i 7 4 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



To Ludwig we owe our earliest exact knowledge of the 

 blood gases, and to this end he devised much apparatus 

 which is in daily use in physiological laboratories. A ques- 

 tion which always hadgreat interestfor him was the respiration 

 of the tissues, whether oxidation took place in the blood or 

 in the tissues, a question now answered in the affirmative 

 for the tissues. There are many researches on the physi- 

 ology of muscle, including the famous work of Kronecker 

 on its fatigue and recovery. 



The physiology of the spinal cord and the doctrine of 

 reflex action was thoroughly studied, both in the frog and 

 mammal. Our knowledge of the sensory paths in the cord 

 was greatly extended by the researches carried on in his 

 laboratory, while Ludwig- himself devised a whole series of 

 delicate instruments for section of limited parts of the cord. 

 It was when Flechsig was his assistant in the histological 

 department that, under Ludwig's inspiration, he made those 

 fundamental investigations on the medullation of nerve-fibres, 

 which enabled him to map out new conducting paths in the 

 cord. This research at once established Flechsig's fame, 

 and led to his appointment to the Professorship of Psycho- 

 logy in Leipzig. Indeed by a curious coincidence Flechsig 

 was Rector of the University at his master's death. In his 

 speech at Ludwig's grave as Rector, Flechsig remarked 

 that " Ludwig was not only a high priest of his science, but 

 of science in general ". 



There is not a laroe number of investigations on the 

 sense-organs, while on the brain or rather cerebrum and 

 cerebellum I do not recollect to have seen any independent 

 investigations. 



Numerous investigations of a more or less chemical 

 nature were carried on, for obviously experimental and 

 chemical physiology must frequently go hand in hand, and 

 in this respect Ludwig was fortunate in having Drechsel as 

 his assistant, and in later years Siegfried. Another of 

 Ludwig's pupils whose contributions belong to the border- 

 land between chemistry and pharmacology is Schmiede- 

 berg, the distinguished and genial Professor of Pharma- 

 cology in Strassburg. 



