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Amsterdam, (s.n.), 1765 ; 1 vol. pet. in-8 (19.5 x 12 cm), XIV, 191 pp., frontispice, pleine basane de l'époque, dos lisse orné, coiffes usées, tranches marbrées, rousseurs éparses, bon exemplaire. Edition originale recherchée de cet ouvrage novateur, curieux, peu courant. Il est illustré d'un frontispice gravé sur cuivre par Bacheley d'après Gravelot (rassemblant "les trois principales espèces d'hommes, le blanc, le noir et le cuivré"), d'une vignette et d'un cul-de-lampe. Cet ouvrage est basé essentiellement sur l'expérimentation et l'observation. Le Cat montre que les humeurs (sang, bile, etc.) des Noirs ne diffèrent pas de ceux des Blancs, et que par conséquent la couleur de la peau n'est pas fonction de la bile comme on le pensait alors. De plus, il a le mérite de montrer l'existence d'une analogie entre le pigment mélanique qu'il situe dans le corps muqueux et le pigment présent dans la choroïde (il le compare aussi à l'encre de seiche). La dernière partie est consacrée aux différentes possibilités de changement de couleur cutanée. De plus, et bien que cet ouvrage soit essentiellement scientifique, Le Cat rapporte sa conception de la hiérarchie supposée des races. Claude Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768) fut chirurgien en chef de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Rouen. Chirurgien et aussi physiologiste, érudit et habile, il eut une très grande notoriété et fut anobli écuyer par le roi en 1762. REFERENCES: Heirs of Hippocrates, 853 : "In the first section of the book, Le Cat discusses the diversity of skin types in the human, the reasons for these differences, and also furnishes an analysis of the skin's structure. In the second section, he explains the reasons for different skin colors. He places special emphasis on the black skin which he likened to the ink of the cuttlefish, believing that the skin's pigmentation came from tufts of pigment bearing nerves in the skin. In the final section, Le Cat describes how skin changes from one color to another. He provides many cases histories to illustrate his points and admits that his understanding is not too secure." ; Chevallier J : The pioneers, In : Dermatology in France, p. 48: "The most interesting dermatological work [on abnormal skin colour] is the Traité de la couleur de la peau humaine, [Treatise on the colour of human skin] (1765). Le Cat studied in great detail the structure of white and black human skin and colour changes between the two. According to him, colour originated in the corpus mucosum."; Montagna W et al.: Black Skin : Structure and Function, p. 74: "In his extensive monograph on ethnic pigmentation, Le Cat (1765) confirmed Littre's findings on the skin of a black Ethiopian cadaver, and compared the properties of extracted pigment with that of the choroid of the eye. Most remarkably for that time, Le Cat found that the two pigments (which he named ethiops) were not only very similar to each other, but also had the same general features of the pigment from the ink of the squid. in many ways he pioneered the notion that the coloring matter of black skin is the same as that which occurs in other pigmented tissues of both Whites and Blacks, as well as in mammals and other living organisms." ; Rousseau GS : Le Cat and the physiology of negroes, In : Enlightenment Crossings, pp. 26-3: Le Cats experiments with various animals played an important role in his theory in the Traité de la couleur de la peau humaine. Le Cat was convinced of the necessity of microscopic investigation, unlike many of his contemporaries. He must be given credit for his intuitive leap in suspecting that bile cannot influence pigment, and thus for changing the whole course of physiological theory about skin. He must, it seems to me, also be given credit for his suspicion that the nerves play a more extensive role in the body than was though at this time."; Robins AH : Biological perspectives on human pigmentation, p. 4; Frère Ed.: Manuel du bibliographe normand II, p. 182. Seller Inventory # 151070
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