Includes a description of “Bruch’s membrane” of the choroid.

An important description of colour phenomena in the fundus oculi. This paper won for Kussmaul the Karl Friedrich Medal of the University of Heidelberg.

An introduction to the then little-known subject of catoptrics.

Bowman did more than any other man to advance ophthalmic surgery in England. The above work is the first to include a sound description of the microscopical anatomy of the eye and the ciliary (“Bowman’s”) muscle. The book consists of several lectures given at the London Ophthalmic Hospital and published in the Lond. med. Gaz. in 1847. Part of it is reprinted in Med. Classics, 1940, 5, 292-336.

Discovery of visual purple.

Helmholtz determined the optical constants and explained the mechanism of accommodation, with the help of the ophthalmometer which he had invented in 1852.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Panizza was the first to attribute the vision function to the posterior cortex.

Discovery of the electroretinogram, the beginning of the use of electrophysiological methods for studying visual systems.

One of the greatest of all histologists, Max Schultze is remembered by ophthalmologists for his monograph on the nerve-endings in the retina.

Includes Helmholtz’s revival of the Young theory of color vision. English translation by J.P.C. Southall of 3rd German edition, 3 vols., Menasha, Wis., 1924-25.

Hering’s law: that the corresponding muscles of the two eyes are always equally innervated. The book includes classic experiments and observations on eye movement control. English translation by B. Bridgeman and L. Stark (New York: Plenum, 1977).

First demonstration of retinal action currents.

Hering’s theory of color sense. First edition in book form (Vienna, 1878). Hering expanded this work in Grundzüge der Lehre vom Lichtsinn (1905-11; 1920) English translation of that expanded work by Leo M. Hurvich and Dorothea Jameson as Outlines of a theory of the light sense (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964).

Leber discovered how the ciliary body excretes intraocular fluid.

Important studies on the partial decussation of optic paths.

Boll noted that visual purple is bleached on exposure to light.

“Sattler’s layer” of the choroid.

Kühne was Professor of Physiology at Amsterdam and Heidelberg. Among his best work is his investigation of visual purple (rhodopsin) which he was first to extract from the retina. Several other papers by him on the same subject appear in the above volume.

“Lockwood’s suspensory ligament” of the globe of the eye.

Discovery of the cortical visual center.

Ladd-Franklin theory of vision.

Classic account of the vertebrate retina. First published in the Belgian review La Cellule, and later translated into German with extensive additions by Ramón y Cajal. Translated into English by Sylvia A. Thorpe and Mitchell Glickstein as The structure of the retina, Springfield: Charles C Thomas, [1972].

 On the function of the retinal rods.

Edridge-Green first put forward his theories on the function of the retinal rods and of the visual purple about 1889. See also his Physiology of vision, 1920.

First correct electroretinograms.

Gullstrand invented the slit-lamp, making possible the microscopic study of the living eye.

Discovery of the intracapsular mechanism of accommodation.

An important work on the biomicroscopy of the eye. Second ed. greatly revised and enlarged, vol. 1-2, Springer, 1930-31; vol. 3, Stuttgart, F. Enke, 1942; vol. 3 (English translation) Zurich, 1947. Second ed. reprinted, Bonn, J. P. Wayenborgh, 1977. English trans. by F.C. Blodi, 3 vols., Bonn, J.P. Wayenborgh, 1978-81.

 On the electrical discharges from the vertebrate optic nerve.

Hartline continued and extended the work initiated by Adrian and Matthews on electrical discharges from the optic nerve. See also his later papers In the same journal, 1940, 130, 690-711. Reprinted with historical introduction by Hartline in F. Ratliff (ed.). Studies on excitation and inhibition in the retina, New York, [1974].

In 1967 Hartline shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Granit (No. 1534) and G. Wald (No. 1535) "for his discovery of the optical nerve network."

Electroretinography

A scholarly tour-de-force with a bibliography of over 700 references.

An account of twenty years’ work on the electrical responses of the retina, a discussion of visual purple and visual violet, and an exposition of Granit’s hypothesis of colour vision. His researches have done much to elucidate the mechanism of visual processes.

In 1967 Granit shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Hartline (No. 1532) and G. Wald (No. 1535) "for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye."

