Theophilus Müller (also known as Teofilo Molinatore and Theophilus Molitor) ( Hersfeld 1576-

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

1619 (?)) was professor of

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

at the

University of Ingolstadt The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...

. He joined the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

in 1611. In 1621 Theophilus Müller and

Giovanni Faber Giovanni Faber (or Johann Faber, sometimes also known as Fabri or Fabro) (1574–1629) was a German papal doctor, botanist and art collector, originally from Bamberg in Bavaria, who lived in Rome from 1598. He was curator of the Vatican botanica ...

performed the first documented dissection of a rat. Their pregnant specimen appeared to have a penis and testes as well as a uterus, so they described it as a hermaphrodite. In fact the supposed penis was a clitoris, and the testes were vaginal glands. Federico Cesi had purchased the unpublished papers of the Fransicso Hernández expedition, part-edited by Nardo Antonio Recchi, containing a compendium of New World plants. There was a Lincean project to send Müller to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to complete the necessary research for the publication, but nothing appears to have come of it. Francisco Hernández, Simon Varey, Rafael Chabrán, The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández Stanford University Press, 2001 p.15

External links

collection of digitised texts by Theophilus Müller held at the Accademia dei Lincei

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MÜLLER, Theophilus 1576 births 1619 deaths Members of the Lincean Academy 16th-century German people Pre-Linnaean botanists