University Libraries

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room    March 2013

GASPARE ASELLI (1581-1626). De lactibus sive lacteis venis. Milan: Apud Jo. Bapt[ist]am Bidellium, 1627.

Aselli was born at Cremona, studied medicine at Pavia receiving degrees in medicine, surgery, and philosophy. He spent his professional career as a surgeon in Milan performing many anatomical and physiological experiments including those that led to his rediscovery of the lymphatic vessels. The lymphatics had been described earlier but no one had been successful in identifying their functional significance. Aselli wrote many unpublished notebooks and papers to record his work on medical subjects including surgery, therapeutics, recurring calculi, anal fistulas, and poisonous drugs. The latter was important because it was the first time drugs had been classified by their clinical effects and toxic actions. While vivisecting a dog to demonstrate the recurrent nerves and diaphragm, he discovered a network of mesenteric vessels that contained a milky white fluid. He had uncovered the mesenteric lymphatic vessels which he called the lacteals. After repeated experimentation, he concluded that they lead into the liver which was believed to be the central organ of the venous system. It remained for Pecquet to correct Aselli’s misconception when he discovered the thoracic duct in 1651. The woodcuts are treated in a very spirited manner and in colored chiaroscuro. The wood blocks are the earliest anatomical illustrations in color printing.

SAINT HILDEGARD (1098-1179). Physica. Strasbourg, 1533.

Hildegard, called Hildegard of Bingen, was eight years old when her family placed her in a nearby Benedictine convent where she subsequently became a nun. She founded and was Abbess of a convent near Bingen, Germany.  Hildegard’s writings are primarily mystical and theological; however, she also wrote several medical works. Her medical knowledge was acquired by reading, observation, and her duties in the convent which included care and treatment of other nuns as well as travelers and villagers. Hildegard shows how clergy of the time practiced medicine. She included time-tested formulations, numerous folk remedies, and her observations of diseases and cures. She lists the therapeutic merits of over 200 plants, 50 trees, and 20 precious stones. She includes the medicinal value of varieties of fish, birds, animals, reptiles, and metals. She was aware that lead and brass were poisonous and that iron and copper were valuable constituents of tonics. The wood-block illustrations have little relationship to her textual material. The blocks depict a seated patient surrounded by physicians and an attendant and a traditional wound-man.