Everything about Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried Von Waldeyer-hartz totally explained
Heinrich Wilhelm Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz (born
October 6,
1836,
Hehlen an der Weser,
Braunschweig,
Germany; died
January 23,
1921,
Berlin) was a
German anatomist, famous for consolidating the
neuron theory of organization of the
nervous system and for naming the
chromosome. He is also known through two anatomical structures of the human body which bear his name:
Waldeyer's gland and
Waldeyer's tonsillar ring (the
lymphoid tissue ring of the
nasopharynx).
The neuron theory
Weldeyer is honoured in the
neurosciences as the founder, in
1891, of the so-called "neuron theory" and for coining the term "
neuron" to describe the basic structural unit of the nervous system. To consolidate and postulate his theory, Waldeyer used the path-breaking discoveries by
neuroanatomists (and later
Nobel Prize winners)
Camillo Golgi (1843-1926) and
Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), who had used the
silver nitrate method of staining nerve tissue (
Golgi's method). This method allowed them to study in exquisite detail the branching processes of nerve cells (
axons and
dendrites) and how they seemed to interconnect among themselves, forming chains and
neural networks which could explain the
physiological mechanisms underlying the phenomena of information transfer between neurons. Waldeyer learned
Spanish in order to absorb Cajal's extraordinary detailed studies using Golgi's method and became his friend, mentor and promoter in the German-dominated field of microscopic anatomy. The theory was published in a series of papers in the main medical journal of Germany,
Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, which became extremely influential. However, as Cajal points out, though Waldeyer "supported the theory with the prestige of his authority, he didn't contribute a single personal observation. He limited himself to a short brilliant exposition of the objective proofs, adduced by
His,
Kolliker,
Retzius,
van Gehuchten and
myself, and he invented the fortunate term
neuron. " Cajal's continuing hard work on the following decade was able to prove many aspects of the neuron theory, including the directionality of
synaptic transmission, and ultimately Cajal won over Golgi on their dispute on the contiguity vs. continuity of neuron cell contacts.
Cytology and embryology
Waldeyer also studied the
basophilic stained filaments which had been found to be the main constituents of
chromatin, the material inside the
cell nucleus, by his colleague of
Kiel,
Walther Flemming (1843-1905). Although its significance for genetics and for cell biology was still to be discovered, these filaments were known to be involved in the phenomenon of
cell division discovered by Flemming, named
mitosis. as well as in
meiosis. He coined in 1888 the term “chromosome” (1888) to describe them.
Among his myriad other anatomical and embryological studies, von Waldeyer became known for his pioneering research on the development of
teeth and
hair, many of the terms he invented still in use today. He also published the first embryological, anatomical and functional studies about the naso-oro-pharyngeal lymphatic tissue, which received his name.
Bibliography
- Über Karyokinese und ihre Beziehungen zu den Befruchtungsvorgängen. Archiv für mikroskopische Anatomie und Entwicklungsmechanik, 1888, 32: 1-122. Paper about mitosis and chromosomes.
- Ueber einige neuere Forschungen im Gebiete der Anatomie des Centralnervensystems. Deutsche medicinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1891: 17: 1213-1218, 1244-1246, 1287-1289, 1331-1332, 1350-1356. (About some new researches in the field of anatomy of the central nervous system). His most famous statement and summary of the neuron theory.
- W. von Waldeyer-Hartz: Lebenserinnerungen. Bonn, 1920; 2nd edition; Bonn, 1921; 3rd edition, 1922. His memoirs.
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