In 1620, French physician Andre du Laurens wrote Discours de la Conservation de la Veue, des Maladies Melancholiques des Catarrhes. A notable physician, du Laurens even even served at the French court of Henry VI. He wrote many anatomy textbooks, but this discourse was his most popular work as it was written for the lay man. Du Laurens was one of the first to write on aging and other topics concerning gerontology.
This edition is not translated from its original French, thus making exploration of the text quite difficult. Nonetheless, the basic structure of the arguments, being in four speeches (or discours) can be determined.