aqueduct of sylvius

Main Entry: aqueduct of Syl·vi·us
Pronunciation: -'sil-vE-&s
Function: noun
: a channel connecting the third and fourth ventricles of thebrain called also cerebral aqueduct, sylvian aqueduct
Duábois /d(y)üb-'wä/, Latin (Jacques Jacobus Sylvius) (1478–1555), Frenchanatomist. The teacher of Andreas Vesalius and later his steadfast opponent, Dubois attempted to reconcile the best of classical teachings, principally those of Galen, with contemporary observations.Confident that Galen was omniscient in all matters medical, Dubois published in 1555 a systematic account of anatomy based on Galen's writings. He presented a relatively modern method of numberingbranches of vessels, structures, and relationships. One of the structures described therein was the channel connecting the third and fourth ventricles of the brain; although his description was notoriginal, the passage became known as the aqueduct of Sylvius, after Dubois's latinized professional name.