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

RODRIGUES DE CASTELO BRANCO, João (Amato Lusitano; Amatus Lusitanus)

4 entries
  • 12945

Curationum medicinalium centuria prima, multiplici variaque rerum cognitione referta. Praexfixa est eiusdem auctoris commentatio, in qua docetur, quomodo se medicus habere debeat in introitu ad aegrotantem, simulque de crisi, & diebus decretoriis, in qui artem medicam exercent, & quotidie pro salute aegrotorum in collegium descendunt longe utilissima.

Venice: Laurentius Torrentinus, 1551.

Lusitano has been credited with early recognition of the circulation of the blood. How much he might have understood the circulation remains in doubt; however, through dissections of the Azygos vein, he was the first to observe and record his observations of the venous valves.
In Centuria I, paragraph (Curatio) 513 Lusitano described how, in 1547, he performed an experiment before some scholars from the University of Ferrara, blowing air into the lower part of the azygos, and showing that the vena cava would not be inflated. It was not possible for the air to escape because of the valve or operculum mentioned. The anatomist Giambattista Canano, witnessed these experiments, and discovery of the valves was later attributed to him by mistake.

Of 16th century Jewish physicians, Lusitano may have been the most significant in terms of the number of his scientific contributions and the extent of his publications.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, CARDIOLOGY › CARDIOVASCULAR PHYSIOLOGY › Anatomy of the Heart & Circulatory System, Jews and Medicine
  • 3049

Curationum medicinalium centuriae quatuor.

Basel: H. Frobenius, 1556.

Contains (Cent. iii, curat. 70, p. 286) first recorded case of purpura as a separate entity, not associated with fever. English translation of this section in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd. ed., 1945, p. 514.



Subjects: HEMATOLOGY › Blood Disorders, Jews and Medicine
  • 11873

De universa mulierum medicina, novo et antehac a nemine tentato ordine opus absolutissimum. Et studiosis omnibus utile, medicis vero pernecessarium. Pars prima theorica. Quatuor comprehensa libris, in quibus cuncta, quae ad mulieribus naturam, anatomen, semen, menstruum,… Pars secunda, sive praxis …. 2 parts in 1.

Hamburg: Ex officina Frobeniana, 1603.

The first treatise on gynecology written by a Portuguese author, the work was written in two parts: Part one, about theory, was titled De natura mulierum (On female nature) and was divided into four books: (1) Anatomy of the uterus and the breasts; (2) Semen and menstruation; (3) Intercourse, conception, and pregnancy; (4) Childbirth and breastfeeding. Part two, titled De morbis mulierum (On female diseases) was more practical in nature, but was also divided into four books: (1) Diseases common to all women; (2) Diseases of widows and virgins; (3) Diseases related to generation and pregnancy; (4) Puerperal and wetnurses’ diseases.

In exploring issues in physiology and anatomy, embryology, conception, sex, pregnancy, abortion, infertility, childbirth, monstrous beings, etc de Castro evaluated classical and Arabic traditional thinking on these subjects in the writings of Hippocrates, Aristotle, Pliny, Soranus, Galen, Averroes, Avicenna, etc., He also established a multivocal dialogue between traditional ideas and new ideas, engaging with the work of more contemporary authors such as Du Laurens, Amato Lusitano, Mercado, Akakia, Paré, Rousset, Mercuriale and others. 

Digital facsimile of the 1604 edition from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Jews and Medicine, OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY › GYNECOLOGY
  • 1759

Medicus-politicus: Sive de officiis medico-politicis tractatus.

Hamburg: Ex bibliopolio Frobeniano, 1614.

One of the first “modern” works on medical ethics. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Ethics, Biomedical, Jews and Medicine