1236 Proceedings of Boy al Society of Edinburgh. 
in Basel in 1854 : and after spending some time in Prague, Vienna,, 
and in the laboratories of Paris, and acting for a short period as a 
privat docent in his native town, he was called upon, at the age of 
twenty-six, to succeed Professor Meissner as Professor of Anatomy 
and Physiology in the University of Basel. 
In Basel Professor His laboured for fifteen years, and by the- 
work which he did he very early attracted the attention of those 
engaged in similar pursuits. In 1872 the chair of Anatomy in 
Leipzig, which had been previously held by Weber, fell vacant,, 
and Ludwig, the celebrated Leipzig physiologist, with conspicuous 
judgment and foresight, recognised in His the proper successor to 
Weber. There is good ground for the belief that it was mainly 
through the influence of Ludwig that His was translated to Leipzig. 
Professor His displayed activity in so many departments of 
anatomy that it is an exceedingly difficult matter, within reason- 
able compass, to give anything like an adequate conception of the 
splendid work which he accomplished. There is no name that 
is more frequently on the lips of the teaching anatomist of the 
present day ; there is no one who has exercised a more powerful 
influence in moulding anatomical thought in almost all branches 
of that subject. Still, there can be little doubt that it is his 
embryological work that will produce the most lasting impression. 
Up to the time when he entered this field of research very little 
was known regarding the special development of man. Human 
embryology in its earlier stages was represented in the book of 
anatomy by a very nearly blank page. What embryology was taught 
to the student of human anatomy was almost entirely derived 
from observations conducted on the embryos of the lower animals. 
Now, with the exception of the few days immediately succeeding 
the fertilisation of the ovum, we have a very nearly complete- 
record of the development of man. This we owe to Professor His. 
Of course, all the work which has led to this result was not done 
by him alone — other workers have helped in certain departments ; 
but His was the leading spirit. His not only laid the foundation, 
but with his own hands reared by far the greater part of the 
superstructure. His magnificent work, entitled Anatomie men - 
sclilicher Embryonen , and published in three parts, was completed 
in 1885. 
