This article describes the treatise “De fractura calve” (“About skull fractures”) of the famous Italian Renaissance physician and anatomist Jacopo Berengario da Carpi, published in 1518. In this work, rightly considered a milestone in the history of neurosurgery and neurotraumatology, the author not only described the symptoms of head injuries, but also offered their classification, basics of differential diagnosis, surgical tactics, and the necessary instruments.

The article is dedicated to the 115th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Mikhailovich Gerasimov, a world-famous scientist, pioneer of historical and forensic portrait reconstruction, founder of the Plastic Reconstruction Laboratory at the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (currently the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences). M.M. Gerasimov created the most famous gallery of sculptural portraits of a number of historical persons, and also recreated the appearances of fossil peo-ple from the available bone remains. A man of encyclopedic knowledge, anthropologist, archaeologist and sculp-tor rolled into one, Gerasimov laid the foundations of craniofacial reconstruction and created his own scientific school. For his invaluable contribution to science and practical anthropology, as well as to forensic medicine and forensic science, the scientist was awarded the State Prize in 1950, as well as the title of Honored Scientist of the RSFSR in 1969. The method of facial reconstruction developed by Gerasimov formed the basis of modern meth-ods equipped with advanced imaging and computer technologies. The laboratory created by M.M. Gerasimov exists and is actively functioning up to the present days, and his students successfully continue the work he started. For decades, the authority of M.M. Gerasimov in anthropological reconstruction has remained unshakable, the method of reconstruction of the appearance of fossil people, developed by the scientist, has received world-wide recognition, and it is fundamental for modern researchers. Followers of M.M. Gerasimov continue to develop and improve the method, which is of paramount importance in paleoanthropology, ethnography, historical sci-ences, and which has found practical application in forensic science, forensic medicine and plastic surgery.

Background. Of particular interest is the study of the effect of ethyl alcohol, narcotic drugs on the male reproductive apparatus. There are practically no studies of morphological transformations in the testicles during alcohol intoxication, which, at the current level of ethanol consumption by men of reproductive age, is both a social and medical problem that is far from being solved. Aims. In the course of an acute and chronic experiment, to study the severity and dynamics of morphological changes in the gonads during alcohol intoxication in mature rats and compare with those in individuals who died with the phenomena of one of the forms of alcoholic disease and severe alcohol catamnesis. Material and methods. The material for the study was the testicles of sexually mature rats that were subjected to acute and chronic alcohol intoxication (from 2 weeks to 6 months), as well as the testicles of persons who died in the blood of which ethyl alcohol was found (at least 5 promile), and there was alcohol catamnesis. Results. Both in the experimental and sectional material, the stroma of the testicles was characterized by severe circulatory disorders with plethora and stasis in postcapillaries and small veins, edema, and phenomena of perivascular and interstitial sclerosis. The inhibition of spermatogenesis in the sectional material was more pronounced and indicated that it was alcohol that was the main etiopathological factor in the changes found. Conclusion. Chronic alcohol intoxication (both in rats and men) manifests itself as a damaging effect both directly, with changes in the stroma and testicular parenchyma, and indirectly on the overlying links of the reproductive supersystem (hypothalamus and pituitary gland). The neurotoxic, microangiopathic and disenergetic effects of ethanol inhibit normal spermatogenesis. Ultimately, the negative effect of alcohol from the standpoint of morphological analysis is realized here in the form of hypotesticular conditions, morphological manifestations of the testicular wasting syndrome.

The article tells about the great French surgeon, anatomist and physiologist Marie-François Xavier Bichat, the founder of science about tissues – histology, discoverer in an anatomy and creator of such medical disciplines, as a thanatology (science about death) and pathoanatomy. The most essential moments and facts from biography of scientist are described, his basic scientific insights are briefly expounded. Main scientific works and publications, and also described by Bichat anatomic structures and formations are enumerated. His name is carried on by several eponyms in anatomy fossa (pterygopalatine fossa), Bichat’s protuberance (buccal fat pad), Bichat’s foramen (cistern of the vena magna of Galen), Bichat’s ligament (lower fasciculus of the posterior sacroiliac ligament), Bichat’s fissure (transverse fissure of the brain) and Bichat’s tunic (tunica intima vasorum). The substantive provisions of the scientific conceptions offered to them in morphology and pathoanatomy are expounded. The critical importance of scientific works and discoveries of Marie-François Xavier Bichat for modern science and practical medicine is emphasized