Heinrich Müller (medic, 1820)

Heinrich Müller (born December 17, 1820 in Castell (Lower Franconia) ; † May 10, 1864 in Würzburg ) was a German anatomist who was particularly concerned with the structure of the human eye.

Life

Heinrich Müller, the son of the firm's director Gottlieb Müller and his wife Philippine Meyer, studied medicine at the universities of Munich , Freiburg , Heidelberg , Würzburg and Vienna . Professors Ignaz Döllinger (Munich), Friedrich Arnold (Freiburg), Jakob Henle (Heidelberg) and Carl von Rokitansky (Vienna) influenced him most . In 1842 he received his doctorate in Würzburg.

Müller completed his habilitation in anatomy at the University of Würzburg in 1847. His focus was initially on pathological anatomy. When Rudolf Virchow came to the University of Würzburg in 1849 and was given the chair for this subject, Müller shifted his work to the field of topographical and comparative anatomy. He was a founding member of the Physico-Medical Society of Würzburg . In 1852 Müller was appointed associate professor of comparative and in 1858 full professor of comparative and topographical anatomy. In Würzburg Albert von Koelliker was one of his friends. Müller also gave courses on systematic anatomy, histology and microscopy . He died of a facial rose on May 10, 1864 at the age of 43 .

As a researcher, Müller was particularly interested in the anatomy and physiology of the eye. He performed microscopic examinations on the animal eye, but later focused on the human eye. He made decisive contributions to the knowledge of the anatomy of the human eye and the optic nerves. Among other things, he discovered and described the so-called Müller cells (Müller's "supporting fibers") in the retina of the eye in 1856 and the circular fibers of the ciliary muscle in 1858 . Together with Albrecht von Graefe , Franciscus Cornelis Donders , William Bowman and Ferdinand von Arlt, Müller is one of the world's leading ophthalmologists of the 19th century. In 1860 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

literature

• Albert Kölliker :  Müller, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 557 f.
• Albert Kölliker: In memory of Heinrich Müller. In: Würzburger natural science newspaper. Volume 66, 1866/1867, pp. XIX-XXXXI.
• Reinhard Hildebrand: Rudolf Albert von Koelliker and his circle. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 3, 1985, pp. 127-151, here: p. 133.
• Thomas Sauer, Ralf Vollmuth : Letters from members of the Würzburg medical faculty in the estate of Anton Ruland. Sources on the history of medicine in the 19th century with short biographies. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 9, 1991, pp. 135-206; here: p. 163 f.