Jiří Procháska (1749–1820): Part 2: “De structura nervorum”—Studies on a Structure of the Nervous System

Abstract

The treatise “De structura nervorum” by Jiří Procháska was published in 1779 and is remarkable not only for its anatomical and histological findings but also for its historical introduction, which contains a detailed bibliographical review of the contemporary knowledge of the structure of the nervous tissue. Unfortunately, the treatise has never been translated from the Latin language, but it deserves further analysis as a historical document about the level of neuroscience research conducted by a famous Czech scholar. The present article includes a historical overview of the contemporary knowledge of the structure of the nervous tissue up to the late eighteenth century from the perspective of today, a translation of selected chapters from Prochaska’s treatise (a historical introduction about the medieval knowledge of the structure of the nervous tissue and an interpretation of his neurohistological observations), and an analysis of Jiří Prochaska’s results in light of current knowledge.

Keywords:

• Jiří Procháska
• neuroanatomy
• nervous tissue
• globules
• brain
• eighteenth century