Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1868

EMIL HEINRICH DUBOIS-REYMOND (1818-1896) Untersuchungen über thierische Elektricität. Georg Reimer 1848-1884 Vol. I: lvi, 743 [1] pp., 6 fold. plates; Vol. II: Pt. I: [8] 608 pp., 5 fold. plates; Vol. II: Pt. II: [2] 579 pp., 2 fold. plates. 23.7 cm.

Du Bois-Reymond, considered by many authorities to be the founder of modern electrophysiology, was a pioneer in the study of electrical impulses in nerve and muscle fibers. Born in Berlin, he studied there at the Collège Français, later at Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and finally entered the University of Berlin in 1836 as a student in philosophy. After graduating from Berlin, he was prompted to study medicine by a colleague of the well-known physiologist, Johannes Müller (see No. 1631 ff.). After completing the requirements for a degree in medicine, Du Bois-Reymond accepted an assistantship with Müller who directed his interest to the study of electrophysiological problems. Proper instrumentation for the research he wished to conduct was lacking so Du Bois-Reymond developed new instruments and applied scientific methods to the study of animal electricity. Among the instruments he constructed were sensitive galvanometers, multiplicators, non-polarizable electrodes, the Du Bois-Reymond key, and the Du Bois-Reymond inductorium--a special type of induction coil used for faradic stimulation of nerves. He was the first to prove that muscular activity is accompanied by chemical changes in the muscle as well as by changes in its electromotive properties. Du Bois-Reymond showed that a tetanized muscle yields an acid reaction while a resting muscle is alkaline. In 1843 he demonstrated the phenomenon of electrotonus which refers to the potential changes produced by an externally applied current. He also discovered the resting nerve current and the difference in electric potential between the cut and uninjured ends of an excised muscle or nerve. Many of these studies and experiments are described in the present work. Du Bois-Reymond succeeded Müller in the chair of physiology at Berlin in 1858 and was successful in seeing a physiological institute planned and built in 1877. He was head of the institute for nearly twenty years, served as rector of the university, and had editorial responsibilities with several of the leading medical journals of his day. He was an accomplished author and wrote many philosophical essays and biographical studies in addition to his numerous physiological studies. The present work is Du Bois-Reymond's major work and contains the body of his physiological studies and research. The first volume appeared in 1848 and the first part of the second volume in 1849. The second volume was not completed until 1884 after additional years of research and experimentation. Because of the long intervals between publication of the individual volumes, complete sets of the work are very rare. This set contains thirteen plates instead of the usual twelve because one of the plates in Volume I is duplicated in Part I of Volume II.

See Related Record(s): 1631

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 610; Waller 2599 (incomplete); Wellcome II, p. 490 (incomplete)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.