Observationes medico-practicae, De Affectibus Capitis internis & externis

Observationes medico-practicae de affectibus capitis internis & externis.

Schaffhausen, Ziegler, 1727, Kl.4°, Frontispieceportrait, (28), 984, (40 Index) pp., Titel in rot u. schwarz. mit gest. Vignette, 1 anatom. Kupferstichtafel, Halbleder im Stil d.Zt.; St.a.Tit.; frisches, unbeschnittenes Exemplar. First Edition, rare not cut and on extra strong paper! Posthumously published is this monumental work on the internal and external diseases of the head by the famous Swiss anatomist J.L. Wepfer. Preceded by a biographical essay, "Memora Wepferiana", written by the eminent physician J.C. Brunner, the discoverer of the duodenal glands. Recording nearly 50 years' practice in neurological diseases, the volume contains 222 case histories, including several dealing with apoplexy, the hemorrhagic nature of which had been discovered by Johann Jakob Wepfer (1620-1695). A copious index terminates the volume. "In his treatise Observationes medico-practicae de affectibus capitis internis et externis (Medico-practical observations on the internal and external diseases of the head) published posthumously by his grandchildren Bemhardin (?) and Georg Michael (?) Wepfer in 1727," "there were six observations about specific ear diseases. One concerned a long-standing cancer which had completely destroyed the auricle, two were related to "unpleasant hearing" (obauditio, a difficult word to translate: it normally means obedience or unpleasant hearing. In medicine it sometimes means impaired hearing, but also paracusis or head tinnitus, and three discussed "ear tinnitus". Wepfer explained in particular that ear tinnitus accompanying diseases of the ear was due to the obstruction of air-flow from the ear by cerumen, secretions, or occlusion of the "canal which goes to the palate" (i.e. Eustachian tube), which could be easily demonstrated. If a healthy ear was occluded by a finger, or if a drinking cup was held close to it, a muffled sound was clearly perceived, but individuals suffering from subjective noises did not hear any additional sound. He also observed that subjective noises could occur not only in ear disease but also in head disease such as hemicrania, "obtuse head", "rotatory and staggering vertigo", and hysterical convulsions. Wepfer's therapy was as complicated as it was disputable. For example, he advocated curing tinnitus by loud noises. This was supposed to remove from the ear the serous fluid causing tinnitus. His description of vertigo as a symptom of various diseases is considered the best source in the medical literature before the 19th century." Albert Mudry, The History of Otology (2015), p.220 Hirsch-H. V., 903; Waller 10222; Clarke-O'Malley, The human brain. 769ff., McHenry, Hist. Neurology 80f. Artikel-Nr. 18622

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