LECTURE 5
Medicine the
century
th
17
Main
medical doctrines
The development of anatomy
and physiology
The development of
physiopathology and pathology
Medicine in the 17th century
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The 17th century was called the Age of Scientific
Revolution and represented a major turning point
in the history and science.
Experimentation developed and
iatrochemistry – the medical chemistry – was
the name given to the fusion of alchemy,
medicine and chemistry.
The most important figures of that time
were:
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Jan Baptista van Helmont (1577-1644) was the leading
iatrochemist. He advocated quantification and experiment
and his comparison of the weight of urine with that of
water was the first measurement of its specific gravity. Van
Helmont was the founder of the concept of disease as a
distinct entity existing parasitically in the body. This was
in contradiction to the Galenic concept that disease was
part of the person and represented a derangement of
humours. He also considered that fever represented a
reaction of the body to the imbalance of the humours. He
used chemical medicines and improved on the use of
mercury.
Franz de la Boe, called Franciscus Sylvius (1614-1672)
used the newest discoveries in chemistry. He made the
laboratory an essential tool for the practice of medicine.
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The rise of atomism was important to the development of
science and medicine
Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was an important proponent of
atomism. He demonstrated the necessity of air for life. He
formulated the following law: the volume of a gas varies
inversely with the pressure at a constant temperature.
Giovanni Alfonso Barelli (1608-1679) studied the whole
body starting with a simple unit, the muscle, influenced by
Galileo Galilei’ s mechanical principles.
Giorgio Baglivi (1669-1707) represented the extreme use of
iatromechanics, likening each organ to a sprcific machine.
Santorio Santorio (1561-1636) constructed thermometers
and is best remembered for his research into the physiology
of metabolism.
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William Harvey (1578-1657) proved the continuous circulation
of the blood within a contained system. He gained a wide
reputation and even became a court physician to King James I
and to King Charles I. His greatest work was published at
Frankfurt in 1628 Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et
Sanguinis in Animalibus (Anatomical Treatise on the Movement
of the Heart and Blood in Animals).
Harvey showed that because of the valves in the heart and
the veins, blood could flow in only one direction. Seeing that
both ventricles of the heart contracted and expanded together, he
concluded that there was no pressure difference between them
that could drive blood through the thick septum. By experiment
of a live snake, he demonstrated the direction of flow toward the
heart in the great vein (vena cava) and away from the heart in the
main artery (aorta).
In the days of Hippocrates, the importance of body temperature was
well recognized, but the physician had only his hand to evaluate it.
In 1592 Galileo constructed a thermometer with no scale of
measurement and was influenced by atmospheric pressure. The
first wide use of thermometry in clinical practice was by Hernann
Boerhaave (1668 – 1738) in Holland and his students in Vienna.
One of the most important inventions in the development of medicine
and general science was the microscope.
Malpighi was regarded as the founder of biological microscopy.
By developing techniques for preparing tissues to be examined
under the microscope he was able to make observations otherwise
impossible.
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Many other advances were made in understanding the
anatomy and physiology of the body:
Francis Glisson (1597-1677) described in detail the liver,
the stomach and the intestines
Thomas Wharton (1614-1673) described the
characteristics of the digestive, lymphatic and sexual
glands
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) demonstrated that even
without chest movement an animal could survive as long
as air is pumped into the lungs
Richard Lower (1631-1691) was the first to transfuse
blood directly
Thomas Willis (1621-1675) published De Anatome
Celebri what was a summary of the nervous system.
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Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689) was the century’s most
famous clinical leader considered that each patient was a
unique dynamic entity in whom a disease could vary from
person to person.
CONCLUSIONS
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Scientific progress in the 17th century came less from the
universities than from new public and private scientific
societies: The Academy of the Lynx (Rome), Academie des
Science (France) and The Royal Society (England) were the
most famous.
A new medication appeared: cinchona, as a treatment for
malaria
In surgery the major operations were: suture of holes in the
intestines, removal of tumors and even plastic operations
on the lip and nose
The attitude towards mental illness continued to be
ambivalent
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Epidemics of plague, smallpox, scarlet fever, chicken pox
were common
John Graunt (1620-1674) was the first person to use
medical statistics that had impostant influences
Hospitals began to be used for medical research and
teaching.