From the Analogy with Animals to the Anatomy of Plants in Medicine: The Physiology of Living Processes from Harvey to Malpighi

Throughout the ages, the analogy between vegetal and animal forms has importantly shaped medical knowledge. While an anthropomorphic understanding of plants developed in the Greek philosophers Plato (428/427 or 424/423–348/347 B.C.) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.),1 the knowledge of resemblances and analogies between plants and animals flourished in diverse frameworks and contexts, especially characterizing the medical understanding of a few animal processes, namely the basic activities of nutrition, growth, and reproduction. Still, since scholars primarily devoted their attention to the animal world, this analogy appeared engulfed in the effort of anthropomorphising plants, revealing a restricted focus and generally resulting in absurdities and monstrosities.2 In contrast to this, it is especially with the anatomical studies of vegetation performed by Nehemiah Grew (1641–1712) and Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694) that the science of plants surfaced and helped shape a new approach in early modern medicine.