Tag Archives: Pulsilogium

Measure of the heart: Santorio Santorio and the Pulsilogium

April 17, 2017

Richard de Grijs Daniel Vuillermin Beijing, China   Pulsilogium (center; line with a weight tied to a finger alongside a ruler) and thermoscope (right). (Sanctorius, S., 1626, Commentaria in primamFen primi libri CanonisAvicennae, Venice: Sarcina, p. 22. Woodcut and text; Credit: Wellcome Library, London) The heart is a musical organ. The irregularity of one’s inhalation and […]

The pulsilogium and the diagnosis of love sickness

February 28, 2017

Donatella Lippi Giuseppe Mascia Luigi Padeletti Florence, Italy   Doctors since time immemorial have felt the pulse of their patients, noting its regularity, frequency, strength, and breadth, at times using colorful expressions to variously describe it as “formicant” or “vermicular” (ant-like or worm-like),1 and diagnosing “love sickness” in maidens by the presence of the so-called […]