Martin Schurig Explained

Martin Schurig (1656–1733) was a German physician who first used the term "Gynaecologia" in 1730, following Johann Peter Lotichius who wrote "Gynaicologia" in 1630.^[1] Schurig is credited with authoring the first work on sexual pathology, successively entitled Spermatologia (1720), Muliebria (1729), and Gynaecologia (1730).^[2]

Schurig was born in the town of Hayne (Großenhain) within the Electorate of Saxony, where his father, Johann, worked as a wheelwright.^[3] On July 23, 1671, Martin entered St. Thomas School in Leipzig, committing to a seven-year stay. During his time there, he also enrolled at the University of Leipzig in the summer semester of 1672. On December 22, 1677, Schurig informed Rector Jakob Thomasius of his decision to leave St. Thomas, and he gave his farewell speech on February 26, 1678.^[4] In the winter semester of 1677/78, he was re-matriculated at the University of Leipzig,^[5] where Johannes Bohn became his teacher in the medical faculty.^[6] Schurig earned his medical degree from the University of Erfurt in 1688^[7] and later settled in Dresden. There, he became a city doctor on March 15, 1694, and continued to practice until his death on July 10, 1733.^[8] Schurig was married to Sophia Christina Beutler (1666-1713), and they had four sons and three daughters, two of whom survived after his wife's death.^[9]

At the age of 64, Schurig began publishing his Spermatologia Historico-Medica, also known simply as Spermatologia. This marked the start of a series of ten books that progressively explored human physiology, with two being published posthumously. Havelock Ellis quotes freely from his works.

Books

• Spermatologia historico-medica. Frankfurt, 1720. On Human Semen. [The male reproductive system.]
• Sialologia historico-medica. Dresden, 1723. On Human Saliva. [Also published in Leipzig, 1729, under the anagram Gurisch.]
• Chylologia historico-medica. Dresden, 1725. On Human Chyle or Nutritional Juice. [The digestive system. Also published in Leipzig, 1730, under the anagram Gurisch.]
• Muliebria historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1729. On Female Genital Organs. [The female reproductive system.]
• Parthenologia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1729. On Virginity and related topics. [Stages of female development, menstruation, and the concept of virginity.]
• Gynaecologia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1730. On Female Intercourse.
• Syllepsilogia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1731. On Female Conception. [Continuation of ''Gynaecologia historico-medica''.]
• Embryologia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1732. On the Human Infant. [Fetal development, pregnancy, and childbirth.]

Posthumous:

• Lithologia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1744. On Human Stones.
• Haematologia historico-medica. Dresden & Leipzig, 1744. On Blood.

German translations by Martin Schurig:

• Abraham Leonhard Vrolingh, Der Matrosen Gesundheit / Oder Ein nützlicher Tractat vom Scharbocke oder Schimmel-Seuche. Dresden, 1702.
• David Abercromby, Der Spanische oder Frantzösische Pocken-Meister, Dresden, 1702.
• Augustin Belloste, Hospital- und Lazareth-Chirurgus. Dresden, 1703; 1710.
• Johannes Verbrugge, Examen Chirurgicum. Dresden, 1704; 1708; 1715; 1731.
• Jacques Guillemeau, Der auffrichtige Augen- und Zahn-Artzt. Dresden, 1706; 1710.
• Frederic de Leauson, Operationes Chirurgicae. Dresden, 1709.
• François Mauriceau, Siebenhundert Observationes. Dresden, 1709.

Notes

1. Book: Skinner, Henry Alan . The Origin of Medical Terms . Williams & Wilkins . Baltimore . 1949 . 167 . Henry Alan Skinner.
2. Book: Leibbrand-Wettley, Annemarie . Perversion . Sillamy . Norbert . Dictionnaire usuel de psychologie . Bordas . Paris . 1983 . 510 . Annemarie Leibbrand-Wettley.
3. Book: Sachse, Richard . Acta Nicolaitana et Thomana. Aufzeichnungen von Jakob Thomasius während seines Rektorates an der Nikolai- und Thomasschule zu Leipzig (1670-1684) . Johannes Wörner's Verlag . Leipzig . 1912 . 96.
4. Sachse, p. 255.
5. His surname was written as 'Schuricht' in the Leipzig matriculation register (G. Erler, 1909, p. 414). The same form, 'Schuricht,' is also found in archival sources. See Book: Schlenkrich, Elke . Bräuer . Helmut . Schlenkrich . Elke . Die Stadt als Kommunikationsraum . Leipziger Universitätsverlag . 2001 . Leipzig . 639 . 'Sie hätten anfänglich vermeinet, es sey eine Colica.' Zur Kommunikation von Heilkundigen und Patienten im frühneuzeitlichen Sachsen.
6. As Schurig writes in his Disputatio Inauguralis (1688), § 5, note (b).
7. Disputatio Inauguralis De Haemoptysi, defended on December 4, 1688, with Johann Gottfried Horn of Thuringia as the respondent. Published in Erfurt by the Grosch Printing House.
8. Book: Lesser, Andreas . Die albertinischen Leibärzte . Michael Imhof Verlag . 2015 . Petersberg . 270.
9. Book: Michaelis, Johann Gottfried . Dreßdnische Inscriptiones und Epitaphia . Johann Heinrich Schwencke . 1714 . Dresden . 602.

Further reading

• Book: Ashbee, Henry Spencer [Pisanus Fraxi] . Catena Librorum Tacendorum . privately printed . 1885 . London . 1–14 . Henry Spencer Ashbee.
• Book: Leibbrand . Annemarie . Leibbrand . Werner . Formen des Eros . 2 . Verlag Karl Alber . 1972 . Freiburg/München . 253-258 . Annemarie Leibbrand-Wettley . Werner Leibbrand. The authors discuss Spermatologia, Muliebria and Gynaecologia, based on the Munich dissertation by Peter Christian Lawall titled Martin Schurigs Vorstellungen vom Coitus und dessen medizinischen Auswirkungen (1968).
• Book: Lesser, Andreas . Die albertinischen Leibärzte . Michael Imhof Verlag . 2015 . Petersberg . 270. A short biography using printed and unpublished sources.
• Book: Needham, Joseph . A History of Embryology . Abelard-Schuman . 1959 . New York . 2 . 186 . Joseph Needham. Needham places Schurig's Embryologia alongside Hermann Boerhaave's Elementa Chemiae and calls them "very notable landmarks in the history of embryology."
• Book: von Siebold, Eduard Caspar Jacob . Versuch einer Geschichte der Geburtshülfe . 2 . Enslin . 1845 . Berlin . 408-410 . Eduard Caspar Jacob von Siebold. A critical assessment of Martin Schurig in a 19th-century history of obstetrics.