ACHILLINI, ..NLEXANDE.11, a celebrated philosopher and physician, who is said to have discovered the met leas and incua, two bones in the ear, which convey hum the tympanum to the vestibule the impressions which are made upon the external organ. He was born at Bo logna on the 29th October, 1463 ; and made such rapid progress in his studies, that, in 1485, he was appointed a professor of philosophy in the university of his native city. The lame of his learning and genius having ex tended over the whole of Italy, he accepted, in 1506, of an invitation from the university of Padua to fill the first chair of philosophy, and was afterwards, in 1508, ap pointed professor of the theory of medicine. The re putation which he had obtained drew immense crowds of students to Padua, and excited the jealousy of Porn ponaccio, his colleague and rival. In the public dis putations, the eloquence and arguments of Achillini were opposed by the raillery and wit of his rival ; but ridicule was found a contemptible weapon, when wielded against the acuteness of solid argument, and Achillini triumphed over the disappointed ambition and personal malice of his antagonist. The war, which at this time raged between
the Venetians and the league of Cambray, put a stop to the proceedings of the university of Padua, in 1509, and obliged Achillini to retire to Bologna, where he was ap pointed to the chair in the university which he had be fore filled. Achillini died at Bologna on the 2d August, 1512, and was interred with great pomp in a church be longing to the Carmelite Friars. From the extent of his learning, he obtained the name of the Great Philosopher, and was remarkable for the honest simplicity and sin cerity of his manners. He was the follower and inter preter of Averroes, the commentator of Aristotle, and defended the tenets of his master with an acuteness and strength of argument which were universally admired. Achillini was the author of many works ; but the list is too long and uninteresting to be inserted here. See Mazzuchelli Srrittori d' Italia, vol. i. p. 100. (w)