1740 VALSALVA, Antonio Maria (1666 – 1723)
Opera.
Valsalva described the aortic “sinus of Valsalva”.
GMN 803 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/169
1743 TAUBE, Hartwig Wilhelm Ludwig (1706 – )
Dissertationem inauguralem de vera nervi intercostalis origine.
Taube described the carotid body and named it “ganglion minutum”, See J. Pick, J. Hist. Med., 1959, 14, 61-73.
GMN 765.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1753
1749 HALLER, Albrecht von (1708 – 1777)
De aortae venaeque cavae gravioribus quibusdam morbis.
GMN 2732 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4501
1749 SÉNAC, Jean Baptiste (1693 – 1770)
Traité de la structure du coeur, de son action, et de ses maladies. 2 vols.
Senac’s valuable treatise on the heart added much to the knowledge of the anatomy and diseases of that organ; he mentioned the leucocytes, which he considered to belong to the chyle, and he described pericarditis. Sen…
GMN 2733 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4505
1756 HALLER, Albrecht von (1708 – 1777)
Deux mémoires sur le mouvement du sang, et sur les effets de la saignée, fondés sur des experiences faites sur des animaux.
In these memoirs Haller described the results of 235 vivisections. Haller has been called "the founder of modern haemodynamics." "The myogenic theory of the heartbeat can be traced to Haller, who concluded on the basi…
GMN 11607 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13807
1757 HUNTER, William (1718 – 1783)
The history of an aneurysm of the aorta, with some remarks on aneurysms in general.
First recorded case of arteriovenous aneurysm.
GMN 2974 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/5106
1759 HYDE, Edward, Earl of Clarendon (1609 – 1674)
The life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon: Lord High Chancellor of England and Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Containing, I. An Account of the chancellor's life from his birth to the restoration in 1660. II. A Continuation of the same, and of his history of the grand rebellion, from the restoration to his banishment in 1667. Written by himself. Printed from his original manuscripts, given to the University of Oxford by the Heirs of the late Earl of Clarendon. 3 vols.
From the description given by the Earl of Clarendon in his autobiography, on vol. 1, p. 16, his father, Henry Hyde, almost certainly suffered from, and died of, angina pectoris. If this is really so, it is the first r…
GMN 2884 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4294
1761 MORGAGNI, Giovanni Battista (1682 – 1771)
De sedibus, et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis libri quinque. 2 vols.
Morgagni was the founder of modern pathological anatomy. The work was completed in Morgagni’s 79th year and consists of a series of 70 letters reporting about 700 cases and necropsies. As best he could, he correlated …
GMN 2276 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/2846
1762 NICHOLLS, Frank (1699 – 1778)
Observations concerning the body of his late Majesty, October 26, 1760.
Nicholls was the first to describe dissecting aneurysm of the aorta, the patient being King George II, to whom he was physician from 1753-60. Nicholls was also the first to give a correct description of the mode of pr…
GMN 2734.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4518
1768 ROUGNON DE MAGNY, Nicolas François (1727 – 1799)
Lettre de M. Rougnon à M. Lorry, touchant les causes de la mort de feu Monsieur Charles, ancien capitaine de cavalerie, arrivé à Besançon le 23 février 1768.
Osler, Allbutt, and several other authorities believe this to be the description of an authentic case of angina, thus preceding Heberden’s classic account. Other eminent authorities consider the patient to have suffer…
GMN 2886 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4305
1768 SPALLANZANI, Lazzaro (1729 – 1799)
Dell' azione del cuore ne' vasi sanguigni nuove osservasioni.
In this response to Haller's Deux mémoires sur le mouvement du sang (1756) (No. 11607) Spallanzani outlined his own findings on the action of the heart upon the blood vessels. "Haller's microscopic observations of blo…
GMN 11710 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13911
1772 HEBERDEN, William Sr. (1710 – 1801)
Some account of a disorder of the breast.
