Tractatus Quinque Medico-Physici : quorum primus agit de sal-nitro, et spiritu nitro-aereo. Secundus de respiratione. Tertius de respiratione foetus in utero, et ovo. Quartus de motu musculari, et spiritibus animalibus. Ultimus de rhachitide.
Five Medical-Physical Treatises : the first of which deals with salt-nitro and spirit of nitro-air. The second on respiration. Third on the respiration of the fetus in the womb and the egg. Fourth on muscular motion and animal spirits. The last on rickets.
- 1674

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Small JPG1200 x 1846px — 660 KBLarge JPG2880 x 4431px — 3.1 MBFull-sized JPG2945 x 4531px — 3.2 MBOriginal fileTIFF — 2945 x 4531px — 38.2 MBJohn Mayow (1643–1679) was an early researcher of respiration and the nature of air. Mayow published tracts on respiration and rickets while studying at Oxford in 1668; in 1674 these were edited and reprinted with three other tracts (De sal-nitro et spiritu nitro-aereo, De respiratione foetus in utero et ovo, and De motu musculari et spiritibus animalibus) as Tractatus quinque medico-physici.
This work establishes a theory of combustion supported by thoroughly detailed experiments. Mayow concludes that air consists of at least two constituents, the "nitro-aerial" spirit, which supports combustion and respiration, and the "sal-nitro", an inert volume present after combustion or respiration. Despite preceding the discovery of oxygen by a century, Mayow provides a semi-accurate anatomical description of the mechanism of respiration.
Digitization includes the engraved frontispiece portrait of Mayow, the title page, and 6 folding copperplates.
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Cite as
Mayow, John. Tractatus Quinque Medico-Physici : Quorum Primus Agit De Sal-Nitro, Et Spiritu Nitro-Aereo. Secundus De Respiratione. Tertius De Respiratione Foetus in Utero, Et Ovo. Quartus De Motu Musculari, Et Spiritibus Animalibus. Ultimus De Rhachitide. Oxford, England: E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1674. https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/a9ut8rx.
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