First mention of Santorio’s pulse-clock (“pulsilogium”) and his scale. Through most of the 17th and 18th centuries Santorio’s name was linked with that of Harvey as the greatest figure in physiology and experimental medicine because of his introduction of precision instruments for quantitative studies. He was also the founder of modern metabolic research.

First printed mention of the air thermometer, an instrument that played a vital part in the creation of static medicine. This device was similar to Galileo’s open-air thermoscope, of which Santorio may have known, but he was the first to transform the thermoscope into a thermometer by adding a scale with fixed reference points

This collection of aphorisms is the work by which Santorio’s ideas became widely known. Santorio used a beam balance to measure metabolism. See also nos. 572.1 & 572.2. For description of his experiments, see No. 2668. English translations by Abdiah Cole (1663), John Davies (1676), and others.

The chief value of this work is in its cautious revelation of the principles of construction of various instruments that Santorio had invented, including a hygrometer, a pendulum for measuring pulse rate, a syringe for extracting bladder stones, and a bathing bed. The instruments are depicted in woodcut diagrams, the earliest illustrations of Santorio’s instruments. For the first description of Santorio’s pulse-clock see No. 572.1.