STENSEN, NIELS. 1638-1686.


De musculis & glandulis observationem specimen cum epistolis duabus anatomicis. Copenhagen: Matthias Godicchen, 1664. 4to (193 x 151 mm). Fine additional engraved title of fruits and flowers enclosing four small anatomical figures, woodcut initials. Contemporary vellum. Some browning and staining, some worming to endpapers. FIRST EDITION. "Stensen described the structure of muscles, the fibra motrix, confirming that contraction actually occurs in the muscle fibers, not in the tendon as Galen had thought. He attempted a geometrical description of muscle contraction. He described the anatomy of the heart and its function as a muscle, and described the anatomy and function of the respiratory muscles including the diaphragm" (Garrison-Morton). "From [his] research [reported in this volume] Stensen drew comprehensive conclusions regarding the structure of the muscles: in each muscle there are arteries, veins, fibers and fibrals, nerves, and membranes; that each muscle fiber ends in a tendon on both sides ... he then applied all his findings to the heart and proved its muscle structure from both positive and negative evidence. He stated that the muscle possesses all the characteristics of a muscle structure and that it is neither the seat of joy nor the source of the blood or of the spiritous vitales. The automatic movement, independent of the will, is shared by the heart with other muscles" (DSB). Garrison-Morton 576; Krivatsy 11429; Norman 2011; Waller 9217.