Gaspare Aselli

Gaspare Aselli (c. 1581 to 1625) was an Italian physician noted for the discovery of the lacteal vessels of the lymphatic system. Born in Cremona into a wealthy patrician family, he attended the University of Pavia, where he obtained degrees in medicine, surgery and philosophy, and went on to practise medicine in Milan, whose senate made him an honorary citizen. In 1612 he was appointed head surgeon of the Spanish Armada in Italy, and shortly before his death he became professor of anatomy and surgery at Pavia. On 23 July 1622, during a vivisection of a dog, he saw the milk-white vessels that carry chyle from the intestine, named them lacteals and demonstrated them in his lectures. He observed that they fill only after digestion and recognised the valves in them. His account, De lactibus sive Lacteis venis, was published after his death, in 1627 at Milan.