ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The cerebral aqueduct had been recognized as early as Galen’s time (AD 130-200); however the eponym “Aqueduct of Sylvius” dates back to the Middle Age. Two medieval anatomists referred to themselves with the name “Sylvius,” that is the Latinized version of their surname “de la Boe,” equivalent to “Dubois” in French and “Woods” in English (1). The eponym of the aqueduct probably refers to the younger Sylvius: the French physician Jacobus Sylvius (14781555), alias Jacques Dubois (2). About one century later, the older Sylvius, Franciscus Sylvius (1614-1672), alias Francois de la Boe, described the “sylvian fissure” and the “sylvian artery.”
