Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1631

JOHANNES MüLLER (1801-1858) Ueber die phantastischen Gesichtserscheinungen. J. Hölscher 1826 x, 117 [1] pp. 20.7 cm.

Müller was one of the most brilliant leaders of the nineteenth-century school of physiology in Germany. Although he began his professional career as a practicing clinician, his interest and knowledge in the other sciences led to a career in investigative physiology during which he made important contributions in anatomy, neurology, embryology, chemistry, pathology, and botany. The strength of his influence can be measured by the number of important scientists who were fortunate enough to come under his tutelage. They include DuBois, Helmholtz, Henle, Schwann, and Virchow. It is in the present work that Müller first enunciated his law of specific nerve energies (later propounded in detail in his Handbuch), stating that each sense organ, however stimulated, gives rise to its own characteristic sensation. This observation is probably his most important single contribution. The latter portion of the work deals with clairvoyance, hallucinations, and dreams--topics in which Müller remained interested throughout his life.

Cited references: Cushing M570; Garrison-Morton 1456; Waller 6733

Gift of John Martin, M.D.