Müller’s Elements of Physiology

Johannes Peter Mueller (1801-1858) was the most important physiologist of the first half of the 19th century. In his native German he wrote a "Handbuch der Physiologie des Menschen" - a work that brought together a wealth of data about comparative anatomy and physiology, and included many new observations. The "Handbuch" united clinical practice with experimental physiology and was the source to consult when someone wanted to find out what was known about any facet of human biology. It drew some of the brightest students of the time to Mueller's lectures and laboratory, among them Bruecke (Freud's teacher), Du Bois-Reymond, Helmholtz, Henle, Virchow and Schwann. Mueller's great work was translated into English by William Baly as "Elements of Physiology" in which form it had an influence on Charles Darwin and many others. "Elements of Physiology" is divided into eight books dealing with the circulatory, nervous and muscular systems, the five senses, mind-body interaction, reproduction and childbirth. Each book is further divided into sections. The "Elements" is a research source for the state of biological science around 1850, but its full text has become exceedingly rare. Early editions of the "Elements" were printed on high-acid paper and so library copies are deteriorating rapidly, where they exist at all. Libraries now have the opportunity to acquire this facsimile of the corrected and enlarged second edition (1839-43) with a substantial new introduction by Nicholas J. Wade