Paper, 'An account of a child born alive without a brain and the observables in it on dissection' by Dr Charles Preston
Reference number: CLP/13/10
Date: 1696
Description
Preston describes a birth he witnessed in Paris of a healthy-looking child who lived for half an hour after birth with a flat head and without a brain. He quotes surgeon Monsieur Le Duc's account of the same birth and subsequent autopsy at length before giving his own account. Preston describes the search for various nerves in the infant's body and attempts to explain how a human or animal could live for a short period without a brain.
Subject: Anatomy / Physiology
Published in Philosophical Transactions as 'An account of a child born alive without a brain, and the observables in it on dissection'.
Read to the Royal Society on 24 March 1696.
- Reference number
- CLP/13/10
- Earliest possible date
- 1696
- Physical description
- Ink on paper
- Page extent
- 6 pages
- Format
- Manuscript
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Citation
Paper, 'An account of a child born alive without a brain and the observables in it on dissection' by Dr Charles Preston, 1696, CLP/13/10, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_13_10/paper-an-account-of-a-child-born-alive-without-a-brain-and-the-observables-in-it-on-dissection-by-dr-charles-preston, accessed on 18 July 2025
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Related Publications
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III. An account of a child born alive without a brain, and the observables in it on dissection, by Dr. Charles Preston External link, opens in new tab.
Author: Charles Preston
Date: 1st March 1697
DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1695.0078
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Classified Papers
The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.
Dates: 1592 - 1741
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