Volcher Coiter (also spelled Coyter or Koyter; 1534 – 2 June 1576) was a Dutch
anatomist
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
who established the study of comparative
osteology and first described cerebrospinal
meningitis.
Biography
Coiter was born in
Groningen. He studied in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and was a pupil of
Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history st ...
,
Gabriele Falloppio
Gabriele Falloppio (also Gabrielle Falloppia) (1522/23 – 9 October 1562) was an Italian anatomist often known by his Latin name Fallopius. He was one of the most important anatomists and physicians of the sixteenth century, giving his name ...
,
Bartolomeo Eustachi
Bartolomeo Eustachi (c. 1500–1510 – 27 August 1574), also known by his Latin name of Bartholomaeus Eustachius (), was an Italian anatomist and one of the founders of the science of human anatomy.
Biography
Bartolomeo Eustachio (known as Eu ...
and
Guillaume Rondelet
Guillaume Rondelet (27 September 150730 July 1566), also known as Rondeletus/Rondeletius, was Regius professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in southern France and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He ...
. He became
city physician
City physician (German: ; , , from Latin ) was a historical title in the Late Middle Ages for a physician appointed by the city council. The city physician was responsible for the health of the population, particularly the poor, and the sanitary ...
of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in 1569. He took part in the French Wars of Religion as field surgeon to Count Palatine
Johann Casimir. He died in
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
during the German forces' return march.
His works included ''Externarum et Internarum Principalium Humani Corporis Partium Tabulae'' (1572)
and ''De Avium Sceletis et Praecipius Musculis'' (1575). His work included detailed anatomical studies of birds as well as a classification of the birds based on structure and habits. He produced an early
dichotomous classification key.
References
Further reading
*
Stresemann, Erwin (1975). ''Ornithology from Aristotle to the Present''. Harvard University Press. .
External links
*
1534 births
1576 deaths
Dutch anatomists
Physicians of the Habsburg Netherlands
Dutch ornithologists
Scientists from Groningen (city)
{{Netherlands-med-bio-stub