EHRENBERG, C.G. - A GROUNDBREAKING PAPER ON THE MICROSCOPICAL STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN.

Notwendigkeit einer feineren mechanischen Zerlegung des Gehirns und der Nerven vor der chemischen, dargestellt aus Beobachtungen.

Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1833. Without wrappers. In: "Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Hrsg.von Poggendorff", Bd. 28, Siebentes Stück. Pp. 449-528. Entire issue offered with titlepage to vol. 28. Ehrenberg's paper: pp. 449-473 and 1 engraved plate with many figs. (nervecells and tubes, nerve fibres, ganglia).

First appearance of a milestone paper on the physiology of the brain, depicting for the first time the nerve cells and ganglia in the gray area of the brain. This work was also published seperately with the title "Ueber den Mangel des Nervenmarks im Gehirne der Menschen und Thiere, den gegliederten röhrigen Bau des Gehrins und über normale Krystallbildung im lebenden Thierkörper; (Aus Poggendorff's Annalen d. Physik...)"

"In his groundbreaking work on microscopical structure of the brain and nerves, published in 1833 (the paper offered), the Berlin anatomist Christian Ehrenberg stated that according to his observations the nerves consisted of tubes, most of these cylindrical, some of them - the optical and auditory nerve and the nerves in the organ of smell - varicose. According to Ehrenberg, the cylindrical nerves contained 'substance that consisted of "small plump but not very regular particles", the nerve marrow. Ehrenberg also described smaller and bigger granulas in the substance of the brain, but as the dominant element of the brain he identified fibers. However he stressed that other than the nerve fibres,the brain were not simple cylindrical ones but "resemble strings of beads".2(Giora Hun et al.).

Order-nr.: 45240