This page lists items in the database related to Italian physician Francesco Folli (b. Poppi, Italy 31 May 1624; d. Sansepolcro, Italy 25 January 1685):
BIOGRAPHY
Francesco Folli was born on May 31st, 1624 in Poppi (Casentino), son of Domenico and Orsina Dombosi. In Poppi, Folli carried out literary studies and, in the meantime, discovered scientific interests marked as “science of nature” which also included studies of agriculture, mineralogy, medicine, astronomy. On June 21, 1648 F. went into philosophy and medicine in Pisa and, after the qualification (April 12, 1650), he successfully worked in Poppi.1
The great intuition could be worked out after a fundamental reading (“Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus” by W. Harvey) and repeated experiments performed by himself on plant grafts. The fact that "different plants of different juices contribute to the supply, of a single fruit", led him to formulate the hypothesis that “circulation of blood", as it was observed as achievable in the nature of plants could have been seen in animals too and therefore in men. This was the first step to the idea of “blood transfusion from individual to individual”.2
Bibliography
- Gabriella Belloni Speciale, ''Francesco Folli'', in Dizionario Biografico Degli Italiani, Vol. 48 (1997)
- A. Simili Origine e vicende della trasfusione del sangue, VIII Tavole Fuori Testo, 1933, pp. 123-130
- U. Viviani Tre medici aretini: A. Cesalpino, F. Redi, F. Folli, R. Accademia Petrarca Editrice, 1936, pp. 195-247