Through his research on xerophthalmia, karatomalacia and night blindness Wald revealed the critical function of vitamin A in normal vision and visual pathology.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and their interpretation.)

In 1967 Wald shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ragnar Granit and Haldan Keffer Hartline "for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye."  See also Nos. 14276, 14277

A practical manual for dissection, showing how to carry out an anatomy from the first incision onwards. Massa based his work on his experience gained from numerous dissections that he had undertaken in the hospital of SS. Petro et Paolo in the monastery of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. In the full title of the book Masso

"promised to reveal parts, functions, and uses of the body overlooked by others, ancient and modern. In his biography of Vesalius, C. D. O'Malley found the book 'somewhat overated, making certain contributions and correcting some errors, but remaining too much under the shadow of Galen.' Later he gave a more favourable appreciation, noting Massa's introduction of the term panniculous carnosis and praising other aspects of his work - his account of the abdominal wall, intestinal canal, and appendix, his observation that the size of spleen varied in those suffering from certain ailments, the discovery of the prostate gland, his denial of the seven-celled uterus, his reference to the malleus and incus, and his statement that interventricular septum was a 'dense and hard substance without a cavity', perhaps a denial of Galen's interventircular pores and a hint towards the pulmonary circulation of the blood. At the same time, O'Malley commented unfavourably on the 'cryptic brevity' of so many of Massa's descriptions. This is a justifiable comment, but Massa's brevity was perhaps inevitable in what was, after all, a short book on how to perform an anatomy, not an account of the fabric of the body in the manner of Vesalius....For Massa, anatomy remained an adjunct to medicine. It was the groundwork for surgery, showing the correct sites for incisions and areas where especial care was needed. He noted the extreme consequences of surgical mistakes; ignorance of anatomy could cause the death of patients. it is no surprise that he digressed into surgery, dealing amongst other things, with wounds of the peritoneum and demonstrating his own method of sewing up intestines. Anatomy was also the guide to morbific processes, and many of his patients ended their courses of treatment on his anatomy table, sometimes at the request of relatives.

"The Liber introductorius is best judged in its own terms as a practical manual. It is full of hints such as the use of probes to examine cavities, and pipes, syringes, and bellows to flate organs such as the bladder, kidneys, stomach, and somb to show their capacity and explore their function. it also contains useful suggestions such as boiling the liver as a preliminary to studying its veins. The treatise amply justifies L. R. Lind's assessemtn of it as a 'remarkably clear account of the human body by a skilled dissector who was proud of his ability" (Richard Palmer, "Nicolò Massa, his family and his fortune," Med. Hist., 25 (1981) 385-410).

"It is clearly evident, that Massa anticipated the modern anatomists, describing the presence of fluid intracranially. [Massa's Chapter XXXVIII on page 84]. Because this work was original, the evidence accurate and based on autopsy observations and what is more other scientists cited his work, thus we have to recognize Massa's scientific priority for this discovery.8-9' This great anatomical discovery is widely recognized as a milestone in the development of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology" (Leszek Herbowski, "Massa versus Haller: Priority of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Discovery," Neurol. Med. Chir. (Tokyo), 58 (2018), 225-227).

Full text translated into English by L. R. Lind, Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy...(1975).

Observationes anatomicae, a work of 232 leaves printed in the comparatively small octavo format, with no illustrations, was the only work Fallopio published before his death from tuberculosis at age thirty-nine, and is thus the only one that can be said to be fully authentic. The remainder of Falloppio's works were edited for publication from his lecture notes, and may represent more or less than the author's original intention. Observationes was not an all-inclusive textbook of anatomy but rather a detailed critical commentary on Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (1543), in which Falloppio attempted to correct errors in the earlier work, and to add material that Vesalius had overlooked; for this reason, there was no need for illustrations. The large amount of new material included Falloppio's investigations of primary and secondary centers of ossification, the first clear description of primary dentition, numerous contributions to the study of the muscles (especially those of the head), and the famous account of the uterine ("Falloppian") tubes, which he correctly described as resembling small trumpets (tubae), definitely proved the existence of the seminal vesicles. He also gave to the placenta and vagina their present scientific names, provided a superior description of the auditory apparatus (including the first clear accounts of the chorda tympani and semicircular canals), and was the first to clearly distinguish the trochlear nerve of the eye. Vesalius responded positively to Falloppio's work with his posthumously published Examen on Falloppio (1564).

