Highmore is remembered for his description of the maxillary sinus, known eponymically as the “antrum of Highmore” (already noticed by Casserius and figured by Leonardo da Vinci), the seminal ducts and the epididymis. This was also the first English work to accept Harvey’s ideas on the circulation. The interesting engraved title page compares the body allegorically to a garden, with the heart as a pump irrigating the garden. Digital facsimile from the Medical Heritage Library, Internet Archive, at this link.

Highmore’s account of the development of the chick is the first embryological study based on microscopical examination, predating Malpighi (No. 468) by more than twenty years. This is also the first book in English to refer to the microscope. It was published within weeks of Harvey’s book (No. 467). Harvey and Highmore had collaborated on embryological research at Oxford since the 1640s.