Facets

1563 –1564

#1093

Opuscula anatomica.

Eustachius is credited with several anatomical discoveries, among them the tensor tympani muscle and the Eustachian tube, published in his chapter entitled De auditus organis. In the last respect, however, he was anti…

1590

#2244

Historia natural y moral de las Indias.

One of the earliest detailed and realistic descriptions of the New World. Acosta hypothesized that the indigenous peoples of Latin America had migrated from Asia. He also divided the native peoples into three barbaria…

1680 –1681

#3669.3

De motu animalium. 2 pts.

Borelli originated the neurogenic theory of the heart’s action and first suggested that the circulation resembled a simple hydraulic system. He was the first to insist that the heart beat was a simple muscular contrac…

1800

#597

Recherches physiologiques sur la vie et la mort.

When Volta questioned the validity of experiments claiming to show responsiveness of an ex vivo heart, devoid of blood flow and nervous connections, Bichat obtained permission to experiment upon the freshly killed bod…

1878

#3826

Exstirpation einer Struma retroesophagea.

Kocher, a pupil of Billroth, was a pioneer of thyroidectomy for goitre. Before his time the operation was seldom performed. Garrison says that Kocher performed this difficult operation 2,000 times, with a mortality ra…

1881

#5236

Un nouveau parasite trouvé dans le sang plusieurs malades atteints de fièvre palustre.

Laveran first saw the malaria parasite on 20 October 1880; he at once recognized its significance. He named it Oscillaria malariae. English translation in Kean (No. 2268.1). Laveran also published a monograph on the d…

1882 –1883

#702

Zur Chemie des Zellkerns.

Among the many important contributions of Kossel was his study of the chemistry of the cell and cell-nucleus. Kossel correctly concluded that the function of nuclein is neither to act as a storage substance nor to fur…

1882

#2331

Die Aetiologie der Tuberkulose.

Discovery of the tubercle bacillus announced March 24, 1882. This paper also contains a statement of “Koch’s postulates”. See also Nos. 2536 and 5167. Koch published a fuller account as "Die Aetiologie der Tuberkulose…

1886

#1416

Sulla fina anatomia degli organi centrali del sistema nervoso.

Golgi’s histological studies made a clear conception of the nervous system possible for the first time. He demonstrated the existence of multipolar nerve-cells (Golgi cells) by means of his silver nitrate stain, and d…

1889

#12267

Cardiac failure and sudden death.

"Physiologists and physicians had proposed various theories to explain transient and fatal cardiac standstill in animals and humans who were apparently healthy. MacWilliam defined two distinct mechanisms depending on …

1890

#2544

Ueber das Zustandekommen der Diphtherie-Immunität und der Tetanus-Immunität bei Thieren.

Antitoxins and their immunizing powers were discovered when Behring and Kitasato published their paper dealing with immunity to tetanus and diphtheria. This work laid the foundation of all future treatment with antito…

1890

#3741

Polyneuritis bij hoenders.

Eijkman produced beriberi experimentally in fowls; from this he was led to conclude that a diet of over-milled rice was the chief cause, both in fowls and humans. Thus his work was of great importance in determining t…

1895

#2547

Contribution à l’ étude du sérum chez les animaux vaccinés.

In Bordet’s classic paper on the properties of the sera of immunized animals he showed that two different substances (now known as sensitizing antibody and complement) are involved in the phenomenon of bacteriolysis. …

1896

#2000

Om anvendelse medicinen af koncentrerede kemiske lysstraaler.

Finsen was the founder of modern phototherapy. He demonstrated the value of invisible light, the actinic or chemical ray, the ultra-violet ray, as therapeutic measures. Digital facsimile from wellcomecollection.org at…

1897

#1022

Lektsii o rabotie glavnikh pishtshevaritelnikh zhelyoz. [Lectures on the work of the principal digestive glands.]

Pavlov's classic study of the physiology of digestion. Especially notable was his method of producing gastric and pancreatic fistulae for the purpose of his experiments. The second published edition was a German trans…

1897

#5064

Die Wertbestimmung des Diphtherieheilserums.

Ehrlich improved Behring’s diphtheria antitoxin through quantitative titration and established an international standard for this and other antitoxins. This was the beginning of the concept of biological standardizati…

1897

#5247

On some peculiar pigmented cells found in two mosquitoes fed on malarial blood.

