Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 534

JOHANN JAKOB WEPFER (1620-1695) Observationes anatomicae, ex cadaveribus eorum, quos sustulit apoplexia. Impensis Onophrii a Waldkirch, typis Alexandri Riedingii 1675 [16] 464 pp. 16.2 cm.

Wepfer, one of the most prominent Swiss physicians of the seventeenth century, studied medicine and the humanities at Basel and Strasbourg and traveled in Italy for several years before graduating from Basel in 1647. He was appointed city physician at Schaffhausen and some years later became personal physician to the Duke of Würtemberg. He also served as physician to the Marquis de Dourlach, Charles the Elector Palatine, and the army of Emperor Leopold. Wepfer's scientific works were characterized by keen insight, wide knowledge, and careful observation. The present work was first published in 1658 and was followed by this and three later reprints. In it, Wepfer showed that apoplexy was a result of cerebral hemorrhage and described four cases with clinical and postmortem findings. He also clearly described the circular anastomosis of arteries at the base of the brain, later named after Willis. Although well-known in Europe, Wepfer's work does not seem to have been recognized in England and was not mentioned in Willis' Cerebri anatome (see No. 538) in 1664.

See Related Record(s): 538

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 2703 (1658 ed.); Waller 10220 (1658 ed.)