This classic description of angina pectoris is the substance of a paper read on July 21, 1768. Although descriptions of angina are to be found in the works of earlier writers, these mention only dyspnoea in their case…
GMN 2887 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4309
1773 SPALLANZANI, Lazzaro (1729 – 1799)
De' fenomeni della circolazione osservata nel giro universale de' vasi; de' fenomeni della circolazione languente; de' moti del sangue independenti dall'azione del cuore; e del pulsar delle arterie.
In four memoirs on the dynamics of the circulatory system resulting from 337 experiments recorded in this workSpallanzani studied the role of the circulation in every stage from embryo to adult, and it was through his…
GMN 11706 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13907
1776 FOTHERGILL, John (1712 – 1780)
Case of an angina pectoris, with remarks. Farther account of the angina pectoris.
Fothergill was "the first physician to suspect on clinical grounds that the heart might be affected in this condition [angina pectoris] and he was the first to record abnormalities of the myocardium and coronary arter…
GMN 11600 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13799
1780 DARWIN, Erasmus (1731 – 1802)
Experiments establishing a criterion between mucaginous and purulent matter. An an account of the retrograde motions of the absorbent vessels of animal bodies in some diseases.
Includes the first description of the value of digitalis in the treatment of patients with heart failure, with discussion of several successful cases. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. Darwin and Withe…
GMN 8589 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/10766
1781 FOTHERGILL, John (1712 – 1780); ELLIOT, John (1747 – 1787)
A complete collection of the medical and philosophical works of John Fothergill. With an account of his life; and occasional notes, by John Elliot.
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.
GMN 11601 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13800
1784 HUNTER, William (1718 – 1783)
Three cases of mal-conformation of the heart.
Three cases of congenital heart disease recorded. Two plates are opposite pp. 417-18 of the journal.
GMN 2734.3 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4526
1784 UNDERWOOD, Michael (1737 – 1820)
A treatise on the diseases of children.
Underwood laid the foundation of modern pediatrics. His work was superior to anything that had previously appeared and remained the most important book on the subject for sixty years, passing through many editions. Th…
GMN 2734.4 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/8101
1785 WITHERING, William (1741 – 1799)
An account of the foxglove, and some of its medical uses.
Before publication of Withering's book digitalis was a widely used folk remedy, occasionally mentioned in the literature. Withering established the correct dosages, and the action of digitalis in edema and on the hear…
GMN 1836 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/8650
1786 HOME, Sir Everard (1756 – 1832)
An account of Mr. Hunter’s method of performing the operation for the popliteal aneurism.
First description of John Hunter’s method of treating popliteal aneurysm. This consisted in a single ligature of the artery at a distance high in the healthy tissues. Recorded by his brother-in law. See also Trans. So…
GMN 2925 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4935
1788 BAILLIE, Matthew (1761 – 1823)
An account of a remarkable transportation of the viscera.
Baillie recorded a case of congenital dextrocardia with complete situs inversus viscerum. Reprinted in Willius & Keys, Cardiac classics, 1941, pp. 257-62.
GMN 2280 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/2896
1790 KAST, Thomas (1755 – 1820)
An account of an aneurism in the thigh, perfectly cured by the operation.
The first femoral ligation reported in America, and the first paper on a surgical topic to be published in an American medical periodical.
GMN 2925.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4938
1793 BAILLIE, Matthew (1761 – 1823)
The morbid anatomy of some of the most important parts of the human body.
Baillie was a nephew and pupil of William Hunter. The above is the first systematic textbook of morbid anatomy, treating the subject for the first time as an independent science. See also Nos. 2736, 3167.1. Baillie wa…
GMN 2281 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/2898
1793 SPENS, Thomas (1764 – 1842)
History of a case in which there took place a remarkable slowness of the pulse.
Morgagni described a case of “epilepsy with slow pulse” (see No. 2734), but Adams has been given the credit for reporting the first clear case of heart block (No. 2745). There is no doubt that Spens reported such a ca…
GMN 2735 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4539
1797 BAILLIE, Matthew (1761 – 1823)
The morbid anatomy of some of the most important parts of the human body. 2nd ed.
