THE LANCET. LONDON: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1901.

HOOHI PROFESSOR VIRCHOW.

1053

was of muscle, and so on. VIRCHOW perceived that the whole process had factors in common whatever the injury and whatever the tissue concerned ; while his understanding refused to admit as satisfactory the theory of free-cell formation which amounted, in his opinion, to the doctrine of spontaneous generation. After much patient endeavour he demonstrated the fact that all living tissues were composed of cells and

tendon, muscular where it

THE LANCET. LONDON:

SATURDAY,

OCTOBER 19, 1901.

that the

transforming and reparative processes which went in those tissues were the results of changes in those cells. He has himself put on record the circumstances in which Hoch! Professor Virchow. 1 his studies took the directions that have led to such great ON Saturday last an anniversary was celebrated in Berlin events, but those circumstances may well be repeated, - which has impressed the whole civilised world, and, in Eespecially as they bear out the view that only a man gifted has caused all those sections of ; thinking persons particular, with great powers of imagination could possibly have seen who take an interest in science to reflect on the on

possi.

bilities for good that lie in the brain of an individualso far ahead, and so have been supported during his inIt For the proceedings in Berlin, as will be seen ’’vestigations by the expectation of important issues. worker. from

our

to the

report of them, testify in admiration ’ which

the

a

remarkable

whole

mannerwas

towards

the end of

his academical

1 50 years ago, that young VIRCHOW had 1 than scientific world

stadies,

more

to take up the

far-reaching character of Professorwork of assistant in the ophthalmic clinic of the Oharité VIRCHOW’S pathological and anthropological work. Scien-- Hospital at Berlin. tific men benefit their’ generation in different ways, just ass" We had (these are his words in the Huxley Lecture1 delivered at Charing Cross Hospital in October, men with powers of artistic achievement may do ; but there 1898) " severe cases of keratitis, but I saw in them is’one rougli difference very ’generally existent between thee no exudation. Numerous cataract operations were pertwo classes.’ ’The artist has’all life for his theme ; the formed ; the wounds were closed, but not by plastic exudation ; this was absent from all corneal scars. scientific man is, as a rule, a specialist in some department Could this be explained by the circumstance that the of’life, which may be large or which may be small, butLt cornea, apart from its circumference, is a non-vascular then turned my attention to the non-vascular which is none the less a department. He does his tissue Ifirst to the articular cartilage, and behold, tissues ; r work: probably this work overlaps the work of brother here also I found the greatest changes without the ,f presence of exudation, or at any rate of plastic exumen of science who are applying themselves to the study of My experimental studies then extended to a second department of exact knowledge, and who in their dation. the walls of the larger arteries and then also in part turn overlap with their labours the labours being carried on n to the veins, and they showed equally that they can in a third department. The world is especially fortunate if undergo great changes without even a trace of exudation. Later investigations on endocarditis led to the same result, 11 the outcome of such special endeavours can be made to fall provided that parietal thrombi are not regarded as exudaIn all these cases and in every place we found )f tion. under one great scheme ; and of all the benefactors of in the tissue cells-active, such as multiplication changes ,t civilisation the most practical is he who can not only detect of nuclei, or passive, such as fatty degeneration. Most >f the factors that are common to the separate results of of these processes were of the nature of proliferations." individual endeavour, but who can systematise these results It will be seen that VIRCHOW at once grasped the signifiand interpret their true significance by the formulation of acance a of his observations : he saw by the power of his a man such man is law. Such a was DARWIN, LISTER,1, imagination whither they would carry him. The actual general and such a man is VIRCHOW ; and comparison can rightly be phenomena lay before the eyes of all, yet this young house)claimed for each of them with the poet or the painter. Prosurgeon was the first to whom their true meaning was fessor VIRCHOW is one of the rare figures in the world’s history 7 revealed. He saw that the theory of a plastic exudation was ts arbitrary and erroneous. He saw, to use his words again, of men who have been able to combine in their work the results of specialised endeavour with a poetically immense imagina- ’’ that there is no such thing as plastic exudation tion. Just as great works of imagination-the really great which is ever simply amorphous ; the cells which have It is proved been found in it have not arisen there. 1s picture, oratorio, or poem-deal with the elementary passions in numberless places. The doctrine of the discontinuous and appeal to us by senses that are common in greater or or origin of pathological new formations is set aside. Every less degree to the whole world, so Professor VIRCHOW’S such new formation presupposes tissue from which its cells arise, that is, its matrix. Pathology has been late in pathological work has been large and simple. Extraordinary ry arriving at a knowledge of this correspondence, but I think application and insight may have gone to its accomplishment, it has acquired special value forof biology in general. Proliferation is an active property special cells but it but its meaning is clear and its value undoubted. Fifty years ,rs That in no way cannot be performed by all cells alike. ago he laid the foundations of modern pathology by beginning 19 alters the fact that it can only be performed by cells. It is just as little a function of the entire organism, for a series of investigations which terminated in the enunciation this would then have to be unicellular. In this property of the doctrine of omnis cellula e cellulâ. Before his work at lies the explanation of origin from a single egg, the Id wonderful process which comes to pass but once in the Wiirzburg University there was no working theory that would of the animal. Once the tissues have arisen each cell really account for the commonest pathological processes. It life of the tissue may, in respect of proliferation, be compared was imagined that a formative but structureless blastema na to an ovum ; it brings forth a new progeny from which new tissue grows, this tissue bearing, as a rule, the stamp of its was thrown out between injured and separated surfaces, and matrix ; it is built on the maternal type." that, for some reason or other, this blastema was obliging

