Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 174

GIROLAMO FRACASTORO (ca. 1478-1553) De sympathia et antipathia rerum liber unus. De contagione et contagiosis morbis et curatione libri III. [Apud heredes Lucaeantonii Juntae Florentini] 1546 [4] 76 [3] ll. 19.2 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 171

Although his medical poem on syphilis is perhaps more widely known, the present work is a far more important contribution to science, establishes Fracastoro as one of the foremost scientists of all time, and earns him the title of founder of modern epidemiology. De contagione contains the first scientifically reasoned statement of the true nature of infection, contagion, and the germ theory of disease and is the foundation of all modern views on the nature of infectious diseases. The influence of Fracastoro's ideas was evident during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the work of Francesco Redi, Giovanni Maria Lancisi, and Antonio Vallisnieri as they contributed to a greater understanding of the nature of infection. Fracastoro's influence is also clearly reflected in the work of such modern scientists as Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and Robert Koch as they broadened and furthered man's knowledge of infectious diseases. De contagione consists of three books. In the first book Fracastoro presents his germ theory of disease and discusses the three ways that infectious diseases are transmitted: 1) by simple contact, 2) by indirect contact with what he calls fomites--objects that are not in themselves harmful but are able to harbor pathogenic micro-organisms and spread infection and, 3) by transmission from a distance or through the air. In the second book he explains the clinical signs of a wide variety of diseases that were prevalent at that time. He gives an early description of typhus and differentiates it from other fevers. He writes of congenital syphilis, recognizes the venereal source of syphilis, and describes its three stages. Fracastoro also discusses the contagiousness of smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, rabies, leprosy, and scabies. In the final book he concentrates on the treatment of contagious diseases and sets forth his general philosophy of therapeutics as well as his specific recommendations for such diseases as measles, smallpox, fevers, typhus, rabies, syphilis, and elephantiasis.

Cited references: Cushing F275; Durling 1636; Garrison-Morton 2528; Osler 2652; Waller 3163; Wellcome 2393

Gift of John Martin, M.D.