First clinical description of chronic obstructive pulmonary emphysema. The lung on which Baillie performed an autopsy before describing this condition is said to have been that of Samuel Johnson. P. 46: Baillie sugges…
GMN 2736 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4126
1799 PARRY, Caleb Hillier (1755 – 1822)
An inquiry into the symptoms and causes of the syncope anginosa commonly called angina pectoris.
This was a paper read before the Gloucester Medical Society in 1788, but not published until 1799. Largely confirming the earlier work of Heberden on the condition, Parry stated his conclusion that disease of the coro…
GMN 2888 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4318
1799 FERRIAR, John (1761 – 1815)
An essay on the medical properties of the digitalis purpurea or foxglove.
"John Ferriar...published the first monograph on digitalis after William Withering (1785). Ferriar was the first to suggest that digitalis was beneficial in dropsy (severe congestive heart failure), in part because it…
GMN 11592 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13791
1800 BICHAT, Marie François Xavier (1771 – 1802)
Recherches physiologiques sur la vie et la mort.
When Volta questioned the validity of experiments claiming to show responsiveness of an ex vivo heart, devoid of blood flow and nervous connections, Bichat obtained permission to experiment upon the freshly killed bod…
GMN 597 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/387
1802 HEBERDEN, William Sr. (1710 – 1801)
Commentarii de morborum historia et curatione.
Samuel Johnson called Heberden “the last of our learned physicians”. The above work included all his important papers, which had earned him his great reputation, and which are dealt with elsewhere in this database (se…
GMN 2207 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/3677
1804 SCARPA, Antonio (1752 – 1832)
Sull’aneurisma: riflessioni ed osservazioni anatomico-chirurgiche.
Scarpa distinguished true from false aneurysms. He introduced the concept of arteriosclerosis. English translations, Edinburgh, 1808 and 1819. Digital facsimile from Heidelberg University Library at this link.
GMN 2975 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/5112
1806 CORVISART DES MAREST, Jean Nicolas (1755 – 1821)
Essai sur les maladies et les lésions organiques du coeur et des gros vaisseaux.
Corvisart really created cardiac symptomatology and made possible the differentiation between cardiac and pulmonary disorders. He was first to explain heart failure mechanically and to describe the dyspnoea of effort.…
GMN 2737 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4558
1809 DUNDAS, David
An account of a peculiar disease of the heart.
Account of nine cases of rheumatic endocarditis.
GMN 2739 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4574
1809 BURNS, Allan (1781 – 1813)
Observations on some of the most frequent and important diseases of the heart.
Burns described endocarditis and reported three cases of mitral stenosis. He recognized the thrill present in the latter condition and seems to have understood the mechanism of a cardiac murmur. He also described unil…
GMN 2738 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/8654
1809 WARREN, John Collins (1778 – 1856)
Cases of organic diseases of the heart. With dissections and some remarks intended to point out the distinctive symptoms of these diseases.
The first monograph on heart disease written and published in the United States. Digital text from Project Gutenberg at this link.
GMN 10602 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/12795
1812 LE GALLOIS, Julien Jean César (Legallois) (1770 – 1814)
Expériences sur le principe de la vie.
Le Gallois described the action of the vagus nerve on respiration. He showed that bilateral section of the vagus can produce fatal bronchopneumonia. The above work includes (p. 37) his location of the respiratory cent…
GMN 1389.2 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/143
1812 WELLS, William Charles (1757 – 1817)
On rheumatism of the heart.
David Pitcairn is accredited with the first reference to rheumatism as a cause of cardiac disease, in a lecture given in 1788. Jenner read a paper on the same subject in 1789, but the first clinical report on the subj…
GMN 2740 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4578
1813 BLACKALL, John (1771 – 1860)
Observations on the nature and cure of dropsies.
Blackall predated Bright in detecting albuminuria in association with edema. His book, of which the second edition is more important than the first, includes reports on cases of angina pectoris.
GMN 2209 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1673
1814 FARRE, John Richard (1775 – 1862)
Pathological researches. Essay I. On malformations of the human heart. [All published.]
The first monograph on congenital defects of the heart.
GMN 2740.1 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4585
1814 –1817 KREYSIG, Friedrich Ludwig (1770 – 1839)
Die Krankheiten des Herzens. 3 vols. in 4.
