Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2161

EMIL ADOLPH VON BEHRING (1854-1917) Die praktischen Ziele der Blutserumtherapie und die Immunisirungsmethoden zum Zweck der Gewinnung von Heilserum. G. Thieme 1892 Vol. I: 66 pp.; Vol. II: 122 pp. 21.8 cm.

If the measure of a physician is determined by the degree to which he has contributed to the alleviation of human suffering, Behring must rank as one of the greatest. In 1890, together with his associate, Shibasaburo Kitasato, Behring discovered that the antitoxin produced in the blood of animals with diphtheria, when injected into other animals recently exposed to the diphtheria germ, provided a strong immunity to the disease. The subsequent marketing of diphtheria antitoxin in 1892 led to the control of what was once a dreaded childhood disease and to the beginning of modern immunology. In 1901 Behring received the first Nobel prize for physiology and medicine. In this text, one of Behring's most important works, he describes the immunization process for a number of diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, and tuberculosis.

Cited references: Waller 834

Gift of John Martin, M.D.