Josephus Struthius
Józef Struś ( Latin: Josephus Struthius; * 1510 in Poznan, † between 27 July 1568 to 26 January 1569 Poznań ) was a physician, professor of medicine in Padua ( 1535-1537 ) and personal physician of Polish kings. He was also mayor of Poznań from 1557 to 1558 and from 1558 to 1559.
His conceptual approach for the measurement of the pulse is regarded as pioneering and revolutionary in its day. In his work Sphygmicae artis iam mille ducentos perditae et desideratae libri V. ( 1555), he describes five different pulse types, their diagnostic significance and the influence of body temperature on the nervous system and the heart rate. It contains the possibly earliest graphic representation of the human pulse. His book was used by William Harvey for his work.
Robert Burton wrote about Josephus Struthius ( its Latin name ) in Anatomy of Melancholy: " Josephus Struthius, those poles, claims in the fifth book, Chapter 17, that (...) may be detectable in the pulse, the passions of the mind. "