collection, or those sent by friends such as Sir Hans Sloane, from which to make their drawings. They were also responsible for etching or engraving the plates on copper and it is generally assumed that the printing was done by the family at home, rather than taken to a professional printing firm.

"The publication of the first edition of Historiae Conchyliorum was a lengthy and laborious undertaking, it is an impressive feat for anyone to be involved in, but even more so for  Susanna and Anna as it is thought that they were between the ages of 13 and 15 when production began. It was initially published in four books, or parts, and then a second, complete, edition was produced almost immediately and became available in 1697.

"In 1712 Lister bequeathed the original copper plates to the Ashmolean Museum, and in 1770, the curator of the Museum, William Huddesford, published a third edition of the book. He reprinted the illustrations from the original plates, included additional notes from Lister’s manuscript, and dedicated it to the famous shell collector, the Duchess of Portland.

"A final edition was produced in 1823, which included an index by Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778-1855), the porcelain manufacturer whose shell collection is now housed in the Museum zoology department. This edition includes the notes from the Huddesford version and identifications of the species and remarks by the compiler. It is technically the fourth edition but is known generally as the third" (https://museum.wales/blog/2018-03-08/Listers-Historiae-Conchyliorum-a-seventeenth-century-shell-book/, accessed 5-2020).

Issued in parts; the collation of copies vary.

Includes (pp. 25-28) his classic description of chorea minor (“Sydenham’s chorea”). Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1939, 4, 327-53. In the Sydenham Society translation (see No. 64) the passage occurs in vol. 2, pp. 198-99.

Leeuwenhoek, one of the first and also one of the greatest of the microbiologists, communicated many of his discoveries to the Royal Society in London. This set is a collection in Dutch of many contributions that van Leeuwenhoek sent to the Royal Society, which were first published in English translation in Philosophical Transactions. Leeuwenhoek was first to describe spermatozoa, and the red blood corpuscles; he discovered the crystalline lens, and was the first to see protozoa under the microscope. He introduced staining in histology in 1719 (saffron for muscle fibers). He also discovered protozoa and bacteria. He is said to have had 250 microscopes and 419 lenses, many of them ground by himself. (See also Nos. 98, 265, 860.) An English translation of his works, omitting all references to spermatozoa, appeared in 2 vols, in 1798-1807. Clifford Dobell’s study, Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his ‘little animals“ (London, 1932), revealed many new facts about the man, and included a bibliography. 

Digital facsimile from loc.gov at this link.

Bohn's approach was mechanistic in that he grave predominately physical interpretations of vital processes. He experimented on the decapitated frog, declaring the reflex phenomena to be entirely material and mechanical, the general view of the time being that “vital spirits” were present in the nerve-fluid. Bohn showed that the nerves do not contain a “nerve juice”. (See p. 460 of the book.) Bohn also described the function of the heart in iatromechanical terms.

Translations of Chinese treatises on pulse medicine with illustrations of hands and wrists to illustrate pulse-taking. The texts published here are different from those published by Cleyer in No. 6492. Previously published in Misc. cur. Acad. Nat. Cur. (Nürnberg), Dec. II, 4, 1686, 1-144. Digital facsimile of the 1686 edition from Biusante.Parisdescartes.fr at this link.

Malpighi was the founder of histology. In 1660 he was the first to see the capillary anastomosis between the arteries and the veins, thus contributing to the completion of Harvey’s work on the circulation. Malpighi was also a great embryologist; his name is perpetuated in the “Malpighian bodies”, “Malpighi’s layer” of the epidermis, “Malpighi’s (splenic) corpuscles”. Malpighi was an excellent draughtsman but a poor writer. See No. 534.1 Marcello Malpighi and the evolution of embryology, by H. B. Adelmann.

A large folio volume with 187 engraved plates considered the first modern encyclopedia on fish, this was largely the work of John Ray, prepared and expanded from Willougby's notes, more than a decade after his death. The work was published by the Royal Society at considerable expense; the Society's President, Samuel Pepys, personally underwrote 79 of the engraved plates, and other members sponsored the remaining plates. Despite its importance and sumptuous production, the work was slow to sell, and the Society, still owning a large number of copies 50 years after publication, authorized a re-issue of the original sheets with a cancel title in 1743..

