Letter F

F. Fabrici (Fabrizio) d’Acquapendente, Girolamo or Fabricius, Hieronymus (1533 or 1537–1619): Italian anatomist and embryologist born in Acquapendente who succeeded Falloppio in Padua (Fig. F1). He observed the valves in veins in 1574 and taught among many others Adriaan van den Spieghel and William Harvey (Fig. F2). Reference: Opera omnia. Padua, 1625. He is aso known for the first illustration of the lateral fissure or sulcus of the cerebral cortex (Fig. F3) as shown by Collice M, Collice R and Riva A. Who discovered the Sylvian fissure? Neurosurgery 2008; 63:623–628. It was Sterzi who found the famous Tabulae Anatomicae (Pictae) of Fabrici in the Marciana Library in Venice (see Sterzi, Giuseppe). Bursa of Fabrici:Eponym for the cloacal bursa, the site of hematopoiesis in birds; the bone marrow is the equivalent organ in mammals. Ship of Fabrici:Eponym for the fanciful resemblance of the contours of the occipital, sphenoidal and frontal bones to the outline of a ship.