- Augustus Quirinus Rivinus
Augustus Quirinus Rivinus also known as August Bachmann (
December 9 ,1652 –December 20 ,1723 ) was a Germanphysician andbotanist .He was born in
Leipzig ,Germany , and studied at theUniversity of Leipzig (1669–1671), continued his studies in theUniversity of Helmstedt (where he received M.D. in 1676). In 1677, he started lecturing in medicine at the University of Leipzig, in 1691 appointed to two chairs, that of physiology and of botany, and made the curator of the University medical garden. In 1701, he became professor of pathology, in 1719, professor of therapeutics and permanent dean of the Faculty of Medicine. The same year he became a Fellow of theRoyal Society . Being interested also in astronomy, by the end of his life (around 1713), he nearly completely blinded himself by looking at sunspots. He died in Leipzig.In his "Introductio generalis in rem herbariam" and three books on the plant orders (which comprised but a small part of the whole projected work on a methodical description of plants) he introduced several important innovations which were later used by other botanists (
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort andCarolus Linnaeus among them). He classified the plants according to the structure of the flower. LikeJohn Ray he extensively used dichotomous keys which led first to the higher groups, which he called higher genera "(genus summum)" of plant orders "(ordo)", and then to the lower genera. Alongside withJoseph Pitton de Tournefort he was the first to apply consistently the rule according to which the names of all species belonging to the same genus should start with the same word (generic name). If a genus contains just one species, the generic name would be its only name. If there are more than one species belonging to the genus, their names should consist of the generic name followed by "differentia specifica" (a brief diagnostic phrase). His nomenclature differed from that byJoseph Pitton de Tournefort because he did not use "differentia specifica" with the first plant of a genus, adding "differentiae" only to the second and subsequent plant species. He corresponded withJohn Ray on matters of plant classification.Principal works
*"Introductio generalis in rem herbariam." Lipsiae
Leipzig : Typis Christoph. Güntheri, 1690. [8] + 39 p.
*"Ordo Plantarum qvae sunt Flore Irregulari Monopetalo." Lipsiae: Typis Christoph. Fleischeri, 1690. 22 + [4] p. + 124 tab.
*"Ordo Plantarum qvae sunt Flore Irregulari Tetrapetalo." Lipsiae: Typis Christoph. Fleischeri, 1691. [6] + 20 + [4] p. + 121 tab.
*"Ordo Plantarum qvae sunt Flore Irregulari Pentapetalo." Lipsiae: Typis Joh. Heinrici Richteri, 1699. [6] + 28 + [4] p. + 139 tab.
*"D.A.Q.R. ad celeberrimum virum dominum Johan. Rajum... Epistola" Lipsiae: Prostat apud Davidem Fleisherum, 1694. 24 p.
*"Censura medicamentorum officinalium." Lipsiae, J. Fritsch, 1701Associated Eponyms:
* "notch of Rivinus": a notch in the upper part of the tympanic portion of the
temporal bone . [http://www.bartleby.com/107/pages/page1038.html]
* "Rivinus’ ligament": also known asShrapnell's membrane ; the flaccid portion of thetympanic membrane .
* "Viola riviniana ": a species of violet; its popular name is the commondog violet .ee also
*
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
*John Ray
*Carl Linnaeus Further reading
* cite encyclopedia
last = Koelbing
first = Huldrych M.
title = Bachmann, Augustus Quirinus
encyclopedia =Dictionary of Scientific Biography
volume = 1
pages = 368-370
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
location = New York
date = 1970
isbn = 0684101149
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