Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1273

LUIGI ROLANDO (1773-1831) Del passaggio dei fluidi allo stato di solidi organici, ossia, Formazione dei tessuti vegetabili ed animali dei vasi e del cuore. Dalla Stamperia reale 1830 74 pp., 14 fold. plates. 24.9 cm.

Rolando studied medicine in Turin, his place of birth. In 1804 he became physician to King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia and was also appointed professor of the theory and practice of medicine at Sassari. He remained in those posts for ten years before returning to the chair of anatomy at Turin which he occupied until his death. He is best known for his research into the nervous system, especially the function of the cerebrum and cerebellum. Rolando was one of the first to investigate cerebellar function and used ablation and electrical stimulation in a wide variety of laboratory animals. His theories and interpretations were not always completely accurate but it is on his studies that the more extensive work of later researchers is based. His work includes a large number of eponymic descriptions including those of the substantia gelantinosa of the spinal cord and the tuberculum cinereum of the medulla oblongata. He first accurately depicted the cerebral sulci and convolutions as well as the central sulcus (Rolando's fissure). Rolando's wide-ranging interests included many biological subjects and, in this work on morphogenesis and embryology, he treats organogenesis in plants and animals with a succinctly worded text and fourteen well-executed copperplates.

Cited references: Waller 10993

Gift of John Martin, M.D.