Levinus Lemnius (20 May 1505 in

Zierikzee Zierikzee () is a small city in the southwest Netherlands, 50 km southwest of Rotterdam. It is situated in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland. The city hall of Schouwen-Duiveland is located in Zierikzee, its largest city. Zierikze ...

– 1 July 1568 in Zierikzee) was a Dutch physician and author.

Life

Lemnius studied medicine at the University of Leuven under

Rembert Dodoens Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish people, Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinization (literature), Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father o ...

and Konrad Gesner; and under

Vesalius Andries van Wezel (31 December 1514 – 15 October 1564), Latinization of names, latinized as Andreas Vesalius (), was an anatomist and physician who wrote ''De humani corporis fabrica, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric ...

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

. He also travelled to Switzerland and England. After his wife's death, he became a priest.

Works

*''Occulta naturae miracula'' (1559, Antwerp) by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

) This was translated as ''De gli occvlti miracoli'', ''Les Occultes Merveilles et Secretz de Nature''
online text
''The secret miracles of nature'', and ''Wunderbarliche Geheimnisse der Natur'
online text
. *''De habitu et constitutione corporis'' (1561, Antwerp). As ''The Touchstone of Complexions'' (1576) (translation into English by Thomas Newton) *''Herbarum atque arborum quae in Bibliis passim obviae sunt et ex quibus sacri vates similitudines desumunt''. In English as ''An Herbal for the Bible'' (1579, Newton translation). *''De miraculis occultis naturae : libri IIII'' (1611, Francofurti) by the

His ''Occulta naturae miracula'', a book of secrets, is his best-known work. It ran through many editions and was widely translated from Latin. It drew on classical sources, particularly

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. Lemnius was influenced, too, by the "airs, waters, places" doctrine from the

Hippocratic Corpus The Hippocratic Corpus (Latin: ''Corpus Hippocraticum''), or Hippocratic Collection, is a collection of around 60 early Ancient Greek medical works strongly associated with the physician Hippocrates and his teachings. The Hippocratic Corpus cov ...

. The work attempted to reconcile

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

as found in classical sources with Christian doctrine, particularly on generation and reproduction, while emphasising extraordinary aspects. His

humoral theory Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 17th ce ...

was complex, with

phlegm Phlegm (; , ''phlégma'', "inflammation", "humour caused by heat") is mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that produced by the throat nasal passages. It often refers to respiratory mucus expelled by coughing, otherwise known as ...

being divided into four, and the other humours also being subdivided. He is credited with first mentioning in this work of

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the Microscope, microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissue (biology), tissues), in cytology (microscopic ...

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

, with madder root. In the same work he gives credence to the theory of maternal impression; his theory of

teratology Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology caused by ...

connects the Aristotelian theory of generation with birth defects. He contributed to

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be n ...

, with Johann Weyer, by suggesting that

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

and disturbance could be physically caused, rather than being a result of outside influence. He also credited

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

with the invention of the

magnetic compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with m ...

. This work in some form had a lifetime of nearly four centuries. It was later combined with a German manual on

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

by Jakob Rüff, to create ''Aristotle's Masterpiece'', a 17th-century work in English of advice on sex and reproduction, still sold in later editions in the 1930s.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemnius, Levinus 1505 births 1568 deaths People from the Spanish Netherlands 16th-century Dutch physicians Dutch medical writers Old University of Leuven alumni People from Zierikzee

Life

Works

Notes

Further reading

External links