[Chemistry textbooks for Spanish students of medicine and surgery (1788-1845]

This paper is a part of a general research project on Spanish pharmacology during the 19th century. Among other issues, this project addressed the role that chemistry played in transforming materia medica into experimental pharmacology. Within this general framework, this paper deals with chemistry textbooks aimed at students of medicine and surgery during the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. Our purpose is to shed light on the institutional context in which these books were read, written and published during this period. The study begins in 1788, the year in which several important chemistry textbooks were published, including various French translations and the textbooks of Pedro Gutierrez Bueno. After highlighting Fourcroy's influence on Spanish chemistry, we study the debate on the medical applications of chemistry by analyzing a substantial text written by Juan M. de Arejula. In addition, some of the most important characteristics of medicine and surgery teaching institutions are outlined by paying special attention to the syllabus and textbooks employed in their classrooms. Our study ends in 1845 with Jose Pidal's so-called educational reforms.