Abraham

1649 · ref. 51833 — 1649. Luguni Joannis Antoni Huguetan 1649 Folio Portrait 2 2 68 984 311 pp.; 50 655 1 46 2 pp.; 14 148 6 1 pp. zwei Pergamenteinbände d.Zt.; von einigen kleineren Mängel abgesehen ein feines Expl. Editio postrema à mendis purgatissima - Second Edition of this Opera Omnia first published 1642. ABRAHAM ZACUTUS LUSITANUS 1575-1642 - or Abraham ben Samuel Zacutus "was born in Lisbon. He studied medicine at Coimbra and Salamanca and took his degree of doctor in 1596 when he was twenty-one years of age after having attended the Universities of Salamanca Coimbra and Siguenza . He then returned to Lisbon where according to L. Lemos "In the thirty years he practiced there . He stood out preeminent among his colleagues of many lands . . . whether in discussion or in consultation in medical practice or in literary matters he easily won the palm. . . . But when there seemed that nothing could be added to the happiness of Zacutus- behold a sudden whirlwind of fate . he was plunged headlong from the high peak of the good fortune to which his merit had raised him. A most cruel edict of the king of Lusitania banished all of the Hebrew stock from the kingdom." Zacutus departed from the city of his birth when he was 50 years of age and settled in Amsterdam. " . He journeyed to Amsterdam in the hope of obtaining a peaceful abode ." Zacutus joined the Amsterdam Jewish Community and was one of that remarkable body of physicians who as Portuguese emigres won fame for themselves and added luster to Portuguese medicine; many proudly added "Lusitanus" to their names. In his "Peroration" to the first volume of his Opera Omnia Zacutus writes: " For I am a Jew and a stranger who fled from Portugal and my beloved and most lovely birthplace Lisbon tossed about hither and thither by severe misfortune and the storms of a long life. . I have allowed no day to pass-as Seneca says-without writing a line in which I showed my love for the Republic of Medicine. . I was determined to spend my life in devotion to study." He regarded " physicians as the tutelaries of Divinity sons of the gods." M. Lemos has studied Zacutus' works and presents us with an interesting summary. From this we can see that as an anatomist and pathologist Zacutus deserves special praise for the frequency with which he made autopsies at a time when they were rare. He embraced every opportunity and as a result he published post-mortem findings in the plague in affections of the heart malignant tumors renal and vesical calculi etc. He was much interested in drugs . But it is chiefly as clinician that he showed his greatness; he examined carefully with all the means then known and he relied upon his observations. As a result M. Lemos claims that the name of Zacutus is inseparable from the history of such diseases as plague diphtheria the eruptive fevers and malignant growths. He was one of the first to describe black water fever. He is praised for his studies of and contributions to the knowledge of syphilis. In estimating Zacutus' place in medicine we must bear in mind with M. Lemos that he was one of the most illustrious representatives of moribund Galenism which he defended with great loyalty. In his devotion he combated with all his force those whom he regarded as perverting the text and showing disregard to the masters. But as Carvalho points out "it is true that we had at that time some doctors who without despising traditional science by their devotion to progressive tendencies made great advance in the field of pathology and therapeutics. Of this number Zacutus and Duarte Madeira Arrais take front rank." The universality of Zacutus' interest in human diseases is everywhere apparent. His writings are arranged very systematically and no part of the body fails of attention. An interesting account could be made of the diseases of the eye which he describes and discusses. The same may be said of other organs. It is to be regretted that Zacutus did not live to publish his promised work on surgical diseases for the purpose itself furnishes proof there was nothing in medicine that was foreign to his concern. The collected works the Opera Omnia published in Lyon 1st.Ed. 1642/44 in two large volumes shortly after Zacutus' death January 22 1642 "hauptsächlich betrauert von den Armen" Hirsch but bearing the note of the author's revision present vast scholarship. They were dedicated to King Louis XIII of France. Volume I is described in its title as: The History of the Great Physicians being all the medical histories of internal diseases which are found scattered in the works of the foremost physicians most carefully arranged in proper order and supplied with explanatory notes and commentaries; together with a review of questions and matters of doubt." This is a medical history written not in chronological order of the general development of medicine nor in the sequence of eminent medical personages and their discoveries and their writings but from the point of view of single diseases their course and their treatment as recorded in the works of medical writers throughout the centuries. At the end of the volume Zacutus writes that he has presented " the histories of medical cases gathered from the foremost physicians in bountiful measure-to the number of 433 " and that he has illustrated clarified arranged and confirmed them on the authority of the most learned scholars to the number of 1711 "whom he has cited. It represents work of astounding volume. Volume II is entitled " The Practice of Cases-in which the treatment of all internal diseases is explained according to the views of leading physicians; serious doubts are discussed and resolved; and finally many practical observations are interspersed in their proper places. With an introduction of the physician into practice together with a most elegant pharmacopoeia. To which are added extraordinary medical cases by the very same author fully and newly enriched in which rare wonderful monstrous cases are presented together with their hidden causes signs courses and treatments." Each disease is considered under the following heads: Definition sometimes followed by "differentia" species causes signs prognosis treatment together with illustrative cases. The volume ends with a deeply pious and moving prayer of gratitude for Divine help-just as the book of precepts mentioned above opens with Precept I: "The physician should be a faithful worshipper of Divine Majesty "; yet in discussing objectively a medical problem he adds: "for we are physicians and not theologians! " It is also worthy of mention that the editions of 1649 and 1657 both volumes were from the same printer and are identical in form and paging with the first. What estimate have medical historians placed upon Zacutus Lusitanus Sprengel summarizes his life and work with the words that he distinguished himself as a practitioner as well in Holland as in Portugal. He commends the well ordered and carefully explained collections of cases of older writers as well as his own observations and experiences in rare cases. Daremberg describes the books as "precious works . . . still very useful." Neuburger and Pagel cite Zacutus frequently and praise his works. Neuburger regards him as the first to deal with the history of medicine." Harry Friedenwald The Jews and Medicine I pp.307-321 Cat. p.154 unknown