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Eponyms 101
Why is the Eustachian tube called the Eustachian tube?
Bartolomeo Eustachi was born in the early 1500s, the son of Mariano Eustachi, a celebrated physician said to be of noble family, and Francesca (Benvenuti) Eustachi.
Mariano insisted upon a well-rounded humanistic education, in the course of which Eustachi acquired such an excellent knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic that he was able to edit an edition of the Hippocratic glossary of Erotian (1566) and is said to have made his own translations of Avicenna (Ibn Sïnã) from the Arabic.
He appears to have studied medicine at the Archiginnsio della Sapenza (Philosophical Institute) in Rome and began to practice medicine in his native land about 1540.
Eustachi's talents were soon noticed by the duke of Urbino, who requested Eustachi his personal physician. Then in 1547, Eustachi accepted the invitation to serve as physician to the duke’s brother, Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, whom Eustachi followed to Rome in 1549.
There he became protomedico and was invited to join the medical faculty of the Collegia della Sapienza as the equivalent of professor of anatomy. This academic position granted him permission to obtain cadavers for dissection from the hospitals of Santo Spirito and Consolazione.
In his investigations Eustachi sought not only a corroboration of Galen’s teaching. Otherwise, however, his researches had a more unbiased scientific purpose and, unlike Jakobus Sylvius, he did not attempt to fight all innovative thinking - something Sylvius did with even the most ridiculous means. In high age, in his paper Libell de multitudine (Leiden, 1746) he admits having overlooked many of Galen’s mistakes.
Works by Bartolomeo Eustachi
Eustachi’s first works were Ossium examen and De motu capitis, both written in 1561.
In 1562 and 1563 Eustachi produced a remarkable series of treatises on the kidney, the auditory organ, the venous system, and the teeth. These were published, together with the two earlier defences of Galen, in Opuscula anatomica (1564).
The second treatise on the auditory organ provides a correct account of the tube (tuba auditiva) that is still referred to eponymously by Eustachi’s name, and contains a description of the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles.
Although Eustachi is rightfully credited the first accurate description of the tuba auditiva, the first description of the structure is attributed to Almaceon of Sparta in 400 BC. It was his belief that the eustachian tube allowed goats to breath through their ears as well as their noses.
A theory exists that the Eustachius discovery of the connection between the middle ear and the pharynx later inspired Shakespeare to write his play Hamlet – whose father was killed by poison poured into his ear.
Another explanation for the possibility of a murder via auris, which was known to occur in 16th century Italy, is based on the knowledge of that time about the possibilities of direct absorption of some substances from the ear.
Eustachi is considered the first comparative anatomist, as he was the first to refer to conditions in the animal realm for comparison and elucidation, and his treatises contain a developmental history of the kidneys and the teeth. Several of the discoveries ascribed to Lorenzo Bellini (1643-1704) were made by Eustachi.
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Copyright 2007
Michael D Gottlieb
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Eponyms 101
Why is the Eustachian tube called the Eustachian tube?
Bartolomeo Eustachi was born in the early 1500s, the son of Mariano Eustachi, a celebrated physician said to be of noble family, and Francesca (Benvenuti) Eustachi.
Mariano insisted upon a well-rounded humanistic education, in the course of which Eustachi acquired such an excellent knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic that he was able to edit an edition of the Hippocratic glossary of Erotian (1566) and is said to have made his own translations of Avicenna (Ibn Sïnã) from the Arabic.
He appears to have studied medicine at the Archiginnsio della Sapenza (Philosophical Institute) in Rome and began to practice medicine in his native land about 1540.
Eustachi's talents were soon noticed by the duke of Urbino, who requested Eustachi his personal physician. Then in 1547, Eustachi accepted the invitation to serve as physician to the duke’s brother, Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, whom Eustachi followed to Rome in 1549.
There he became protomedico and was invited to join the medical faculty of the Collegia della Sapienza as the equivalent of professor of anatomy. This academic position granted him permission to obtain cadavers for dissection from the hospitals of Santo Spirito and Consolazione.
In his investigations Eustachi sought not only a corroboration of Galen’s teaching. Otherwise, however, his researches had a more unbiased scientific purpose and, unlike Jakobus Sylvius, he did not attempt to fight all innovative thinking - something Sylvius did with even the most ridiculous means. In high age, in his paper Libell de multitudine (Leiden, 1746) he admits having overlooked many of Galen’s mistakes.
Works by Bartolomeo Eustachi
Eustachi’s first works were Ossium examen and De motu capitis, both written in 1561.
In 1562 and 1563 Eustachi produced a remarkable series of treatises on the kidney, the auditory organ, the venous system, and the teeth. These were published, together with the two earlier defences of Galen, in Opuscula anatomica (1564).
The second treatise on the auditory organ provides a correct account of the tube (tuba auditiva) that is still referred to eponymously by Eustachi’s name, and contains a description of the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles.
Although Eustachi is rightfully credited the first accurate description of the tuba auditiva, the first description of the structure is attributed to Almaceon of Sparta in 400 BC. It was his belief that the eustachian tube allowed goats to breath through their ears as well as their noses.
A theory exists that the Eustachius discovery of the connection between the middle ear and the pharynx later inspired Shakespeare to write his play Hamlet – whose father was killed by poison poured into his ear.
Another explanation for the possibility of a murder via auris, which was known to occur in 16th century Italy, is based on the knowledge of that time about the possibilities of direct absorption of some substances from the ear.
Eustachi is considered the first comparative anatomist, as he was the first to refer to conditions in the animal realm for comparison and elucidation, and his treatises contain a developmental history of the kidneys and the teeth. Several of the discoveries ascribed to Lorenzo Bellini (1643-1704) were made by Eustachi.
Click for More PickinChickin
Copyright 2007
Michael D Gottlieb
comments
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