Gabriele Falloppio | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1522/1523 |
| Died | 9 October 1562 (aged 38–39) |
| Education | University of Ferrara (M.D., 1552) |
| Known for | Medicine |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anatomy Medicine |
| Institutions | University of Ferrara University of Pisa University of Padua |
| Doctoral advisor | Antonio Musa Brasavola |
| Notable students | Hieronymus FabriciusVolcher Coiter Theodor Zwinger |
Gabriele Falloppio (1522/23 – 9 October 1562) was an ItalianCatholic priest andanatomist often known by hisLatin nameFallopius. He was one of the most importantanatomists andphysicians of the sixteenth century, giving his name to thefallopian tube.
Falloppio grew up inModena. His father died early but thanks to the support of affluent relatives he enjoyed a thorough humanist education in Modena, learning Latin and Greek and moving in the local circle of humanist scholars. He was for some years in the service of the Church, among others as a kind of warden at Modena'scathedral, but soon turned to medicine. In 1544, he performed a public anatomy in Modena. In 1545, at the latest, he began to study medicine at theUniversity of Ferrara, at that time one of the best medical schools in Europe. It was there also that he much later, in 1552, when he was already professor in Padua, received hismedical doctorate under the guidance ofAntonio Musa Brasavola. He taught on medicinal plants in Ferrara but was not professor of anatomy there, as has sometimes been claimed. He also was never a personal student ofAndreas Vesalius as is often falsely maintained (he explicitly called himself a student of Vesalius in the sense only that he had read his works). In 1548, he took the chair of anatomy at theUniversity of Pisa. In 1551, he was invited to occupy the chair of anatomy and surgery at theUniversity of Padua and also lectured on medicinal plants orbotany. In Padua, he shared his house over years with the German botanistMelchior Wieland which gave rise to some suspicions about the nature of their relationship and got Falloppio involved in Wieland's vitriolic controversy with the irascible botanistPietro Andrea Mattioli. Falloppio was a very popular teacher and had numerous students. He also ran an extensive medical and surgical practice and took his students with him so they could learn from him. He died in Padua in October 1562, not even 40 years old. His plans for a major illustrated anatomical textbook were thus never realized.[1]
Falloppio published only one major work during his lifetime, theObservationes anatomicae, which first came out in 1561. Here he presented his numerous new anatomical findings, correcting and expanding on the works of Galen and Vesalius. Some of his findings referred to the head and the brain. He added much to what was known before about the internal ear and described in detail thetympanum and its relations to the osseous ring in which it is situated. He also described minutely thecircular andoval windows (fenestræ) and their communication with thevestibule andcochlea. He was the first to point out the connection between themastoid cells and themiddle ear. His description of thelacrimal ducts in theeye was a marked advance on those of his predecessors and he also gave a detailed account of theethmoid bone and its cells in the nose. Theaquaeductus Fallopii, the canal through which thefacial nerve passes after leaving theauditory nerve, is also named after him. He also described the Fallopian hiatus, an opening in the anterosuperior part of the petrosal bone.[2]
His contributions to the anatomy of thebones andmuscles were very valuable as well. He discovered, among others, the muscle that lifts the upper eyelid. He studied thereproductive organs in both sexes, and gave the first precise description of theuterine tube, which leads from theovary to theuterus and bears his name to this day. He was the first to describe theileocecal valve, which prevents a reflux of fecal matter from the colon to the small intestines, and demonstrated its function to his students. He also was the first to identify the vessels in the abdomen which were later called lacteals because of their milky appearance after meals.
His contributions to practical medicine were also important. He was the first to use an auralspeculum for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the ear, and his writings on surgical subjects are still of interest. After his death, some of his students published their lectures, in particular, onulcers,tumors, medical cosmetics, and other surgical topics and on botany and mineral waters. In his lectures, Falloppio also described, around 1555, a linen sheath that previously had been soaked in medicinal substances and then dried and some authors have praised him as the inventor of thecondom. The sheath was not to be used during intercourse, however. A man who had intercourse with a woman he suspected of being infected with the French disease orsyphilis was to put the sheath over the glans penis after intercourse and leave it there for several hours to destroy infectious matter that might have entered the skin. Some authors have taken Falloppio's claim seriously - which is clearly phantastical - that he tested this sheath on a thousand or more men.[3][4]
Falloppio also lectured extensively onmineral waters and their medicinal qualities and presented the results of his chemical analysis of the waters from various springs by means of distilliation. He argued againstFracastor's theory of fossils, as described as follows inCharles Lyell'sPrinciples of Geology:
Falloppio of Padua conceived that petrified shells had been generated by fermentation in the spots where they were found, or that they had in some cases acquired their form from 'the tumultuous movements of terrestrial exhalations.' Although a celebrated professor of anatomy, he taught that certain tusks of elephants dug up in his time at Puglia were mere earthy concretions, and, consistently with these principles, he even went so far as to consider it not improbable, that the vases ofMonte Testaceo at Rome were natural impressions stamped in the soil.[5]
Various anatomical structures were described by Falloppio, includingfallopian tube,Fallopian canal, andFallopian ligament.
A genus of about 12 species of flowering plants bears his name (Fallopia).
Gabriele Falloppio condom.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Gabriello Fallopio".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.| International | |
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