Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 500

NATHANIEL HIGHMORE (1613-1685) Exercitationes duae, quarum prior de passione hysterica: altere de affectione hypochondriaca. Excudebat A. Lichfield, impensis R. Davis 1660 [11] 184 pp. 13.7 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 499

A contemporary and friend of William Harvey, Highmore, was among the many prominent scientists and physicians who founded the Royal Society in 1660. In his History of generation (1651), he disagreed with Harvey and continued to espouse the old doctrine of the preformation of the embryo as did other notable investigators such as Marcello Malpighi, Jan Swammerdam, and Théophile Bonet. In this work, Highmore concluded that hysteria was caused by a congestion of the blood in the heart and lungs. He was soon corrected, however, by Thomas Willis (see No. 537 ff.) who correctly surmised that it was a nervous disorder.

See Related Record(s): 537

Cited references: Osler 7713 (2nd ed., 1660); Waller 4457 (1677 ed.); Wellcome III, p. 263

Gift of John Martin, M.D.