An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

MASSA, Niccoló

3 entries
  • 2365

Liber de morbo gallico.

Venice: in aedibus Francisei Bindoni ac Maphei Pasini, 1527.

Includes a description of the neurological manifestations of syphilis. Though this work bears the date 1507, Peter Krivatsy, provided evidence that this edition was printed in 1527. See Krivatsy, "Nicola Massa's Liber de Morbo Gallico--dated 1507 but printed in 1527," J. Hist. Med., 1974, 29, 230-33. Massa was Professor of Anatomy in Venice.



Subjects: INFECTIOUS DISEASE › SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES › Syphilis, NEUROLOGY › Neurosyphilis
  • 1536

Liber introductorius anatomiae sive dissectionis corporis humani; in quo quam plurima membra, operationes, & utilitates tam ab antiquis, quam a modernis praetermissa manifestantur.

Venice: Francesco Bindoni & Maffeo Pasini, 1536.

A practical manual for dissection, showing how to carry out an anatomy from the first incision onwards. Massa based his work on his experience gained from numerous dissections that he had undertaken in the hospital of SS. Petro et Paolo in the monastery of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. In the full title of the book Masso

"promised to reveal parts, functions, and uses of the body overlooked by others, ancient and modern. In his biography of Vesalius, C. D. O'Malley found the book 'somewhat overated, making certain contributions and correcting some errors, but remaining too much under the shadow of Galen.' Later he gave a more favourable appreciation, noting Massa's introduction of the term panniculous carnosis and praising other aspects of his work - his account of the abdominal wall, intestinal canal, and appendix, his observation that the size of spleen varied in those suffering from certain ailments, the discovery of the prostate gland, his denial of the seven-celled uterus, his reference to the malleus and incus, and his statement that interventricular septum was a 'dense and hard substance without a cavity', perhaps a denial of Galen's interventircular pores and a hint towards the pulmonary circulation of the blood. At the same time, O'Malley commented unfavourably on the 'cryptic brevity' of so many of Massa's descriptions. This is a justifiable comment, but Massa's brevity was perhaps inevitable in what was, after all, a short book on how to perform an anatomy, not an account of the fabric of the body in the manner of Vesalius....For Massa, anatomy remained an adjunct to medicine. It was the groundwork for surgery, showing the correct sites for incisions and areas where especial care was needed. He noted the extreme consequences of surgical mistakes; ignorance of anatomy could cause the death of patients. it is no surprise that he digressed into surgery, dealing amongst other things, with wounds of the peritoneum and demonstrating his own method of sewing up intestines. Anatomy was also the guide to morbific processes, and many of his patients ended their courses of treatment on his anatomy table, sometimes at the request of relatives.

"The Liber introductorius is best judged in its own terms as a practical manual. It is full of hints such as the use of probes to examine cavities, and pipes, syringes, and bellows to flate organs such as the bladder, kidneys, stomach, and somb to show their capacity and explore their function. it also contains useful suggestions such as boiling the liver as a preliminary to studying its veins. The treatise amply justifies L. R. Lind's assessemtn of it as a 'remarkably clear account of the human body by a skilled dissector who was proud of his ability" (Richard Palmer, "Nicolò Massa, his family and his fortune," Med. Hist., 25 (1981) 385-410).

"It is clearly evident, that Massa anticipated the modern anatomists, describing the presence of fluid intracranially. [Massa's Chapter XXXVIII on page 84]. Because this work was original, the evidence accurate and based on autopsy observations and what is more other scientists cited his work, thus we have to recognize Massa's scientific priority for this discovery.8-9' This great anatomical discovery is widely recognized as a milestone in the development of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology" (Leszek Herbowski, "Massa versus Haller: Priority of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Discovery," Neurol. Med. Chir. (Tokyo), 58 (2018), 225-227).

Full text translated into English by L. R. Lind, Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy...(1975).



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, NEUROSCIENCE › NERVOUS SYSTEM › Brain, including Medulla: Cerebrospinal Fluid, OTOLOGY › Physiology of Hearing, UROLOGY › Prostate
  • 461.3

Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy. Biography, translation, documents by L. R. Lind.

Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1975.

Includes  English translations of texts by Alessandro Achillini, Alessandro Benedetti, Berengario da Carpi, Gabriele Zerbi, Niccolo Massa, Andrés de Laguna, J. Dryander and G. B. Canano.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, ANATOMY › History of Anatomy