El discurso médico a propósito de las fiebres y de la quina en el Tratado de las Calenturas (1751) de Andrés Piquer

Abstract

In this article we analyze the historical figure of Andrés Piquer, offering a personal analysis about his medical work. We will take as a starting point the 1751 edition of his Tratado de las Calenturas (Treatise on Fever). We will use his allusions to fever and quinine as our two reflexive axes. In this analysis we will also refer to some of his Spanish and European —specially French— contemporaries. We find Piquer clearly compromised with observation and experience as the only basis for medical knowledge. We think that this article is just a necessary first step in order to study, in future publications, the following editions of the Tratado, and so making possible a complete comparative analysis.