[A forgotten medical dissertation from the eighteenth century: the "Memoir on the heroic virtues of quinoa," by José Manuel Dávalos].

Abstract

Presented herein is the unpublished translation of a manuscript in French, the "Memoir on the heroic virtues of quinoa." Through this work, the Peruvian physician José Manuel Dávalos tried to be appointed as a foreign member of the prestigious Royal Society of Medicine, from France, at the end of 1787. Despite a laudatory letter of introduction from a Spanish diplomat, his application was rejected, possibly due to Dávalos' lack of credibility in the sense of David Bloor or Steven Shapin. The introduction also provides the historical context in which the Peruvian doctor's work is inscribed, highlighting the central characteristics of the medical institution to which the Limenean doctor sought membership.