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The emergence of modern muscle names: the contribution to the foundation of systematic terminology of Vesalius, Sylvius, and Bauhin

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Abstract

Although its history is complicated, today’s anatomical nomenclature, including muscle terminology, has acquired a system of naming using epithets. The objective of this literary research paper was to ascertain the founder of modern muscle terminology. The texts of four anatomists, Galen, Andreas Vesalius, Jacobus Sylvius, and Gaspard Bauhin, who have all been identified as being influential in the establishment of early modern anatomy and its nomenclature, were analyzed. Particular emphasis was given to the naming method, and to the consistency of that method. The analysis shows that each of these four anatomists had a different conception of muscle naming, and that three early modern anatomists, Vesalius, Sylvius, and Bauhin, contributed to the development of modern muscle terminology. This investigation revealed the types of contributions they made: Vesalius was an originator of rule-governed muscle terminology with a univocal naming method, Sylvius was an inventor of epithet naming, and Bauhin applied Sylvius’s epithet naming method to Vesalius’s concept of rule-governed terminology with a univocal naming method.

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Fig. 1

Courtesy of BIU Santé

Fig. 2

Courtesy of gallica.BnF.fr

Fig. 3

Courtesy of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Fig. 4

Courtesy of BIU Santé

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 25350386. This paper benefited greatly from discussions with Professor Tatsuo Sakai at the Department of Anatomy and Life Science, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine. The author wishes to thank Professor Emerita Shizu Sakai at the Department of History of Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine for constant encouragement.

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  1. Department of History of Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Tadashi Sawai

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Correspondence to Tadashi Sawai.

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Sawai, T. The emergence of modern muscle names: the contribution to the foundation of systematic terminology of Vesalius, Sylvius, and Bauhin. Anat Sci Int 94, 23–38 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-018-0467-5

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