Vincent Ketelaer did not describe tropical or non-tropical sprue or coeliac disease in his book De Aphthis Nostratibus seu Belgarum Sprouw.

It has been said repeatedly1' 2'3 but erroneously that Vincent Ketelaer described tropical or non-tropical sprue in his book De Aphthis Nostratibus.4 The error arises because it has not been understood that the Dutch word sprouw, as Ketelaer used it, meant and meant only stomatitis. In particular, as can be seen from Ketelaer's description, it meant mainly thrush, the common monilial infection of the mouth. Although for the most part his description is that of thrush, he may also have included some exudative inflammations of the fauces, perhaps diphtheria, glandular fever or Vincent's angina. Ketelaer expressly says that his aphthae are not the same as those of Hippocrates which were ulcerated and inflamed and occurred elsewhere as well as in the mouth. That thrush was one kind of aphthae is confirmed by the entry under that term in the Medical Lexicon of S Blancardius5 (Blankaart) which describes "the whiteness as if the whole mouth had been sprinkled with white flour". In English, sprue continued with some authors to mean oral thrush, until the latter part of the nineteenth century. Doctor John McCaw,6 the Belfast paediatrician, in his book Aids to the Diseases of Children, published in 1899, gives sprue as a synonym for oral thrush. This usage has died out in the English language and sprue is now only used of the tropical or non -tropical malabsorbtive disease. The Belfast Medical Library possesses a copy of the 1715 edition of Ketelaer's book, and also a typescript copy of Doctor Hugh Calwell's translation of it into English. Scrutiny of these two texts makes it clear that in this edition there is no description of tropical or non -tropical malabsorbtion, nor any of coeliac disease. Sheehy's1 reference is to the 1672 edition. Bartholomew's2 is to the 1715 edition. Manson Bahr3 correctly says that "an aphthous stomatitis, which is frequently seen in badly nourished children and women, and which was popularly known in Holland as sprouw, has no apparent relation to tropical sprue". Curiously, inconsistently, and wrongly, on the same page he asserts that "the first accurate description (of tropical sprue) is undoubtedly that given by Vincent Ketelaer in 1669". Curiously again the reference he gives is to the edition of 1672. Ketelaer was born in Vlissingen in 1627 and died in Zierikzee in 1679.7 He began his medical studies at Utrecht and Leiden in 1647. His studies included literary subjects and he had some reputation in Latin poetry. He began practice as town