34^ Professor Hugo Kronecker [April-July. 



cian was the first man to employ experimental physiology for the 

 study of medical problems. It was probably due to the early influ- 

 ence of Traube that Kronecker acquired the incHnation to make re- 

 sults, obtained in physiological studies, available for cHnical medi- 

 cine. On account of a temporary pulmonary affection, Traube sent 

 him to Italy where he stayed for some time, an incident which left 

 a mark upon Kronecker's future activities. The acquisition of the 

 knowledge and use of the Itahan language was unquestionably a 

 factor in his future intimate relations with the ItaHan physiologists. 

 He recovered his health and even served in the Prussian wars with 

 Austria and France. In the Franco-Prussian war he received the 

 iron Gross for bravery. 



1868 he entered Ludwig's celebrated " Physiologische Anstalt zu 

 Leipzig" where he remained until 1876, becoming assistant in 1871, 

 and Professor extraordinarius in 1874. In 1877 he was called to 

 Berlin to become the Head of the division of experimental physiol- 

 ogy in the Institute of Physiology, which had been recently organ- 

 ized by du Bois-Reymond. In 1884 he was called to Berne, where 

 he filled the chair of physiology until the last day of his life. 



Kronecker's scientific activities extended over more than half a 

 Century; his thesis appeared in 1863, But the investigation which 

 raised him to the rank of a first-class physiologist was his work on 

 " fatigue and recovery of striated muscles," published from Lud- 

 wig's Laboratory in 1872. The careful planning of the experi- 

 ments, the exactness and skill with which they were executed, and 

 the sharp analysis which permitted the derivation of general laws, 

 put a classical stamp upon this piece of work; its celebrated tracings 

 were the starting point for many future ergographic studies. The 

 later work during his Leipzig period was mainly devoted to the car- 

 diac muscle; some of the results found a permanent place in physiol- 

 ogy. I may mention here the development of the "all and none " 

 law; the loss of irritability of the cardiac muscle during Systole (re- 

 fractory period, Marey) ; the importance of inorganic salts for the 

 heart beat (with "Merunowitz and others). 



Of his many investigations during his Berlin period I should 

 mention the studies which led up to the use of transfusion as a life- 

 saving means (present-day writers do not seem to know that Krön- 



