Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn

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Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (1757)

Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (born September 5, 1711 in Berlin ; † October 7, 1756 there ) was a German physician and optician .

Life

At the request of his father studied Lieberkühn three years at the University of Halle theology , and later moved to the University of Jena to physics , especially mechanics to study. There he attended seminars of the physicians Georg Erhard Hamberger (1697–1755), Hermann Friedrich Teichmeyer and Georg Wolfgang Wedel and was inspired by this to study medicine and natural sciences.

In 1733 Lieberkühn went to Rostock , where his brother Samuel was employed as a preacher . With this example, Lieberkühn was to be won over to the clergy. When his father died unexpectedly, Lieberkühn went on a study trip through Germany and in 1739 went to the University of Leiden . There he studied with the physicians Bernhard Siegfried Albinus , Hermann Boerhaave and Hieronymus David Gaub (* around 1705; † 1780). In Leiden he published his dissertation "De vulvula coli et usu processus vermicularis" and doctorate then to Dr. med. On March 18, 1737, Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn , nicknamed Daedalus II, was accepted as a member ( matriculation number 469 ) of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina .

In 1740 Lieberkühn undertook another study trip to London where he became a member of the Royal Society , after which he stayed for several months in Paris . He then returned to Berlin as a member of the Medical College, constructed mathematical and optical instruments and worked as a resident doctor and anatomist, but was never a university professor.

At the anatomical theater , Lieberkühn worked together with the professor of surgery August Schaarschmidt .

reception

Frog plate (1734) for fixing small animals by Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn, German Historical Museum (Berlin)

In addition to his extensive medical and scientific knowledge, Lieberkühn was also very well versed in technology. The instruments he needed, including microscopes, he designed and made himself. He further developed the sun microscope invented by Theodor Balthasar in 1710 (a projection microscope very popular in the 18th century). In addition, he created special microscopes for studying blood vessels, for example, which his contemporaries referred to as “miracle glasses”.

In addition to his physiological work, Lieberkühn became known primarily for his anatomical injection and corrosion preparations , in which he first used mineral acids for corrosion . In the course of his life he made well over 400 vascular injection preparations ; for which he had also developed his catadioptric microscope. The preparations were based primarily on the injection of wax-containing liquids into body cavities and the subsequent molding, wax burning and pouring with molten silver. Lieberkühn's crypts (also called Lieberkühn's glands or glandulae intestinales ) were named after him and were first described in detail in 1745 in “ De fabrica et actione vollorum intestinorum tenuium hominis ”.
After Lieberkühn's death, this collection of preparations came into the possession of Gottfried Christoph Beireis through the mediation of Lorenz Heister, and parts of it were regularly seen in medical cabinets, especially in Moscow , as masterpieces until the 19th century .

A collection of Lieberkühn's specimens is also located in the anatomical institute of the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Fonts (selection)

  • De fabrica et actione villorum intestinorum tenuium . 1745 (illustrated by Pieter Lyonnet ).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ J. Stahnke: Ludwik Teichmann (1823–1895). Anatomist in Krakow. In: Würzburger medical historical reports 2, 1984, pp. 205–267; here: p. 225.
  2. ↑ Information on berlinintensiv.de
personal data
SURNAME Lieberkühn, Johann Nathanael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Daedalus II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German medic and physicist
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1711
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 7, 1756
Place of death Berlin