The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Auenbrugger von Auenbrug, Leopold

AUENBRUGGER VON AUENBRUG, ow'ĕn-brůg'ĕr fŏn ow'ĕn-brůg, Leopold, Austrian physician: b. Gratz 1722; d. Vienna 1809. As early as 1754 he had discovered the method of studying internal diseases (percussion) which made him famous; but not until after seven years of experiments and verification did he publish his treatise, entitled ‘Inventum Novum ex Percussione Thoracis Humani Interni Pectoris Morbos Detegendi’ (1761). The book marks an epoch in the modern history of medicine, but attracted scant attention until it was translated and illustrated by Corvisart in 1808. He also published two treatises on insanity.