  The 1888 paper by Salvatore Pincherle (Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Bologna) on generalized hypergeometric functions is revisited. We
point out the pioneering contribution of the Italian mathematician towards the
Mellin-Barnes integrals based on the duality principle between linear
differential equations and linear difference equation with rational
coefficients. By extending the original arguments used by Pincherle, we also
show how to formally derive the linear differential equation and the
Mellin-Barnes integral representation of the Meijer G-functions.

Complex Variables;History and Overview