Theophilus Müller Explained

Theophilus Müller (also known as Teofilo Molinatore and Theophilus Molitor) (Hersfeld 1576- Würzburg 1619 (?))^[1] was professor of botany at the University of Ingolstadt.^[2] He joined the Accademia dei Lincei in 1611.^[3]

In 1621 Theophilus Müller and Giovanni Faber performed the first documented dissection of a rat. Their pregnant specimen appeared to have a penis and testes as well as a uterus, so they described it as a hermaphrodite. In fact the supposed penis was a clitoris, and the testes were vaginal glands.^[4]

Federico Cesi had purchased the unpublished papers of the Fransicso Hernández expedition, part-edited by Nardo Antonio Recchi, containing a compendium of New World plants. There was a Lincean project to send Müller to Mexico to complete the necessary research for the publication,^[5] but nothing appears to have come of it.^[6]

External links

• collection of digitised texts by Theophilus Müller held at the Accademia dei Lincei

Notes and References

1. Web site: L'Accademia dei Lincei e la cultura europea nel XVII secolo: Manoscritti, libri, incisioni, strumenti scientifici : Mostra storica. Capecchi. Anna Maria. 1992.
2. David Freedberg, The Eye of the Lynx: Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History, University of Chicago Press, 2003 p.113
3. Web site: Wayback Machine has not archived that URL. . 14 May 2023.
4. 10.1038/428464a. The Renaissance rat. 2004. Abbott. Alison. Nature. 428. 6982. 464–466. 15057803. 11473955. free.
5. file:///C:/Users/McCapra/Downloads/1555-4727-2-PB.pdf accessed 15/7/2017
6. Francisco Hernández, Simon Varey, Rafael Chabrán, The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco HernándezStanford University Press, 2001 p.15