Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1025

DOMENICO COTUGNO (1736-1822) De aquaeductibus auris humanae internae anatomica dissertatio. Ex typographica Sancti Thomae Aquinatis 1775 116 pp., 2 fold. plates. 18.6 cm.

Born into a family of humble means, Cotugno underwent physical and economic hardships to secure his medical education. Before his thirty-first year he had written two books, made numerous important contributions to anatomy and pathology, and was made professor of surgery and anatomy at the University of Naples. An unselfish and generous man, Cotugno left a substantial endowment to the poor of the Neapolitan Hospital for Incurables where he was located during much of his early study. Cotugno was the first to describe the fine anatomy of the inner ear. In this, his first major work, he identifies the aqueduct of the inner ear and the columns in the osseous spinal lamina of the cochlea, which are named after him. The work was originally published in 1761.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 1549 (1761 ed.); Waller 2165; Wellcome II, p. 398 (1761 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.