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

Eustachius is credited with several anatomical discoveries, among them the tensor tympani muscle and the Eustachian tube, published in his chapter entitled De auditus organis. In the last respect, however, he was anticipated by Alcmaeon, about 500 BCE. Eustachius was the first to describe the chorda tympani as a nerve. Plate VIII illustrates the “Eustachian valve”, the valvula venae cavae in the right auricle. Eustachius recognized the thoracic duct in the horse and even detected some of its valves. His work on this structure was forgotten until Aselli’s description of the lacteals. This work includes first description of the adrenals. Several of the plates deal with the structure of the kidney.

Basing his work on the dissection of fetuses and newborn children, Eustachi was the first to study the teeth in any considerable detail. In his Libellus de dentibus attached to this work he provided an important description of the first and second dentitions and described the hard outer tissue and soft inner structure of the teeth. He also attempted an explanation of the problem of the sensitivity of the tooth’s hard structure. The Libellus has a separate title page dated 1563. It was reprinted with German translation, Wien, Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1951. It was translated into English by Joan H. Thomas and edited and introduced by David A. Chernin and Gerald Shlklar as as A little treatise on the teeth. The first authoritative book on dentistry (1563) (Canton, MA, 1999). Eustachi’s illustrations of the teeth were first published in his Tabulae anatomicae, edited by Giovanni Maria Lancisi (No. 391). For further information, including a discussion of the states of the Opuscula, see the entry at HistoryofInformation.com at this link.

Digital facsimile of the 1563 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Coiter made several important contributions to the study of human anatomy, and was the first to elevate comparative anatomy to the rank of an independent branch of biology. His Externarum et internarum principalium humani corporis partium tabulae is a collection of ten short works, among which are the first monograph on the ear (De auditus instrumento); the earliest study of the growth of the skeleton as a whole in the human fetus (Ossium tum humani foetus . . .); the first descriptions of the spinal ganglia and musculus corrugator supercilii (in Observationum anatomicarum chirurgicarumque miscellanea); and Coiter's epochal (although unillustrated) investigation of the development of the chick in ovo (De ovorum gallinaceorum generationis. . .), based upon observations made over twenty successive days. This last was the first published study of chick embryo development based upon direct observation since the three-period description (after three, ten and twenty days of incubation) given by Aristotle in his Historia animalium two thousand years before.

Coiter was one of the first physicians to draw the illustrations for his own publications, and to take credit for them in print. It is believed that Vesalius may have done some of the simpler illustrations for the Fabrica; however, none of the Fabrica images are signed, and questions concerning their authorship have led to centuries of speculation and debate. Coiter's illustrations of the adult skeleton and skull, after Vesalius, are superior in anatomical detail; and his sketches of fetal skeletons are original. English translation with parallel Latin text and biographical introductions as Opuscula Selecta Neerlandicorum de Arte Medica XVIII (Amsterdam: Sumptibus Societatis, 1955).  See No. 284.

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

Casseri, originally a servant to Fabrizio, was personally trained by his employer and eventually succeeded to Fabrizio’s chair of anatomy. Like Fabrizio, who studied the development of the chick for clues to human embryology, Casseri endeavored to explain the human larynx and ear by reference to the lower animals. He investigated the structure of the auditory and vocal organs in most of the domestic animals. The book includes a description of the larynx more accurate than that of any previous author, and is also notable for its fine copperplate engravings, masterpieces of anatomical art. The elaborate engraved title page is particularly spectacular. Translation of chap. I-VIII , The larynx, organ of voice by Malcolm H. Hast and Erling B. Holtsmark with preface and anatomical notes in Acta otol. (Stockh.),1969, Suppl. 261.

Ingrassia is by some accredited with the discovery of the stapes; he also observed the sound-conducting capacity of the teeth.

An article which announces the discovery of the long process of the malleus. Folius “accurately discussed the general configuration of the middle ear, described the round and oval windows, delineated the three ossicles with the so-called fourth ossicle, the semicircular canals and cochlea” (Mettler). Also in A. Haller, Disputationes ad morborum historiam, etc. 1749, 4, 365-68.  Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. 

