Hieronymus Fabricius

For more information on Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente, visit Britannica.com.

Italian anatomist and embryologist (1537–1619)

Fabricius was born at Aquapendente in Italy and educated at the University of Padua where he studied under Gabriel Fallopius, succeeding him, in 1565, as professor of anatomy.

As an anatomist his most significant work was his De venarum ostiolis (1603; On the Valves of the Veins), which contains a clear and detailed description of the venous system and which exercised a considerable influence on his most famous pupil, William Harvey. Fabricius himself entertained no such idea as the circulation of the blood, explaining the role of the valves as retarding the blood flow, thus allowing the tissues to absorb necessary nutriment.

He spent much time observing the development of the chick embryo and published two works De formato foetu (1600; On the Formation of the Fetus) and De formatione ovi et pulli (1612; On the Development of the Egg and the Chick). These were hailed as elevating embryology into an independent science but they still contain many incorrect assumptions.

Thus for Fabricius semen did not enter the egg but rather initiated the process of generation from a distance in some mysterious way. He also made a now totally unfamiliar distinction between what nourishes and what produces the embryo. Thus he believed both the yolk and albumen merely nourished the embryo. Having eliminated the sperm, yolk, and albumen, Fabricius claimed that the chalaza – the spiral threads holding the yolk in position – produces the chick.

It was while engaged upon this work that he discovered and described the bursa of Fabricius. This is a small pouch in the oviduct of the hen, which Fabricius thought to be a store for semen. In the 1950s however the young research student B. Glick showed that this obscure organ plays a key role in the immune system of chickens, and by implication of humans who must possess a comparable system.

Hieronymus Fabricius
Girolamo Fabrizi d' Acquapendente
Born	May 20, 1537 Acquapendente
Died	May 21, 1619
Nationality	Italian
Fields	Anatomy
Doctoral advisor	Gabriele Falloppio
Doctoral students	William Harvey Adriaan van den Spieghel

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (October 2009)

Hieronymus Fabricius or Girolamo Fabrizio or by his latin name Fabricus ab Aquapendende (fl. 16th century) was a pioneering anatomist known in Italian medical science as "The Father of Embryology."

Born in Acquapendente, Fabricius studied at Padua, receiving an MD in 1559 under the guidance of Gabriel Fallopio. He was professor of anatomy and surgery at Padua from 1562. His students included William Harvey and Adriaan van den Spieghel.

By dissecting animals, Fabricius investigated the formation of the fetus, the structure of the esophagus, stomach and bowels, and the peculiarities of the eye, the ear, and the larynx. His main claim to fame is the discovery of the membranous folds that he called "valves" in the interior of veins. He did not know the purpose of these folds; however, they are now understood to prevent blood from flowing backwards.

See also

• Bursa of Fabricius

External links

• Some places and memories of Hieronymus Fabricius

Further reading

• Smith, Sean B.; Macchi, Veronica; Parenti, Anna; De Caro, Raffaele (2004). "Hieronymus corrected Fabricius Ab Acquapendente (1533-1619)". Clinical anatomy 17 (7): 540–3. doi:10.1002/ca.20022. PMID 15376290. 
• Smith, Sean B. (2006). "From Ars to Scientia: the revolution of anatomic illustration". Clinical anatomy 19 (4): 382–8. doi:10.1002/ca.20307. PMID 16570293. 
• Antonello, A.; Bonfante, L.; Bordin, V.; Calò, L.; Favaro, S.; Rippa-Bonati, M.; D'Angelo, A. (1997). "The Bursa of Hieronymus Fabrici d’Acquapendente: Past and Present of an Anatomical Structure". American Journal of Nephrology 17 (3-4): 248. doi:10.1159/000169109. PMID 9189242. 
• Glick, Bruce (1991). "Historical perspective: the bursa of Fabricius and its influence on B-cell development, past and present". Veterinary immunology and immunopathology 30 (1): 3–12. doi:10.1016/0165-2427(91)90003-U. PMID 1781155. 
• Brandt, L; Goerig, M (1986). "Die geschichte der Tracheotomie. I [The history of tracheotomy. I]". Der Anaesthesist 35 (5): 279–83. PMID 3526969. 

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