Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger

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Johann Friedrich Meckel

Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger (born October 17, 1781 in Halle ; † October 31, 1833 there ) was a German anatomist . In particular, he was an embryologist and is considered one of the founders of teratology .

Life

Meckel visited the cathedral school in Magdeburg (Graduate 1798) and studied at the University of Halle medicine, particularly pharmacology at Kurt Sprengel (1766-1833) and Anatomy at Johann Christian Reil and his father Philipp Friedrich Theodor Meckel (1756 to 1803) and languages (later he translated from English, Italian, French and Latin). His grandfather was Johann Friedrich Meckel the Elder (1724–1774). His mother was Johanna Charlotta Lauer († 1782), a daughter of the Halle merchant Johann Jacob Lauer (1723–1772) and a cousin of Adolf Julius Lauer (1755–1831), who was ennobled in 1790 . His stepmother Therese Christiane Catharine Luise was the daughter of the theologian Carl Tobias Jetzke .

1801/02 he spent two semesters at the University of Göttingen , where he mainly studied anatomy and anthropology with Johann Friedrich Blumenbach as well as the art of delivery . In 1802 he was at the university resounds with a dissertation on congenital heart disease ( De cordis conditionibus abnormibus ) for MD PhD . A study trip took him to Würzburg and Vienna, the news of his father's death forced him to return in 1803 (according to the father's last will, he skeletonized his body and placed it in the family's own collection). After the estate had been settled, he traveled to Paris to study with the anatomist Georges Cuvier (whose Leçons d'Anatomie he translated into German from 1809).

In 1805, at Reil's instigation, Meckel was appointed associate professor at the University of Halle, but he did not return to Halle until the reopening under French rule in 1808, where Napoleon had moved into his house . In the same year he was appointed full professor of anatomy, pathological anatomy, surgery and obstetrics. From 1810 he mainly taught anatomy. Meckel, who was consulted by the Russian Tsarist House, among others, was honored with the Order of the Red Eagle, 3rd Class, the Iron Cross, the Russian Order of Vladimir 4th Class and admission to the Leopoldina in 1828. In 1820 he was made a foreigner Elected member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and 1830 of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1829 he became a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences .

In 1967, Meckel's bones were exhumed and incorporated into his anatomical collection, which his widow sold to the university for 25,000 thalers in 1836  .

Scientific achievements

Meckel mainly published about abnormalities and, together with Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, is considered the founder of teratology , the scientific theory of malformations (including a description of a malformation of the human embryo - Meckel syndrome  - and the most common abnormality of the gastrointestinal tract, of Meckel's diverticulum ). Through these researches and studies on the development of embryos (among other things, he clarified the epigenesis of the chicken in the egg and the formation of the human lower jaw from a cartilage, the Meckel cartilage ), Meckel refuted the common view of the theory of preformation , according to which the body " would be nested "and merely" unfold "during maturity.

In his system of comparative anatomy (1821) the fact that new species emerged is reflected on. To this end, he lists four mechanisms: a) the frequent occurrence of spontaneous generation ; b) an inner drive to change; c) the direct influence of the environment; and d) hybridization. He assumes a natural process in the origin of the species, furthermore he represents some positions close to Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck .

In addition, he expanded his father's collection ( Meckelsche Collection ) and published authoritative summarizing writings for his field (including a manual of pathological anatomy , four volumes, 1812-1820; contributions to comparative anatomy, two volumes, 1808 and 1812; system of comparative anatomy , six volumes, 1821–1831). From 1815 he gave out Reil's archive for physiology .

Fonts

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rüdiger Schultka and Josef N. Neumann: Anatomy and anatomical collections in the 18th century , Berlin 2007, p. 40 ( limited preview in Google book search)
  2. ↑ Hans-Georg Schede: Caroline Schede. A history of private life in the time of Goethe , Berlin 2018, p. 56, ( limited preview in the Google book search), cf. P. 395 ( limited preview in Google Book search) and p. 154 ( limited preview in Google Book search)
  3. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Meckel, Johann Friedrich d. J. 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. 901.
  4. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 163.
  5. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter M. Académie des sciences, accessed on January 21, 2020 (French).
  6. ↑ JF Meckel: System of the comparative anatomy. Volume 1 to 6 Renger, 1821
  7. ↑ Ernst Mayr: The development of the biological world of thought. Springer, 1984, p. 309
personal data
SURNAME Meckel, Johann Friedrich the Younger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German anatomist and founder of teratology
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1781
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1833
Place of death Halle (Saale)