.A very good copy of probably the first edition of these important early works on therapeutic waters and fossils. Gabriele Falloppio (1523-62) was a major physician and anatomist, professor at Ferrara (where he taught Fabricius ab Aquapendente), Pisa and Padua. Several anatomical formations, of which he provided ground-breaking descriptions and studies, are still named after him, e.g., Fallopian tubes, aquaeductus Fallopii . As with all of his publications except Observationes anatomicae", this work was published posthumously. It consists of two lectures given at Padua in 1556 and 1557 respectively, [...] edited from lecture notes by Andreas Marcolini (fl. 1560), one of Fallopius friends (Heirs of Hippocrates). . . .. De medicatis aquis is devoted to mineral spring waters and their therapeutic qualities. It introduces the names and nature of various spa waters, and proceeds to discuss why they emerge from the ground at very high temperatures (with a section on the rare instances in which they emerge cold), their metallic and mineral composition and how to investigate it (e.g., through sight and colour, smell, touch and taste), the lutus thermalis (the therapeutic essence of spa waters), the application of mud, the medical characteristics of specific spa baths near Padua (e.g., Monte Ortone, San Pietro, Sant Elena and Montegrotto, this last still in use and very popular, in an area named Terme Euganee ) and in Emilia and Tuscany, and the benefits of spa waters for all kinds of conditions, head to foot. De medicatis aquis is considered the most influential work on solution analysis of the C16, for its discussion of the chemical composition of water (Debus, p.46). . . .. De metallis seu fossilibus is concerned with geology and mineralogy. By fossils , like Agricola and Gesner, Falloppio meant everything dug out of the ground or extracted from rocks that showed a distinct form [...]. It included therefore, besides fossils in the modern sense [...], also crystals, stones, minerals and artifacts (Etter, p.131). Falloppio focuses on stones and minerals to identify their medical properties, defining the types of soil, the nature and properties of stones, and the essence of metals (including less common substances like chrysocolla ). Two most interesting works by one of the medical authorities of the Renaissance.. . ..Another ed. appeared the same year, published by Avanzi with Giordano Ziletti - priority not established..