From 1800 until Laennec's discovery of auscultation, there were only four major text-books on heart disease, that of Burns in England, of Corvsart in France, Testa in Italy, and Kreysig in Germany. It has its strong p…
GMN 11675 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13876
1815 CARSON, James (1772 – 1843)
An inquiry into the causes of the motion of the blood; with an appendix, in which the process of respiration and its connexion with the circulation of the blood are attempted to be elucidated.
Carson recognized the vital effect on venous return played by the negative pressure in the pleural cavity.
GMN 765.2 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1754
1815 HODGSON, Joseph (1788 – 1869)
A treatise on the diseases of arteries and veins. 1 vol. and atlas.
Includes the best illustrations of aneurysms and of aortic valvular endocarditis so far published, and the first description on non-sacculated dilatation of the aortic arch (“Hodgson’s disease”).
GMN 2741 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4588
1816 PARRY, Caleb Hillier (1755 – 1822)
An experimental inquiry into the nature, cause and varieties of the arterial pulse: And into certain other properties of the larger arteries, in animals with warm blood.
This work "included a summary of more than two dozen experiments he [Parry] conducted on a variety of mammals. In this book he discussed the pulsatile expansion of the arteries and importance of collaterals. Parry ref…
GMN 2742 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4591
1817 ROSTAN, Léon (1790 – 1866)
Mémoire sur cette question de l’asthme des vieillards: est-il une affection nerveuse?
Rostan gave an early description of cardiac (“Rostan’s”) asthma.
GMN 2744 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4601
1818 CHEYNE, John (1777 – 1836)
A case of apoplexy in which the fleshy part of the heart was converted into fat.
First accurate description of the condition which later became known as “Cheyne–Stokes respiration.” Reprinted in F. A. Willius & T. E. Keys: Cardiac classics, 1941, pp. 317-20.
GMN 2743 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/4594
1818 DUPUYTREN, Guillaume, Le Baron (1777 – 1835)
Anéurisme à l’artère poplitée par la compression.
Dupuytren was the first successfully to treat aneurysm by compression.
GMN 2976 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/5119
1822 KERGARADEC, Jean Alexandre le Jumeau, vicomte de (1787 – 1877)
Mémoire sur l’auscultation appliquée à l’étude de la grossesse.
Although not the first to record the auscultation of the fetal heart sound, Le Jumeau (Kergaradec), a pupil of Laennec, brought the importance of this diagnostic procedure to the notice of the medical profession. Laen…
GMN 6171 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/7764
1823 BOUILLAUD, Jean Baptiste (1796 – 1881)
Observations sur l’état des veines dans les infiltrations des membres.
Description of venous obstruction and edema.
GMN 3057 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/3694
1824 AUENBRUGGER, Leopold (1722 – 1809); FORBES, Sir John (1788 – 1861)
Original cases with dissections and observations illustrating the use of the stethoscope and percussion in the diagnosis of diseases of the chest: Also commentaries on the same subjects selected and translated from Auenbrugger, Corvisart, Laennec and others
This is the earliest English work on the stethoscope. It "includes the first English translation of Auenbrugger's book on percussion, selected sections from Laennec's book on auscultation, and detailed reports from 39…
GMN 11599 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/13798
1825 PARRY, Caleb Hillier (1755 – 1822); PARRY, Charles Henry (1779 – 1860)
Collections from the unpublished writings of the late Caleb Hillier Parry. 3 vols.
Includes Parry’s interesting description of eight cases of exophthalmic goitre, the first of which was observed in 1786, and his notes on four cases of angina pectoris. Parry's paper, "Enlargement of the thyroid gland…
GMN 2210 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1678
1825 WEBER, Ernst Heinrich (1795 – 1878); WEBER, Wilhelm Eduard (1804 – 1891)
Wellenlehre auf Experimente gegründet oder über die Wellen tropfbarer Flüssigkeiten mit Anwendung auf die Schall- und Lichtwellen.
The first work to apply hydrodynamics to the circulation of the blood.
GMN 766 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/1755
