Johann Adam Kulmus-on the importance of his anatomical tables for surgery in Europe and for medical training in Japan

Abstract

This article describes the life and medical historical achievements of Johann Adam Kulmus (1689-1745), aGerman physician from Breslau and an anatomist in Danzig. His "Anatomical tables for students of anatomy" published in 1722 made him famous and were written in German, which for a textbook of anatomy was very unusual at that time. They became one of the most frequently published textbooks of anatomy in the eighteenth century and were also translated into other European languages and also Latin. In 1774 they even appeared in Japan after years of effort in the translation from the Dutch language into the national language and were intended to serve for a long time as the fundamental scientific anatomical textbook in the medical training. Therefore, the anatomical tables stand ipso facto for a successful example of efforts for the introduction of west European medicine in Japan, which had already begun since the beginning of the early modern period.