Peyer, Johann Conrad

1. Dates

Born: Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 26 Dec 1653

Died: Schaffhausen, 29 Feb 1712

Dateinfo: Dates Certain

Lifespan: 59

2. Father

Occupation: Aristocrat

He was born into a patrician family.

No solid information on financial status.

3. Nationality

Birth: Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Career: Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Death: Schaffhausen, Switzerland

4. Education

Schooling: Paris; Montpelier; Basel, M.D.

Studied medicine in Basel.

Studied medicine in Paris under J. Guichard de Verney.

Studied medicine in Montpellier under Vieussens.

1681, recieved his M.D. from Basel.

I assume the equivalent of a B.A.

5. Religion

Affiliation: assume Calvinist

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Physiology

Subordinate: Anatomy, Zoology, Medicine

With J.J. Wepfer and J.C. Brunner, he formed the "Schaffhause trio," which provided the explanation of symptoms by connecting them with the lesions in the body and performed experiments on animals to study either the functioning of organs or the effects of medicines. In 1682 he described the lymphatic nodules and masses located in the walls of the ileum that now bear his name. He achieved an artificial cardiac activity lasting several hours. He also discovered hermaphroditism of the pulmononate snail and the epizootic disease that may have been foot-mouth disease. He published several works.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Medicine, Schoolmastering

It seems that he supported himself throughout his career as a physician, though he later also held a position in the local gymnasium.

Through the 1680s, he collaborated with his teacher Jakob Wepfer and the latter's son-in-law, Johann Conrad Brunner in research, but they eventually had a falling out. He then spent the rest of his life as a professor of logic, rhetoric and medicine at the local gymnasium.

8. Patronage

Type: None

9. Technological Involvement

Type: Medical Practice

He did practice medicine.

10. Scientific Societies

Membership: Academia Leopoldina

He was a member of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum Sacra under the name "Pythagoras."

Sources

1. A. Hirsch, Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Aerzte aller Zeiten und Voelker (3rd ed., Munich, 1962), 4, 579-80.
2. A. Hirsch, Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, 25, 568.
3. E. Ackerknecht, Grands médecins suise de 1500 à 1900, conférence du Palais de la Découverte D109, (Paris, 1966).

Not Available and Not Consulted

1. Bernhard Peyer-Amsler, "Johann Conrad Peyer 1653-1712," in Reinhard Frauenfelder, ed., Geschichte der Familie Peyer mit dem Wecken 1410-1932 (ZÜrich, 1932), 299-346. The library which has this won't lend it.

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.