then had a large Jewish community and was part of the Ottoman Empire; there he openly professed the Jewish faith and finally died in 1568. Work Amato reported Canano's discovery of a valve at the beginning of the azygos vein and due to this report has by some scholars wrongly been praised as the discoverer of the venous valves or indeed the blood circulation. In the Centuria I, paragraph (Curatio) 513, he described the function of this valve, which Canano - who had also discovered valves in other veins - apparently demonstrated to some scholars from the University of Ferrara. Amato's account is profoundly flawed, however, suggesting that he had the description from hearsay and was not present in person. He claimed that if air was blown into the lower part of the azygos the vena cava would not be inflated because the valve was in the way. The valve works exactly the other way round, however. According to modern understanding, it prevents a reflux of blood from the vena cava into the vena azygos. Air would therefore quite easily pass from the vena azygos to the vena cava but not in the opposite direction. Amatus enriched medical literature with several valuable works which for a long time enjoyed the highest reputation. Among these the most important was his Centuriæ, in which he published accounts of his cases and their treatment. This work, in seven volumes, entitled Curationum Medicinalium Centuriæ Septem, passed through a number of editions (Florence, 1551; Venice, 1552, 1557, 1560, 1653; Basel, 1556; Leyden, 1560, 1570; Paris, 1620; Bordeaux, 1620; Barcelona, 1628). His other works were: Index Dioscoridis (1536); Enegemata in Duos Priores Dioscoridis de Arte Medica Libros (Antwerp, 1536); In Dioscorides de Medica materia Librum quinque enarrationis (1556); Commentatio de Introitu Medici ad Ægrotantem, (Venice, 1557); De Crisi et Diebus Decretoriis, (Venice, 1557); In Dioscoridis Anazarbei de Medica Materia Libros Quinque, (Venice, 1557; Leyden, 1558); Enarrationes Eruditissimæ, (Venice, 1553); La Historia de Eutropio (Eutropius translated into Spanish); commentary on the first book of Avicenna's Canon, which, as he relates in the preface to the seventh Centuria, he lost among his possessions at Ancona. References Amatus Lusitanus discovered valves in veins and arteries; by David Hashavit, citation: "There's a reasonable basis to assume that it was Dr. Amatus who first discovered the "Blood circulation" phenomena." Michael Stolberg: Gabrielle Falloppia 1522/23-1562. The life and work of a Renaissance