Charles-Philippe Robin

Charles-Philippe Robin

Charles-Philippe Robin (born June 4, 1821 in Jasseron , Département Ain , † October 6, 1885 ibid) was a French biologist , histologist and politician . His botanical author's abbreviation (he described new types of algae) is " CPRobin ".

biography

Robin spent his school days as a boarding student at the Menestruel boarding school de Villeurbanne near Poncin and then began to study in Lyon at the Collège Royal . There he first studied pharmacy. In 1838 he moved to Paris. There he studied medicine with Armand Trousseau . He also met Brown-Séquart , with whom he was housed. They were very friends through studying together. In the academic year 1843-1844 he turned to the Société anatomic for the first time with the case of a rupture of the heart wall. In the following year, he completed his practical training as a doctor.

Robin then accompanied Hermann Lebert on a study trip to Normandy and Jersey to study natural history and anatomical objects. Until then, he was only interested in human anatomy. It was here that Robin's first, trend-setting works were created. He described mollusks and fish for the first time in his career . He reported in detail to the Société philomathique de Paris about his first scientific research trip, including the extraordinary discovery of the electroplax in electric rays . At that time, the scientific branches such as anatomy, pathology, zoology and botany were not yet so clearly delineated. Robin could therefore pursue all of his interests. In 1845 he published articles on the lymphatic system of fish and the reproduction of squid, as well as the blood circulation of crabs, furthermore a treatise on human skin glands.

The following year he wrote his first purely histological work. He also published his first purely zoological work that year. Also in 1846 he received his doctorate in medicine. His thesis on doctorat ès sciences , with which he received his doctorate in natural history in 1847, was Des végétaux qui croissent sur l'Homme et sur les animaux vivants (Of plants that grow on living people and animals). In it, he dealt with parasitic plants, their structure, growth and reproduction. In the following years, too, he repeatedly published articles on botanical topics, for example dealing with anomalies in flowers. As a result, Joseph Alexandre Laboulbène invited him regularly for exchange in the Entomological Society of France . The taxa of algae also lie in this period .

In 1849 he took over the position of the sick Achille Richard on the chair for natural history of medicine. There he taught botany and zoology for a semester, as was expected of him. During this time he also held courses in pathological and comparative anatomy in his own laboratory.

He also practiced studying tumors and their biopsy as well as the pathology of embryos. During this time he also prepared forensic medical reports. A notable case that occurred at the time of his professorship at the Faculté de médecine de Paris was the autopsy of Charles de Morny . As early as the early fifties of the 19th century, when Robin was only in his early thirties, he was considered a capacity for his many publications in the fields of anatomy, pathology, zoology, botany and chemistry. Pierre Rayer even suggested creating a chair in histology, which should be filled with Robin.

Robin's tableaux , published in 1851, were the first attempts at comparative anatomy between humans and animals. During this time he also worked with François Verdeil, son of Auguste Verdeil . The work extended to body chemistry and the publication of the results under the title Chimie anatomique appeared as early as 1852. Both dealt intensively with lymph , blood and pus cells. She also looked at the pancreatic secretions , the milk and mucus and other natural body secretions. The interaction of the individual organs was also examined. The work turned out to be difficult, however, because everyone first worked on the same research area for themselves. However, the approaches were very different. As a result, it was initially impossible to compare the results. Despite these difficulties, the chemical connections between coagulation and the gradual coagulation of body fluids could be established.

When the French Botanical Society was founded in 1854 , he was a founding member. During this time he published several articles on myeloblasts and myelocytes. By comparing nerve cells from adolescents and adults, he concluded that tumors could grow. In the same year he described the endoneurium and the myelin sheath . In a work published around 1857, which included the research results since 1853, he found that in all female mammals, including women, the uterus is not simply empty, but rather the endometrium is on the inside and, after the egg cell has implanted, the placenta which, with the placental barrier, prevents the direct exchange of maternal and fetal blood.

In 1858 Robin took over the revision of the anatomical articles of the Dictionnaire de Nysten (by Pierre-Hubert Nysten), which earned him great recognition in specialist circles, but also rejection from other quarters. He was busy until 1859, when he finally succeeded Achille Richard on the chair of natural history. In 1862 the chair for histology was established for him at the Ecole de médecine and he was appointed adjunct professor.

Robin founded the Journal de l´Anatomie et de la Physiologie in 1864 , which he directed until 1874.

