De aure humana tractatus.

4to: [12]-143-[13] pp.; 10 pl. (some spotting mostly marginal).

Contemp. quarter roan, marbled paper on covers, flat spine (corners bumped, covers rubbed, spine def.). Uncut copy.

Later edition (first 1704) by the Italian anatomist Valsalva (1666-1723), student of Malpighi and teacher of Margagni. Illustrated with 10 folding engr. pl. in fine. Remarkable work in which Valsalva comes with major innovations in the fields of the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the ear. He describes and depicts the smallest muscles and nerves of the ear such as external auricular muscles, the hammer and the "Eustachian tube", subdividing the ear into its internal, middle and external parts: he uses the terms "labyrinth" to designate the entire inner ear, "scala vestibuli" and "scala tympani" for the galleries of the cochlea. He even proposes an original method of inflating the middle ear, Valsalva's manoeuvre, to balance the pressure between the external and middle ear, today still useful in scuba diving. Title in red & black.
Ref. STCN. - Blake 468. - Welcome V:329. - Cp. Garrison & Morton 1546 (1st ed.).