LE CAT, Traité des sens, 1742
LE CAT, Claude-Nicolas.
Traité des sens.
Paris, Guillaume Cavelier, 1742.
8vo (194x123 mm), (2)-[201-232]-[253-523]-(3) pages and 19 plates. binding : Contemporary full calf, gilt spine in six compartments. Binding rubbed. Caps worn.
Second edition.
Reprint of the first edition (Rouen, 1740).
Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768) a surgeon specializing in the operation of bladder stones remains famous for his work on the senses. Mechanistic doctor for whom sensations are the result of the body acting on the body (the soul therefore does not come into play), his main contribution remains on the understanding of the functioning of vision.
references: DSB [VIII, 114 : "The Traité des sens, Le Cat's most important work, grew as much out of his researches in physics as in physiology. In it Le Cat presented a theory of the propagation of light contrary to that of Newtonian attraction. He further reported on the pigmented choroid coat of the eye and assigned it a common embryonic origin with the pigment of the skin."], Heirs of Hippocrates [ed. 1744, 851: "In keeping with the theories of his day, Le Cat postulated that the nerve force was a fluid which passed through tiny canals within the nerves. Le Cat opposed Haller's doctrine of irritability even though he reported in his essay some of the same results as Haller. Nevertheless Le Cat stated that his clinical experience led him to believe that the brain tissue possesses significant sensitivity which, of course, it does not. The first two editions of the present work were published at Rouen in 1740 and 1742. "].
Price : 500 €