In 1866 Robin was appointed to the Académie des Sciences . At this time he was attacked by the ultramontanists because of his articles in the Dictionnaire de Nysten . But the government fought this trend. That is why the Minister of Culture, Victor Duruy , took him under protection and even appointed him to his cabinet. The clerical campaign also hit men like Paul Broca , Edmé Félix Alfred Vulpian and Germain Sée . In 1868, Cardinal de Bonnechose introduced a petition to the Senate . There Robin was accused of having distorted the original spiritual and Christian character of the Dictionnaire de Nysten , which was considered one of the most important medical textbooks. However, this sparked amusement in the Senate and the petition to allow only the original Dictionnaire for teaching purposes was rejected. The clericals did not give up yet. At their instigation, he was summoned to appear before an official commission, which, however, could not decide anything either and the dispute was thus decided.

During his teaching activities, he spent a great deal of time preparing teaching materials and publishing lessons for them. But he did not forget his scientific research. So he dealt with the uneven granulation in wound healing, the more or less liquid body fluids . Furthermore with the growth of cells, fibers and blood vessels as well as the formation of fluid-filled, hollow organs. He summarized the knowledge gained in Anatomie microscopique des éléments anatomiques, des épithéliums . It is then due to his teaching activity that he published the Traité du microscope, son mode d'emploi, son application (treatise on the microscope, its operation, its parts) in 1871 .

Robin turned now, in addition to his cancer research, increasingly to embryonic growth. He compared the structure and structure of human, animal and plant cells. He studied the cell growth of embryonic leeches . For the dentist Émile Magitot, he microscoped the growth of teeth in an embryo. He systematically researched all stages of growth in fertilized bird eggs. Robin saw himself as a pathologist . That is why he was also influenced and driven by Rudolf Virchow's work, but sometimes had very different views.

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War , Robin was appointed by Léon Gambetta to head the Army Health Service . After the war was over, he became involved in the École pratique des hautes études , where he and Georges Pouchet founded the Laboratoire d'Histologie zoologique (Laboratory for Zoological Histology), of which he also became director. He held the position of director of the health service after the war and it earned him a high reputation. That is why he ran for the Senate in 1875 as a member of the Ain department and was elected by a large majority. The following year he took office as a senator. Robin felt obliged to the political left, against the majority of the Republicans, and had his seat in the Senate there. Most of the time he was not particularly noticed there, except when he took on positions such as heading the Fisheries Commission. In 1875 he undertook one of his few research trips. This went first to Spain and then to Algeria. The object of research this time were certain leeches (Néphélis), which feed on young crustaceans and which could only be found there. He also took over the management of the Laboratoire de Concarneau founded by Jean Victor Coste .

Robin's work is divided into two parts. The philosophical and the technical side. As the title of his book Du microscope et des injections: dans leurs applications à l'anatomie et à la pathologie ... notes, the first part contains the technical process of microscopy. In the more detailed description, however, the role of basic research and science is discussed. In his work there are influences from Littré , Compte and Rayer .

In his will, Robin decreed that his body should be autopsied for scientific purposes. He explicitly included the removal and examination of his brain.

The Virchow-Robin space is named after Rudolf Virchow and Robin , see subarachnoid space .

Works

• You microscope et des injections dans leur application á l'anatomie et la pathologie. Paris 1849.
• Tableaux d'anatomie. Paris, 1851.
• Program du cours d'histologie professé à la Faculté de médecine de Paris pendant les années 1862-63 et 1863-64 (1864)
• Leçons sur les substances amorphes et les blastèmes (1866)
• Leçons sur les humeurs normales et morbides du corps de l'homme (1867)
• Anatomie microscopique des éléments anatomiques, des épithéliums (1867)
• Programs du cours d'histology. 1870.
• Traité du microscope, son mode d'emploi, son application, etc. 1871.
• Anatomie et physiologie cellulaire, animale et végétale. Paris, 1873.
• Mémoire sur le développement embryogénique des hirudinées. 1874.
• L'instruction et l'éducation. 1877.
• Nouveau dictionnaire abrége de médecine. Paris, 1886.

literature

• Georges Pouchet: Charles Robin, sa vie et sa œvre , in the Journal de l'anatomie et de la physiologie , 22nd year, pages I-CLXV
• Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Robin, Charles-Philipe. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1255 f.

Web links

• Charles-Philippe Robin at whonamedit.com
• Author entry at the IPNI

Individual evidence

1. ↑ P.-H. Nysten: (Nouveau) Dictionnaire de médicine, de chirurgie, pharmacie, des sciences accessories et de l'art vétérinaire. 3rd edition, Paris 1824.
2. ↑ Annales de la Société entomologique de France , page 469, digitized version , accessed on May 5, 2017
3. ↑ Georges Pouchet: Charles Robin, sa vie et sa œvre , in the Journal de l'anatomie et de la physiologie , digitized , accessed on May 5, 2017