Henle, Friedrich Gustav Jakob

Henle, Friedrich Gustav Jakob (1809-1885), German pathologist and anatomist, was born on the 9th of July 1809 at Fürth, in Franconia. After studying medicine at Heidelberg and at Bonn, where he took his doctor’s degree in 1832, he became prosector in anatomy to Johannes Müller at Berlin. During the six years he spent in that position he published a large amount of work, including three anatomical monographs on new species of animals, and papers on the structure of the lacteal system, the distribution of epithelium in the human body, the structure and development of the hair, the formation of mucus and pus, &c. In 1840 he accepted the chair of anatomy at Zürich, and in 1844 he was called to Heidelberg, where he taught not only anatomy, but physiology and pathology. About this period he was engaged on his complete system of general anatomy, which formed the sixth volume of the new edition of S. T. von Sömmerring’s treatise, published at Leipzig between 1841 and 1844. While at Heidelberg he published a zoological monograph on the sharks and rays, in conjunction with his master Müller, and in 1846 his famous Manual of Rational Pathology began to appear; this marked the beginning of a new era in pathological study, since in it physiology and pathology were treated, in Henle’s own words, as “branches of one science,” and the facts of disease were systematically considered with reference to their physiological relations. In 1852 he moved to Göttingen, whence he issued three years later the first instalment of his great Handbook of Systematic Human Anatomy, the last volume of which was not published till 1873. This work was perhaps the most complete and comprehensive of its kind that had so far appeared, and it was remarkable not only for the fullness and minuteness of the anatomical descriptions, but also for the number and excellence of the illustrations with which they were elucidated. During the latter half of his life Henle’s researches were mainly histological in character, his investigations embracing the minute anatomy of the blood vessels, serous membranes, kidney, eye, nails, central nervous system, &c. He died at Göttingen on the 13th of May 1885.