Discovery of the Müllerian duct.

Burdach’s great textbook of physiology was planned to run to 10 vols., but the death of his wife quenched his enthusiasm for the task. Parts of the text were written by von Baer, Rathke, Johannes Müller, R. Wagner and others, under the direction of Burdach. Von Baer’s contribution includes material also published the same year in Ueber Entwicklungsgeschichte der Thiere. Burdach’s unsatisfactory editing of it for Die Physiologie stimulated von Baer to have his own separate book published. See No. 479.

Includes Müller’s law of specific nerve energies. For an English translation, see his Elements of physiology, transl. W. Baly, London, 1838, vol. 1, pp. 766-67. Includes (p. 73) his explanation of the color sensations produced by pressure upon the retina.

Müller’s early studies on specific nerve energies are included in the above work. Later he stated, in his Handbuch der Physiologie, Coblenz, 1840, 2, 258, his law of specific nerve energies – each nerve of special sense, however excited, gives rise to its own peculiar sensation.

Müller’s most important histological work. In it he described the microscopic anatomy of a large series of secreting glands. Müller’s greatest influence was not so much through his own work as through the influence he had upon his pupils at Bonn and Berlin. English translation, 1839.

Experimental proof of the Bell-Magendie law (see Nos. 1254 & 1256) of the spinal nerve roots.

The first modern, systematic textbook on physiology, presenting an authoritative and discerning survey of each aspect of the science. This is also one of the best reviews of physiological literature during the first part of the 19th century. Through an extensive series of publications and the Arch. Anat. Physiol, wiss. Med. which he edited, Müller made fundamental contributions to anatomy and physiology, pathological anatomy and histology, embryology, and zoology. Vol. 1 was issued in parts, 1833-34, and Vol. 2 was issued in parts, 1837-40. A somewhat abbreviated English translation was published, 1838-42.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Isolation of chondrin and glutin.

This classic work showed that Müller realized the necessity of the cell theory for the comprehension of the nature of cancer. He recognized cells, their nuclei and nucleoli, and could distinguish various types of tumors microscopically. Only Lieferung 1 of the book was published; C. West translated it into English in 1840. Improved translation with important commentary in L.J. Rather, P. Rather, & J.B. Frerichs, Johannes Müller and the nineteenth-century origins of tumor cell theory, Canton, Mass, Science History Publications, [1986].

Digital facsimile from wellcomecollection.org at this link.