JAKOB RÜFF (1500-1558). De conceptu et generatione hominis.

Lithotomost, surgeon, obstetrician and playwright, Ruff settled in Zurich about 1525 where he served as town physician and taught at the university.  Ruff published his book in both German and Latin in 1554.  A comprehensive handbook, the treatise opens with a discussion of conception, development, and nutrition of the fetus.  The anatomy of the uterus and a set of precepts for pregnant women are followed by a section on parturition including care of the mother and infant.