Ross proved that the mosquito was responsible for the transmission of malaria. On 20 August 1897, he found Laveran’s Plasmodium in the stomach of the Anopheles mosquito after it had fed on the blood of malaria patient…

1899 –1904

#1293.1

Textura del sistema nervioso del hombre y de los vertebrados. 2 vols. in 3.

From publication in fascicules, 1897-1904 (vol. 1 in 3 pts., vol. 2 in 4 pts.) This monumental work set out the cytological and histological foundations of modern neurology. Ramón y Cajal’s research confirmed the neur…

1900

#889

Zur Kenntniss der antifermentativen, lytischen und agglutinierenden Wirkungen des Blutserums und der Lymphe.

Also: Landsteiner, "Ueber Agglutinationsercheinungen normalen menschlichen Blutes," Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 14, 1901, 1132-1134. Landsteiner discovered that human blood contains iso-agglutinins capable of aggl…

1900

#5945

Allgemeine Theorie der monochromatischen Aberrationen und ihre nächsten Ergebnisse für die Ophthalmologie.

The above work is the exposition of Gullstrand's general theory of monochromatic aberrations. This is an offprint from Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Sci. Ups., 1900-01, ser. 3, 20. In 1911 Gullstrand was awarded the Nobel Prize…

1901

#840

Un nouveau galvanomètre.

Einthoven directed much of his research to the development and perfection of recording instruments. His most famous work was in connexion with his string galvanometer, a perfection of the instrument invented by J. S. …

1901

#2555

L’immunité dans les maladies infectieuses.

A classic study of the mechanisms concerned in specific antibacterial immunity, and one of Metchnikoff’s best works. Russian edition: Nevospriimchivost’ k infekcionnim boleznyam. St. Petersburg: K.L. Rikker, 1903. Eng…

1902

#2590

De l’action anaphylactique de certains venins.

First full description of the phenomenon of “anaphylaxis,” the name of which was coined by Richet. Abbreviated English translation in Bibel, Milestones of immunology (1988). In 1913, Richet was awarded the Nobel Prize…

1906

#1432

The integrative action of the nervous system.

Sherrington insisted that the essential function of the nervous system was the co-ordination of activities of the various parts of the organism. His work on the nervous system, especially his experimental studies of r…

1906

#3401

Untersuchungen über den vom Vestibularapparat des Ohres reflektorisch ausgelösten Rhythmischen und seine Begleiterscheinungen.

Bárány’s pointing test for the localization of circumscribed cerebellar lesions. Republished in book form, Berlin, 1906. In 1914 Bárány was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on the physio…

1907

#2599

De l’anaphylaxie en général et de l’anaphylaxie par la mytilocongestine en particulier.

In 1913 Richet was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis."

1908

#4235

Transplantation in mass of the kidneys.

Carrel revolutionized vascular surgery. He transplanted the kidney from one animal to another, an operation later carried out successfully in man. For his earlier work on vascular anastomosis and transplantation of vi…

1910

#2637

A transmissible avian neoplasm (sarcoma of the common fowl).

Original description of the chicken sarcoma (Rous sarcoma). Rous demonstrated that sarcomatous tumors in hens could be transmitted to normal hens by the injection of cell-free filtrates (virus) of the original tumor. …

1910 –1911

#5384

Recherches experimentales sur le typhus exanthématique.

Nicolle demonstrated the transmission of typhus by the body louse Pediculus corporis. He also produced the disease in monkeys and guinea-pigs by the injection of infected blood. Preliminary communication in C. R. Acad…

1910

#245.2

Sex-limited inheritance in Drosophila.

Morgan demonstrated sex-limited inheritance. In 1933 Morgan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physology or Medicine "for discoveries elucidating the role that the chromosome plays in heredity." See also Nos. 245.3, 246, …

1912

#1048

Feeding experiments illustrating the importance of accessory factors in normal dietaries.

In 1929 Hopkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Eijkman "for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins."

1913

#2640

Untersuchungen über eine Nematode (Spiroptera sp. n.) und deren Fähigkeit papillomatöse und carcinomatose Geschwulstbildungen im Magen der Ratte hervorzurufen.

Fibiger demonstrated that the roundworm, which he called Spiroptera carcinoma (but is correctly named Gongylonema neoplasticum), could cause stomach cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) in rats and mice. His experimental …

c. 1914

#1340

The action of certain esters and ethers of choline, and their relation to muscarine.

