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The Eye as Art: Anatomy and Vision in the 18th Century

There is not one Part of the whole Body, that discovers more Art and Disign (sic), than this small Organ: All its Parts are so excellently well contrived, so elegantly formed and nicely adjusted that none can deny it to be an Organ as magnificent and curious, as the Sense is useful and entertaining. -- William Porterfield in A Treatise on the Eye, The Manner and Phaenomena of Vision, 1759 The Dittrick Museum is thrilled to have Dr. Jonathan Lass present "Eye of the Artist" for the upcoming Zverina Lecture on Oct. 14th. Dr. Lass, the Charles I. Thomas Professor, and formerly chair, in...

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By the Light of the Fever-, Gout- and Plague-Inducing Moon: Lunar Medicine

Today, July 20th, is Moon Day! To commemorate the day humans first walked on the moon in 1969, the Dittrick Museum looks at how centuries of scholars considered the movements of the moon and planets as having a great impact on health. Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century polymath priest, created an astrological chart know as a "Sciathericon" in his treatise on optics and light called Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (1671). This chart (Fig. 2) connected the zodiac with parts of human anatomy, types of health conditions, and the medications that could be used to treat these bodily complaints. For example, the...

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Monstrous History Part II: The “Gothic” Influence of Ambroise Paré

Last week, I introduced the "monsters and marvels" of Ambroise Paré. This unique text is not a collection only (or even primarily) of cases witnessed by the good doctor. Such treatises also existed, and became more popular over time. Both Dr. William Smellie and Dr. William Hunter published extensively about their practices, and many doctors described difficult labors or unusual births. Paré's 15th century text is, however, much more a compendium; he collects tales from afar, gathers anecdotes from ancient manuscripts and compiles accounts from myth and local legend. Parts of the book actually discuss strange animals from foreign...

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