Includes the first account of the excretory duct of the parotid gland (“Stensen’s duct”), discovered by Stensen. He first reported his discovery in a letter to his teacher, Thomas Bartholin, dated April, 22, 1661. Stensen was also the first mention the ceruminous glands in this work. Facsimile reproduction, with English translation, Copenhagen, 1951.

Chap. XIV is devoted to the sense of hearing; in it Willis described the “paracusis of Willis” (p. 73). English translation, 1683.

A probable description of myasthenia gravis is given in Pars. 2, Cap. IX.

In Pars 2, Cap. III is an account of lethargy, and Cap. XIII gives an account of “stupidity or foolishness”. Part 2, Cap. 1, deals with headache.

Two Oxford editions were published in 1672; the first, in quarto, in which a description of general paralysis appears on pp. 392-432, and the second, in octavo, in which it appears on pp. 278-307. In his Practice of Physick (1684) the translation of this section appears on pp. 161-78.

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.

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

Valsalva, a pupil of Malpighi and teacher of Morgagni, is best remembered for his work upon the ear, in which he described and depicted its most minute muscles and nerves. He divided the ear into “external”, “middle”, and “internal”; his method of inflating the middle ear (Valsalva’s maneuver) is still practiced. The book includes a description of “Valsalva’s dysphagia”.

Important tracts on the anatomy and physiology of the ear. Cassebohm’s studies of the embryonic ear far surpassed his predecessors, including Valsalva and Morgagni, and were not themselves surpassed until the work of Huschke and von Baer.

Pyl was the first (page 20) to record the labyrinthine fluid and to discuss its rôle in the transmission of sound.

Cotugno is sometimes accredited with the discovery of the “liquor Cotunnii”, the labyrinthine fluid, first noted by Pyl in 1742. He did, however, make important contributions to the knowledge on the structure and function of the ear, including the discovery of the aural aqueducts. The naso-palatine nerve and the columns in the osseous spiral lamina are named after him.

Scarpa’s first scientific work, a comparative anatomical investigation of the ear, in which he offered a more accurate and complete description of the osseous labyrinth and demonstrated the true function of the round window. See also No. 1553.

Jacobson described the tympanic canal, nerve, and plexus, all of which are named after him. In 1809 he discovered “Jacobson’s organ”, as reported two years later by G. Cuvier.

Occlusion effect on sound perception.

Flourens showed that lesion of the semicircular canals produces motor incoordination and loss of equilibrium. Menière based his work (No. 3372) on Flourens’s crucial experiments.

Description of the pars flaccida (“Shrapnell’s membrane”) of the tympanic membrane.

Corti made important investigations on the finer anatomy of the mammalian cochlea. The “organ of Corti” in the cochlea is named after him.

Description of the vestibular membrane (“Reissner’s membrane”).

Schultze’s great monographs on the nerve-endings of the sense organs were of prime importance in the development of the science of histology. Besides that dealing with the internal ear, he wrote others dealing with the nose and the retina. See Nos. 936, 1512.

Helmholtz’s theory of hearing, upon which all modern theories of resonance are based. This exhaustive study of acoustics ranks as one of the greatest books on the subject and shows that Helmholtz was, besides being a great physicist and physician, an accomplished musician. English translation of 3rd edition, London, 1875.

Helmholtz’s study of the mechanism of the tympanum and ossicles of the middle ear did much to elucidate the phenomenon of audition. It includes a description of “Helmholtz’s ligament” of the malleus. Separate offprint, Bonn, 1869. English translation, London, 1873.

Goltz demonstrated the relation of vertigo and vestibular disturbance, showing that the former is a result of disease or irritation of the semicircular canals.

The most magnificent of all comparative anatomical studies of the ear, and the most beautiful studies of the ear after those of Casseri (No.1540). Retzius described the “Retzius bodies” in the labyrinth.

Stein studied the functions of separate parts of the labyrinth. This is a translation from the Russian.

Beauregard and Dupuy recorded the action potential in the auditory nerve of the frog.

“An important and elaborate work designed to give the anatomy of the labyrinth, or inside of the ears of vertebrates, with the exception of fishes” (Casey Wood). Illustrated with stereoscopic photographs.

