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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1133 



were carefully trained at home by a wise 

 and affectionate mother. At the close of 

 his school days at the Gymnasium in 

 Hanau, he was sent to the University of 

 Marburg, where his student days were 

 stormy. Indeed, as a result of conflicts 

 with the disciplinary authorities, some say 

 because of political activities, he was forced 

 to leave for a time. He studied at Er- 

 langen, and spent one year at the surgical 

 school at Bamburg, finally returning to 

 Marburg, where he took his doctor's degree 

 in 1839. Continuing his studies, he was 

 appointed, in 1841, second prosector of 

 anatomy under Ludwig Fick. The follow- 

 ing year he was formally admitted to the 

 faculty of the university. 



Ludwig has often been incorrectly num- 

 bered one of the pupils of Johannes Miiller, 

 but Tigerstedt states that he was a finished 

 physiologist when he first visited Berlin, 

 and that the one of the older scientists who 

 exerted the greatest influence on Ludwig 

 was Ernst Heinrich Weber. Even in his 

 old age Ludwig spoke with the greatest ad- 

 miration of his predecessor in Leipzig, and 

 could not say enough of the tremendous 

 importance of the part played by "Weber 

 in the development of science. 



In 1846 he was appointed ausserordent- 

 lich professor of comparative anatomy at 

 Marburg, and in 1849 professor of anatomy 

 and physiology at Zurich. It was in this 

 year that he married Christine Endemann, 

 who with loving care watched over him, 

 guarding with affectionate solicitude his 

 somewhat frail health, making possible his 

 life-long devotion to science. 



In 1855 Ludwig was called to Vienna as 

 professor of physiology and zoology at the 

 academy for army physicians — the Josephi- 

 num — and in 1865 he succeeded Ernst 

 Heinrich Weber in Leipzig, receiving the 

 title of professor of physiology and di- 

 rector of the physiological institute, which 

 was about to be constructed. 



A list of the honors which have been con- 

 ferred upon a man is of interest as an indi- 

 cation of the way he was regarded by his 

 contemporaries. Ludwig 's titles in the reg- 

 ister of the University of Leipzig read as 

 follows : Ehrendoctor der Philosophie der 

 Universitat Leipzig, KSniglich sachsiseher 

 Geheimer Rath, Comthur I Klasse des 

 Konigl. sachsischen Albrechtsordens mit 

 dem Stern, Comthur 2. Klasse des Konigl. 

 sachsischen Verdienstordens, Hitter des 

 Konigl. preussischen Ordens pour le merite 

 unde des Konigl. bayerischen Maximilian- 

 ordens fur Wissenschaft und Kunst, In- 

 haber der Copley Medal of the London 

 Eoyal Society, Commandeur I Klasse des 

 Konigl. schwedischen Nordsternordens, 

 und Ehrenbiirger der Stadt Leipzig (this 

 last honor being given on the occasion of 

 the celebration of his fiftieth Doctor's ju- 

 bilee). In addition he was a member of 

 the Akademien der Wissenschaften in Ber- 

 lin, Wien, Miinchen, Paris, Petersburg, 

 Rome, Turin, Stockholm, Upsala, et cetera. 



The period when Ludwig was entering 

 upon his physiological work was one of 

 unrest in medical as well as political 

 thought. Modern biological conceptions 

 can be said to date from that time. The 

 greatest physiologists of the day in Ger- 

 many, Johannes Miiller and Liebig, while 

 recognizing that living beings are influ- 

 enced by the physical and chemical forces 

 which govern inorganic things, assumed 

 the existence of some mysterious force 

 within the bodies of animals and men, 

 which caused life processes to take a differ- 

 ent course from those occurring in inani- 

 mate objects. Only death released the 

 atoms from this mysterious influence and 

 permitted them to act as they did outside 

 of living organisms. 



This vitalistic doctrine was combated 

 and for a time at least overthrown by the 

 scientific work of the pupils of Johannes 



