DOMENICO COTUGNO (1736-1822)


Dominici Cotunnii regi anat. prof. de sedibus variolarum sintagma Napoli, et Bononiae, ex Typographia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, 1775


§ 8vo (12,5x19x1,5 cm.); 171, [1] pp., sign: A-K1-8, L1-6. One engraved plate. Contemporary half-calf with corners, spine gilt, green morocco title-piece on spine. Fine copy.

First published in 1769, 29 years before Jenner’s discovery. Cotugno studies the localization of smallpox lesions and, on the basis of several observations, he concludes that they are only external and do not affect internal organs. the internal mucous membranes however, were also affected when exposed to the air, as he was able to observe in a patient's prolapsed intestine and haemorrhoids.
Cotugno was professor of surgery and anatomy in Naples and he is best known for his studies, especially in the field of neurology. “In the early 19th century, his reputation as a physician was such that, as the saying went, ‘‘no one in Naples could die without a passport from Cotugno’’.
Ref: De Renzi, V, 195-197, 330 and 808-809; Loris Premuda Cotugno, Domenico In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani;