An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

LORRY, Anne-Charles

2 entries
  • 6951

Sur les mouvements du cerveau et de la dure-mere. Premier mémoire, sur le mouvement des parties contenues dans le crâne, considérées dans leur état naturel. Second mémoire. Sur les mouvements contre nature de ce viscère, & sur les organes qui sont le principe de son action.

Mém. Math. Phys. (Paris) 3, 277-313, 344-377., Paris, 1760.

Probably the first example in the literature of a definite localization of function in the brain. In the first memoir Lorry examined the normal movements of the brain; in the second memoir he set out specifically, systematically, and experimentally to find “which particular organ within the bony casing of the brain, can produce sudden death” (Neuburger, Historical development of experimental brain and spinal cord physiology [1981] p. 97). As explained by Neuburger Chapter 6, Lorry systematically eliminated the cerebrum, cerebellum, and most of the spinal cord, and so focussed in on the medulla. He found that sudden death occurred in dogs only when the rostral spinal cord was punctured between the first and second vertebra in small animals and between the second and third vertebra in large animals. Puncture caudal to this level produced paralysis but not death. He had damaged the phrenic nucleus, the origin of the phrenic nerve controlling contraction of the diaphragm and thus breathing. “These precise data constitute probably the first example in the literature of a definite localization of function. This was the first center to be established, the earliest identification of ‘the ganglion of life’ ” (Neuburger p. 98). (communication from Larry W. Swanson)



Subjects: ANATOMY › Neuroanatomy, NEUROSCIENCE › Neurophysiology
  • 3983

Tractatus de morbis cutaneis.

Paris: P. G. Cavelier, 1777.

Lorry is regarded as the founder of French dermatology. A pupil of Jean Astruc, his most important work was his Tractatus, in which he attempted the classification of diseases on the basis of essential relations, their physiological, pathological, and etiological similarities. It was the first modern text on the subject, and the last major work on dermatology to be published in Latin.



Subjects: DERMATOLOGY