Water and its effects when drunk cold - The physician's view (1576-1751)

Starting with Baldassare Pisanelli's book Trattato della nature de' cibi et del bere, published in Venice in 1586, the controversies that have kept ph ysicians busy over the centuries regarding the relative importance of water in human health are traced. These controversies were of considerable impor tance as the Latin word for water 'aqua' is derived from the phrase 'a qua vinimus' (from whence we come). However, until the studies of Nicolas Lemer y, one of the most important pharmacologists of the 18th century, the contr oversies were debated using more theoretical, philosophical arguments. Leme ry's studies shifted the debates from those based on philosophical argument s to more physiologically and scientifically based arguments.