Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 816

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772) The economy of the animal kingdom. W. Newby, H. Baillière; Otis Clapp 1845-1846 Vol. I: [8] 574 pp.; Vol. II: [8] 426 pp., illus. 21.2 cm.

Swedenborg, an eminent Swedish physicist and mining engineer, is better known as a theologian. His biological studies were largely confined to a few years of intensely concentrated effort in the European centers of anatomy (1736-1740) and immediately preceded the purely theological phase of his career. Being transitional in character, they must be classed apart from his earlier scientific accomplishments. The results of his studies reveal that his reasoning was based on the best scientific authorities of the day, and, although his efforts reached a highly speculative stage, it is evident that he possessed considerable intellectual prowess. He was among the first to recognize the cerebral cortex as the center of imagination, judgment, and will, and the source of motor volition. The present work was first published in Latin in 1740 and is here translated by Augustus Clissold (1797?-1882) and edited by James J. G. Wilkinson (1812-1899). In it, Swedenborg presents his ideas about and investigations into the circulatory system, the functions of the brain, and the human soul.

Cited references: Waller 9389 (1st Latin ed., 1740)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.