Demonstration of the inhibitory action of acetylcholine on the heart. In 1936 Dale shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi (No. 1343) "for their studies in the chemical mediation of nervous im…

1918

#959

Ueber das Vorkommen des Coferments des alcoholischen Hefegärung im Muskelgewebe und seine muttmassliche Bedeutung im Atmungsmechanismus.

In 1922 Meyerhof was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Pysiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle." The other …

1918 –1919

#4806

Ueber die Einwirkung der Malaria auf die progressive Paralyse.

In 1917 Wagner von Jauregg returned to the idea of the inoculation of paretics with malaria to induce pyrexia, first proposed by him in 1887 (Ueber die Einwirkung fieberhafter Erkrankungen auf Psychosen, Jb. Psychiat.…

1920

#659

The four phases of heat-production of muscle.

Hill and Hartree made valuable contributions to the knowledge of the thermodynamics of muscle. See also Physiol. Rev., 1922, 2, 310-41, and Hill, A. V., Trails and trials in physiology: a bibliography 1909-1964, 1965.…

1921 –1922

#1343

Ueber humorale Uebertragbarkeit der Herznervenwirkung.

Loewi’s important experiments firmly established the theory of chemical intermediaries in nervous reactions. In 1936 Loewi shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Dale "for discoveries related to chemica…

1922

#793

The anatomy and physiology of the capillaries.

Silliman Lectures. Krogh was first to describe the adaptation of blood perfusion in muscle and other organs according to demands through opening and closing the arterioles and capillaries. In 1920 Krogh received the N…

1922

#3966

The internal secretion of the pancreas. (Abstract).

A preliminary one-page communication regarding the isolation of insulin, made to a meeting of the American Physiological Society in December 1921. Digital facsimile from insulin.library.utoronto.ca at this link. In 19…

1924

#1305

The compound nature of the action current of nerve as disclosed by the cathode ray oscillograph.

In 1944 Erlanger and Gasser shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries regarding the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers."

1924

#530

Über Induktion von Embryonalanlagen durch Implantation artfremder Organisatoren.

This was Hilde Mangold's thesis. Spemann designed the experiment, and Mangold performed the work, and was the co-discoverer of the "organizer," the chemical that directs the embryonic development of tissues and organs…

1925

#3139

Blood regeneration in severe anaemia. II. Favourable influence of liver, heart and skeletal muscle in diet.

These workers showed the beneficial effect of raw beef liver upon blood regeneration in anemia. Their work paved the way for the liver diet treatment of Minot and Murphy. In 1934 Whipple shared the Nobel Prize in Phys…

1926

#3140

Treatment of pernicious anemia by a special diet.

Introduction of raw liver diet in the treatment of pernicious anemia. This treatment ranks as one of the greatest modern advances in therapy. See also the later paper in the same journal, 1927, 89,759-66. Reprinted in…

1927

#251.1

Artificial transmutation of the gene.

Muller showed that radiation causes mutations that are passed on from one generation to the next. This was the first suggestion that inherited traits might be altered or controlled, and it created a sensation: “Man’s …

1928

#1059

Observations on the function of peroxidase systems and the chemistry of the adrenal cortex. Description of a new carbohydrate derivative.

Isolation of vitamin C, ascorbic acid. In 1937 Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries in connexion with the biological combustion process with special reference to vit…

1928

#1308

The basis of sensation. The action of the sense organs.

In 1932 Adrian shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Charles Scott Sherrington "for their discoveries about the function of neurons." See also Nos. 1307, 1528, and 1303.

1929

#967

Le sinus carotidienet la zone homologue cardio-aortique.

In 1938 Heymans was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration."

1929

#969

Ueberden Absorptionsspektrum des Atmungsferments.

Warburg discovered the nature and function of the respiratory ferment. In 1931 Warburg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme."

1929

#1062

Cholesterinstoffwechsel in Hühnereiern und Hühnchen.

In 1943 Dam shared the Nobel Prize with Doisy "for discovery of vitamin K, the blood coagulating factor."

1929

#1933

On the antibacterial action of cultures of a penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae.

Discovery of the growth-inhibiting action of Penicillium on certain bacteria. In 1945 Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey "for the discovery of …