From printed manuscripts of lectures held in August 1930 in London, we learn, that Carl R. Moore and Dorothy Price from Chicago, as well as Max Dohrn and Walter Hohlweg from Berlin, deduced, from different experiments, a negative feedback of oestrogens on the gonadotropic function of the anterior pituitary and--in general--a kybernetic system between pituitary and ovary. In 1975, both Price and Hohlweg claimed to be the discoverer of that system. A historical analysis reveals, that these priority claims are open to doubt.

Estrogens↗

PubMed1993

[Not Available].

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Female↗

PubMed1993

[The young Rudolf Virchow and the Society of Obstetrics in Berlin 1846-1848].

Between 1846 and 1848, the young Rudolf Virchow, prosector of the Charité in Berlin, actively participated in the sessions of the Berlin Obstetrical Society, founded in 1844 by Carl Mayer, his future father-in-law. Virchow presented papers on uterine prolapse, uric acid kidney-infarction of newborns, ovarian myxoid cystoma, and the puerperal state, to mention only the more important contributions. In 1847, Virchow became an extraordinary member of the Society. By introducing obstetricians (who also were gynecologists) to modern thinking in natural science, he was the scientific motor of that Society, so to speak. The March-revolution in 1848, in which he participated, interrupted these scientific activities. In 1849, the officials of the Society tried in vain to prevent Virchow from accepting the call to the chair of pathological anatomy at the University of Würzburg.

Berlin↗

PubMed1992

[Virchow as politician and the Berlin Society of Obstetrics in 1848].

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Berlin↗

PubMed1992

[Achille Chereau's dictum of the ovary and Rudolf Virchow's postulate of virilismus ovarioprivus].

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Female↗

PubMed1987

[Historical retrospective. Lipamin (Agomensin) and luteolipoid (Sistomensin). Animal experiments and preliminary clinical experiences].

In 1914 "Lipamin" and "Luteolipoid", two extracts of corpus luteum, were developed at the University Gynaecological Hospital in Erlangen, Bavaria. The process of their preparation, protected by patents, was exploited soon after that by Ciba, Basel, who named their products Agomensin and Sistomensin. The history of their development, their effects in animal experiments, as well as their early therapeutical application to women are reported. Special reference is made to the patent specifications and to the lectures held at meetings of the Bavarian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

[Not Available].

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Anatomy↗

PubMed1983

[Bilateral oophorectomy in the woman in late 19th century. Methodological value of castration for discovery of ovarian hormones].

In 1872, the castration of women was introduced as a therapeutic procedure. The ovaries were mainly removed because of nervous and mental diseases, uterine fibromyomata with menorrhagia, osteomalacia and carcinoma of the breast. These partially successful operations led to various hypotheses on the mechanism of ovarian action. It was only in 1895 that the cessation of hormonal production was assumed to be responsible for the effects of ovarian removal. The hypothesis of an internal secretion of the ovaries was eventually clearly supported by animal experiments around 1900.

Castration↗

PubMed1982

[The beginnings of hormonal contraception and the Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift (author's transl)].

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Animals↗

PubMed1981

Santiago Ramón y Cajal und die Typologie des Wissenschaftlers.

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History, Modern 1601-↗

PubMed1981

[Medicine and chemistry around the middle of the 19th century in Erlangen. Eugen Franz Freiherr von Gorup-Besanez (1817--1878) (author's transl)].

Eugen Franz Freiherr von Gorup-Besanez, born 1817 in Graz, was appointed on 28. 11. 1846 to the post of lecturer in the faculty of medicine of the University of Erlangen. He had previously studied medicine in Vienna, Padua and Munich, followed by physiological and clinical-chemical studies under Louis Andreas Buchner in Munich, and further studies in organic and analytical chemistry under Friedrich Wöhler in Göttingen. In 1849 in Erlangen he became reader in organic and analytical chemistry, then, in 1855, moved to the faculty of philosophy as professor of chemistry. Von Gorup-Besanez was one of the early representatives of clinical chemistry in Germany. He tried to help clinicians by the analysis of urine, blood and tissues. In his lectures and through his books he was an outstanding teacher. His greatest contribution was the discovery of the amino acid valine. The lack of a laboratory in the medical faculty and his dissatisfaction with what could be achieved in clinical chemistry at that time may chiefly explain his move from the medical to the philosophical faculty. The life of von Gorup-Besanez illustrates the difficulties faced by clinical chemistry and its exponents in the middle of the 19th century.

Chemistry, Clinical↗

PubMed1980

[Experimental testing of Pflüger's reflex hypothesis of menstruation in late 19th century].

Pflüger's hypothesis of a nerve reflex as the cause of menstruation published in 1865 and accepted by many, nonetheless did not lead to experimental investigations for 25 years. According to this hypothesis the nerve reflex starts in the ovary by an increase of the intraovarian pressure by the growing follicles. In 1884 Adolph Kehrer proposed a program to test the nerve reflex, but only in 1890, Cohnstein artificially increased the intraovarian pressure in women by bimanual compression from the outside and the vagina. His results were not convincing. Six years later, Strassmann injected fluids into ovaries of animals and obtained changes in the uterus resembling those of oestrus. His results seemed to verify a prognosis derived from Pflüger's hypothesis. Thus, after a long interval, that hypothesis had become a paradigma. Though reasons can be given for the delay, it is little understood, why experimental testing started so late.

Animals↗