In 1961 Békésy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries of the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea."
English translation in Békésy, Experiments in hearing, 1960.

Dalton, Professor of Physiology at the universities of Buffalo and Vermont, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, was the first American to devote his time exclusively to that subject. He was present at the first demonstration of ether as an anaesthetic, Oct 16,1846, and was quick to see its possibilities as a means of illustrating his lectures with experiments on living animals. As a result of the opposition to vivisection he published the above book. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Unsurpassed coverage of the experimental physiology of the brain and spinal cord up to the work of Flourens. The best edition is the extensively annotated English translation as The historical development of experimental brain and spinal cord physiology before Flourens  by E. S. Clarke, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981.

Massive history of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system from ancient Greece to the end of the 19th century, limited in its historical analysis. The second volume is a survey of end of 19th century opinions on the structure and function of the nervous system.

Reprinted 1924 and (Dover Pubs.), 1970.

Well illustrated, and finely printed, but dated history, by a pupil of Ludwig. See No. 629.

Reprinted, New York, Hafner, 1964.

Reprinted, Hildesheim, 1970.

Acta Historica Scientiarum Naturalium et Medicinalium, Vol. 7.

Forms vols. 30-34 of Comprehensive biochemistry, edited by M. Florkin and E. H. Stotz.

A definitive history of the development of knowledge on muscle biochemistry; valuable bibliography.

A revised and expanded translation of Geschichte der Physiologie, Berlin, 1953.

An annotated bibliography of the literature documenting the history of this controversy together with reproductions of the texts of the crucial papers. See Nos. 1254-1259.

Thirty-one contributions to a symposium in honour of F. O. Schmitt. 

English translations of 22 classic papers (some quite lengthy) with introductions by various experts.

An index to bio-bibliographical articles listed alphabetically by scientist. Supplement published, Philadelphia, 1985.

These readings extend from Aristotle to contemporary writers; they give access to many classical works that might otherwise be unobtainable to students of the history of physiology. Foreign material is translated into English. First edition, 1930.

Translation of Le cerveau-machine: physiologie de la volonté, Paris, 1983.

The authors were prominent investigators in the field.

A collective work on the history of renal physiology with thematic chapters by the editors and other prominent investigators.

Detailed analysis, emphasizing first half of 19th century, with detailed bibliographies, and bibliographical notes.

See No. 968.

Massive anthology of primary source material on neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Excellent commentaries and bibliographies.  First edition, 1968.

A highly detailed, very technical, but well-documented study.

First edition, Oxford, 1985.

De aquaeductibus, or De aquis urbis Romae was written about 100 CE by the Roman senator Frontinus. Its title is sometimes translated as The Aquaducts of Rome, and most recently by Rodgers as On the Water-Management of the City of Rome. The brief work provides gives a history and description of the water supply of ancient Rome, and the laws governing its use and maintenance. It was first translated into English as The Two Books on the Water Supply of the City of Rome of Sextus Julius Frontinus, Water Commissioner of the City of Rome, A.D. 97. A photographic reproduction of the sole original Latin manuscript and its reprint in Latin; also, a translation into English, and explanatory chapters by Clemens Herschel, Boston, 1899. Herschel's translation was revised by Mary B. McIlwaine, for the Loeb Classical Library edition of 1925, edited by Charles E. Bennett. The Bennett / McIlwaine translation was in turn revised by R. H. Rodgers for the latest and best edition (Cambridge: Univ. Press 2004). Both the place and publisher of the 1487 editio princeps of Frontinus (sometimes thought to be printed in 1483) are unstated but inferred by bibliographers. The edition is described bibliographically in ISTC No. if00324000. A digital facsimile is available from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek at this link. That library dates the edition between 1487 and 1490.

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

The first printed book on geriatrics – a guide to proper hygiene, physical and mental, and particularly to the diet of the aged. Translated into English by L.R. Lind as Gerontocomia: on the care of the aged and Maximilianus, Elegies on old age and love. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1988. See also Nos. 363.4 and 1758.1. ISTC no. iz00026000. Digital facsimile from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

Translation by John Phaer of a book by Jehan Goeurot published in 1530. Garrison states that it is a version of the Regimen Sanitatis.

This, probably the earliest “modern” work on hygiene, throws some light on the condition of that subject in the 16th century.

