Dissertatio medica inauguralis de anorexia.

Bookseller Notes

A very good copy of the first edition of this doctoral thesis on anorexia, defended by William McIlvaine at the University of Edinburgh. Born in Pennsylvania, McIlvaine (1750-1806) moved to Scotland to obtain his degree, became a military surgeon, and eventually settled in Burlington, NJ, where he died. His thesis is listed as a fine example of 'oratorical prose' in the census of American Latin prose (1634-1800) (Kaiser, p.181).The work is entirely devoted to anorexia, an illness first discussed in print by Robert Morton in 1689. Anorexia is studied from a physiological point of view; the concept of 'anorexia nervosa', famously discussed by Freud, would only emerge in the late 19th century. The thesis starts with a definition and proceeds to list major theories on its causes (e.g., by Hoffmann, Haller, Boerhaave and Cullen), symptoms (e.g., cardialgia, gastrodynia), 'remote causes' (e.g., the ingestion or use of plants or substances such as the tea plant and narcotics), and treatments. Among these features opium administered 'in its solid state', with a description of its physiological effects.NLM, Penn, LC, JHU, MUSC and LCP copies recorded in the US. ESTC T6478. Not in Blake, NLM 18thC. L.M. Kaiser, 'American Latin Prose 1634-1800)', Humanistica Lovaniensia 31 (1982), 164-89.