← Previous revisionRevision as of 11:12, 3 November 2026 Line 24: Line 24: In his ''Hortus Messanensis'' (Messina, 1640), Castelli provides a precise and detailed account of the plant species cultivated in Messina's garden. What was originally intended as a simple register to share with friends and fellow botanists grew significantly to become the most important work in his extensive body of writing.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} In his ''Hortus Messanensis'' (Messina, 1640), Castelli provides a precise and detailed account of the plant species cultivated in Messina's garden. What was originally intended as a simple register to share with friends and fellow botanists grew significantly to become the most important work in his extensive body of writing.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} Castelli was equally distinguished as a botanist, chemist, and [[surgery|surgeon]]. He maintained the necessity for all physicians of studying [[anatomy]], and declared in 1648 that he had [[dissection|dissected]] more than one hundred corpses. His growing scientific reputation attracted a number of prominent European naturalists to Messina, including the Dane [[Thomas Bartholin]] and the Englishmen [[Francis Willughby]], [[John Ray]] and [[Philip Skippon]].{{sfn|Neil|2005|p=15}} Bartholin, who visited Castelli in Messina, in 1644,speaks highly of his work as a botanist.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} During Bartholin's time in Sicily, the two naturalists travelled to Mount Etna to study its flora.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} Their findings and observations were detailed and preserved across various scientific letters from that period.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} Castelli was equally distinguished as a botanist, chemist, and [[surgery|surgeon]]. He maintained the necessity for all physicians of studying [[anatomy]], and declared in 1648 that he had [[dissection|dissected]] more than one hundred corpses. His growing scientific reputation attracted a number of prominent European naturalists to Messina, including the Dane [[Thomas Bartholin]] and the Englishmen [[Francis Willughby]], [[John Ray]] and [[Philip Skippon]].{{sfn|Neil|2005|p=15}} Bartholin, who visited Castelli in Messina, in 1644, speaks highly of his work as a botanist.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} During Bartholin's time in Sicily, the two naturalists travelled to Mount Etna to study its flora.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} Their findings and observations were detailed and preserved across various scientific letters from that period.{{sfn|De Ferrari|1978}} Castelli wrote no less than one hundred and fifty pamphlets. Among these there is one written in 1653 in answer to inquiries by Girolamo Bardi of [[Genoa]], wherein Castelli speaks of the [[cinchona]] plant and its curative properties in cases of [[malaria]]. Castelli appears to have had little knowledge of cinchona and no experience of its medicinal use. Nevertheless, the pamphlet is noteworthy as one of the earliest publications to mention cinchona. Castelli wrote no less than one hundred and fifty pamphlets. Among these there is one written in 1653 in answer to inquiries by Girolamo Bardi of [[Genoa]], wherein Castelli speaks of the [[cinchona]] plant and its curative properties in cases of [[malaria]]. Castelli appears to have had little knowledge of cinchona and no experience of its medicinal use. Nevertheless, the pamphlet is noteworthy as one of the earliest publications to mention cinchona.