A Dissertation on the General Principles of Anatomy and Comparative Physiology, as Applied to the Science of MedicineTranslated for the Author by Thomas Wilson

Philadelphia: Printed by J.F. Hurtel, 1818. iv, [5]– 28 pages. Sm. 8vo. Pamphlet, neatly removed; trimmed; general light foxing; Very Good. Medical dissertation on comparative anatomy and physiology by Julius Rucco (1778–1852) [i.e.,] Giulio Rucco, Italian homeopathic physician and scientist. In a two-page introduction by the author for American physicians, he declares his intention to "enlarge the Sphere of Comparative Physiology, the outlines of which are to be found only in the ingenious and erudite works of Professor Jacopi [Giuseppe Jacopi (1779–1813)]." Rucco proposes a new three-fold classification of physiology to be "explained in the first volume" of a forthcoming book: the first classification concerning "vital functions, such as sensibility and irritability" (nervous system); the second, "auxiliary functions, such as digestion, respiration and circulation, &c."; and the third, sexual reproduction and gestation. (p24) A native of Trepuzza in Italy, Rucco was already a physician when he went to Paris in 1810 for further medical studies. There he was influenced by the novel homeopathic theories of Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and afterwards returned to Italy in 1813 to become professor of anatomy and comparative physiology at the University of Naples. Following political unrest in the Kingdom of Naples, Rucco fled to the United States, settling in Baltimore. During a five-year sojourn in America, he became a corresponding member (medical section) of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia. The present work by Rucco was published in Philadelphia four years before he emigrated to London. Shaw & Shoemaker 45591. Note. 1. d’Angelo. Between the Kingdom of Naples and France: Scientific Travel, Training Courses and Exile in the Late Eighteenth Century and the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. [Università degli studi, Pise, Italie, 2015, pp251–263] accessed online.…