Garrison considered this “the best treatise on personal hygiene and the simple life in existence”. Cornaro was called the Apostle of Senescence. 

"When he was about 40, Cornaro found himself exhausted and in poor health, a condition he attributed to a hedonistic lifestyle with excessive eating, drinking, and sexual licentiousness. On the advice of doctors, he began to adhere to a calorie restriction diet specially for morbid obese/anorexia nervosa persons,^[3] centered on the "quantifying principle" of restricting himself to only 350g of food daily (including bread, egg yolk, meat, and soup) and 414 mL of wine.^[4] His book Discorsi della vita sobria (Discourses On the Temperate Life), which described his regimen, was extremely successful, and "was a true reconceptualization of old age. As late as the Renaissance it was largely the negative aspects of this phase of life which were emphasized ... Cornaro’s method offered the possibility for the first time not only of a long but also a worthwhile life." After his conversion to a holistic lifestyle, he remained in vigorous health well into old age.^[4]

In 1550, when Cornaro was about 83, he was urged to write down his secrets of health, and its English translation, often referred to today under the title The Sure and Certain Method of Attaining a Long and Healthful Life, went through numerous editions; he wrote three follow-ups in 1553, 1558, and 1562. The first three were published at Padua in 1558. They are written, says Joseph Addison, in the early 18th century periodical The Spectator (No. 195), "with such a spirit of cheerfulness, religion and good sense, as are the natural concomitants of temperance and sobriety." Friedrich Nietzsche criticized the work for mistaking the consequence with the cause,^[5] insisting that Cornaro's diet is not the cause of his long life, but rather that the cause of his long life - which Nietzsche gives as his slow metabolism - is the reason for his diet." (Wikipedia article on Luigi Cornaro, accessed 3-2020).

First translated into English by George Herbert as A treatise of temperance and sobrietie, n.p., n.d. [1634]. This was published with Leonardus Lessius, Hygiasticon: Or, The right course of preserving life and health unto extream old age together with soundnesse and integritie of the senses, judgement, and memorie. Written in Latine by Leonardus Lessius, and now done into English. [Cambridge]: Printed by Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie of Cambridge, 1634. Digital text is available from Early English Books Online at this link. 

Harington invented a water-closet in which the disposal of excreta was for the first time controlled by mechanical means. He published several tracts on the device, the first appearing in 1596. These were elegantly reprinted by the Chiswick Press in an edition limited to 100 copies (1814). “Ajax” is a pun on “a jakes”, an Elizabethan name for a privy. Critical, annotated edition by E. S. Donno, New York, Columbia Univ. Press, 1962.

The first English book devoted to gerontology. Digital facsimile of the second edition (1725) from the Internet Archive at this link.

Hales devised a ventilator, by means of which fresh air could be introduced into jails, mines, hospitals, the holds of ships, etc. The invention met with immediate approval and contributed much towards health of those for whom it was employed. Hales was the inventor of artificial ventilation.

A tract on medicine written for the lay public; it ran through many editions and was translated into all European languages. It has been called "the greatest medical best-seller of the eighteenth century" (Singy,  "The Popularization of Medicine in the Eighteenth Century: Writing, Reading, and Rewriting Samuel Auguste Tissot's Avis au peuple sur sa santé". Journal of Modern History, 82 (2010) 769–800).

English translation in 1765. Digital facsimile of the 1761 edition from Google Books at this link.

Howard devoted much of his life to the improvement of the conditions then prevailing in prisons. The publication of his book led to legislation abolishing abuses in prisons and providing for their proper cleaning. The Howard League for Penal Reform is one result of his charitable work. Reprint of 4th ed. (1792), Montclair, N.Y., 1973. See L. Baumgartner, "John Howard (1726-1790) hospital and prison reformer: a bibliography," Bull. Hist. Med., 1939, 7, 486-534, 595-626.

The first systematic treatise on public hygiene. Frank believed the ruler of a state should stand in the relation of a father to his children, among his duties being the safeguarding of the people’s health and the preservation of a healthy race by appropriate laws. The last two volumes were edited by G. C. G. Voigt. Portions were translated into English as A system of complete medical police: Selections from Johann Peter Frank. Edited with an introduction by Erna Lesky. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1976.).