Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1605

RYOSAI KO (1799-1846) Rampo naiyo yakunoshiki. Tenendo 1836 2, 5, 41 ll. 17.8 x 6.9 cm.

Ko was trained in European medical traditions and practices by Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866). Siebold had come to Japan from Würzburg and eventually the government allowed him to establish a medical school near Deshima. Siebold trained a number of students, among them Ko who was one of his most prominent pupils. Siebold's students were trained in the theory and application of medical practices whereas, in the past, Japanese physicians had been content merely to observe and learn the theory. Ko was chiefly an ophthalmologist who practiced in Osaka. The present work on the Japanese materia medica is an early example of the European influence on Japanese medicine.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.