This massive catalogue begins with an extensive general botanical treatise covering plant physiology, plant nutrition and, most importantly, Ray's principles and methodology of botanical classification. Ray adopted Jung's morphological system and terminology, with extensions and modifications based upon his own work and that of Grew and Malpighi. He gave a more precise definition of the flower, adopting the terms "petal" and "pollen," and favored Grew's idea that the stamens were male sex organs. He stressed that breeding true from seed was the essential test of a natural species, but admitted the possibility of limited transmutation. Historia plantarum was a monument to Ray's learning, and prepared the way for Linnaeus, but it enjoyed only small success, being handicapped by its massive size, its lack of illustrations (the Royal Society was unwilling to incur the expense), and the political upheavals occuring at the time of its publication. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

“Brunner’s glands”, earlier described by Wepfer (No. 974.1).

First clinical and experimental proof of infection by a microparasite. Bonomo observed Sarcoptes scabiei, the scabies mite. This gave researchers grounds to think in terms of objective, exogenous pathogenic agents as the cause of disease. This pamphlet was in part translated by Richard Mead in Phil. Trans.,(1702-03), 1703, 23, 1296-99; it was reproduced in facsimile, with Mead’s translation, in Arch. Derm. Syph. (Chicago), 1928, 18, 1-25. See 2529.1.

Catalogue of about 3300 plants in the botanical garden of Leiden University (106 illustrated), compiled, and with plates apparently drawn by the author. Hermann had only recently introduced many plants to Europe from the East Indies, Ceylon, the Cape and America. Most entries give the Latin name of the plant with references to the literature; some give more detailed descriptions. Hermann sailed with the VOC (Dutch East India Company) to Ceylon in 1672 and collected many plants there. As a professor of botany and medicine at Leiden, he directed the University botanical garden from 1679 to his death in 1695. He made it the richest garden in Europe during the Dutch golden age, always in competition with Jan Commelin at the Amsterdam botanical garden. Hermann's premature death prevented publication of a planned second part of this catalogue.

Since the frontispiece and all botanical illustrations are on integral leaves, references to copies with 107 "plates" apparently include the frontispiece. Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

"The remedy here treated of is ipecacuanha: although its antidysenteric virtues had previously been made known in 1649 by the writings of Piso and Marggraf [No. 2263.1] it was left to Helvetius, about forty years subsequently, to bring the remedy into public notice in France. This he did in a truly empirical [quack, charlatan] style, keeping his remedy a secret, placarding its virtues on the street walls, &c. So great was his success, the Dauphin of France having been cured by its means, that the French king purchased from Helvetius his secret for 1000 louis-d'or and made it public" (Waring, Bibliotheca therapeutica 1, 526).

“The best work on fatal injuries, with frequent references of medicolegal importance” (Nemec).

The first application of the principles of pathology to the study of pulmonary tuberculosis. Morton showed that the formation of tubercles is a necessary part of the development of this lung disease, and pointed out that the tubercles often heal spontaneously. He noted the enlargement of the tracheal and bronchial glands in cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. The book was translated into English in 1694. Chap. I included the first account of anorexia nervosa.

Harris was physician to William and Mary. His book served for nearly a century as a standard work on pediatrics. He anticipated the modern treatment of tetany by using calcium salts in infantile convulsions. For a study of the book, see Ann. med. Hist., 1919, 2, 228-40. English translation 1693, 1742.

Gagliardi, a papal physician, fiirst described the lamellar structure of the bones.  He also carried out some tests and comparative research between human and calf bones, and probably first described a case of bone tuberculosis. The work includes research and illustrations on the structure of teeth.  Gagliardi was also reputed to have been the first to describe the tooth enamel in detail. According to Desirabode, he obtained sparks from tooth enamel "by hitting them with steel".
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

First published catalogue of plants of the Hortus Medicus, precursor of the Hortus Botanicus. The Hortus Medicus, founded in 1682 under Commelin's guidance, was ranked among the most comprehensive in Europe, including exotic species collected by he captains of the VOC and WIC from their voyages. Pars prior was all published. Digital facsimile from Googel Books at this link.

Magnol invented of the concept of plant families, a natural classification, based on combinations of morphological character.  "In his Prodromus he developed 75 tables, which not only grouped plants into families but also allowed for an easy and rapid identification by means of the morphological characters, the same he used to compose the groups....In 1703 Charles Plumier (1646–1704) named a flowering tree from the island of Martinique Magnolia, after Magnol.^[6] The name was later adopted by William Sherard, when he did the nomenclatural parts of Hortus Elthamensis by Johann Jacob Dillenius, and The Natural History of Carolina by Mark Catesby, to denote a flowering tree now known as Magnolia virginiana, taking it for the same species as that described by Plumier. Linnaeus took over this name in the first edition of Species plantarum, including references to both Plumier's and Sherard's names. In this way, Magnolia became the generally recognized name of a large genus of ornamental flowering trees"
(Wikipedia article on Pierre Magnol, accessed 8-21). Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.