Frederik Ruysch

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Frederik Ruysch (March 23, 1638 — February 22, 1731) was a Dutch botanist and anatomist, remembered for his developments in anatomical preservation and the creation of dioramas or scenes incorporating human parts.

Life

Frederik Ruysch was born in The Hague as the son of a government functionary and started as a pupil of druggist. Fascinated by anatomy he started to study at the university in Leiden, graduating in 1664 under Franciscus Sylvius on pleuritis. In 1661 he married the daughter of a Dutch architect, named Pieter Post. Ruysch became praelector of the Amsterdam surgeon's guild in 1667. In 1668 he was made the chief instructor to the city's midwives. In 1679 he was appointed as a forensic advisor to the Amsterdam courts and in 1685 as a professor in botany in the Botanical Garden, part of the Athenaeum Illustre. Ruysch came to recognition with his proof of valves in the lymphatic system, the Vomeronasal organ in snakes, arteria centralis oculi.

His chief skill was in anatomy and in the preparation and preservation of specimens in a secret liquor balsamicum, a mixture of wax and ichotyocalla. His daughter Rachel Ruysch, later a painter of still lifes, helped him to decorate the collection with flowers and sometimes lace. In 1697 Peter the Great visited Ruysch in his house, where all the specimen were exposed in five rooms for the public. He told Peter how to catch butterflies and how to preserve them. They had a common interest in lizards and went to see patients.

Just like Albertus Seba, Ruysch sold his "repository of curiosities" in 1717 to Peter the Great for a reported 30,000 guilders, including the secret of the liquor. Ruysch refused to help when everything had to be labelled and shipped. (Not all of the preparations survived, while the alcohol was consumed by the sailors.) He immediately began anew and after his death this collection was sold to August the Strong. While some of his preserved collections remain, none of his scenes have survived. They are only known through a number of engravings, notably those by Cornelius Huyberts. Frederik Ruysch published together with Herman Boerhaave.

Sources

Dohmen, J. (1982) Wetenschappelijke erediensten voor publiek. De anatomische lessen van Frederik Ruysch. In: 1632- 1982. 350 Jaar wetenschap in Amsterdam. Folia Civitatis, 9 januari 1982, nr. 19. p. 17-21.