Sid Schwab on naming anatomy:
When it takes some effort — maybe a microscope or some really careful dissection — to discover something, it seems reasonable that your name gets attached. Islets of Langerhans. Ampulla of Vater. Sphincter of Oddi. Valves of Heister. Crypts of Morgani (he got “columns,” too.) But where’s the cutoff? I don’t get why Gabriele Falloppio got to name something as obvious and macroscopic as an oviduct. That’s not discovering. That’s noticing. We don’t have the Colon of Powell, or the Heart of Palm.
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My personal favorites:
The Zonula of Zinn
The Organ of Corti
The Vomeronasal Organ of Jacobsen
I’m guessing that Dr. Fallopio did more than just observe the structure in question, but also identified it’s role in reproduction.
Just as Dr. Harry Valvae is not so much credited with finding the anatomical part, as defining 11 unique ways for its use.
Sometimes misguided patriotism comes into it as well. When I passed my exam in venereal disease, I gained a point with the professor by naming Haemophilus Ducrey-Krefting..as far as I know no other country uses this name?
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