tas for the

vast and

"

.

.

enough

to become tendinous

where the

injury

was

of

1

THE

LANCET, Oct. 8th, 1898, p. 909.

x

THE REORGANISATION OF THE ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

1054

result of Professor YiRCnow’s demonstration of these pathological views it follows that the pathologist of to-day can no more conceive of organised structures exhibitAs

a

ing vital phenomena, whether complex, without reference to

the the

simplest cell

as

or a

the most unit than

conceive of the sun apart from light and heat. The biologist, the pathologist, and the chemist, their labours all combined, cannot solve the whole problem of existence, but thanks to Professor VIRCHOW’S laboursto his splendid imagination grafted upon his painstaking we

can

search for truth and his exact verification of detailwe can congratulate ourselves upon some progress. We can

repeat with confidence another of his sayings, "that

the future of medicine will be secured if the connexion between clinical

and

anatomy

practice and the facts experimental pathology is

of

The

pathological

maintained

nn-

"

broken.

report of the Committee on Army Medical Services has,

THE

the

the

Reorganisation the

on

whole,

of

met

adverse criticism. It seems to bethat is after all document that only a report forgotten a of the recommendations committee, and it embodying may be asked whether it is not somewhat prematurewith

a

fierce fire of

pronounce absolutely condemnatory judgment on a still immature scheme, about which there is yet so much to be learned’? Might it not be well before entering upon to

a course

threatening

to arrest the

growth

and

development.

of further efforts in this direction to wait until something more is known about the scheme and the intentions of the Government in There

Professor VIRCHOw’S career as a politician would have made him a notable citizen of the great German empire apart from all the work by which he has rendered his name

Reorganisation of the Royal Army Medical Corps.

this

ways of

two

are

stage

regard to it ?

of

its

career.

dealing One

with the scheme at, is

to

disregard

any

attempt on the part of its, framers to deal with a confessedly very difficult and cominternationally famous ; but it is not our place to make plicated subject and to hail its advent by mercilessly more than a passing comment upon this phase of his setting about to find out all its flaws, actual or potential, full life.

He has been called

his views

were

an

what

ardent reformer, but been expected from

honest and well-intentioned

thus

threatening more conciliatory

its existence ab initio.

The other and the aim and spirit,

method is to regard might have to man of science. He desired as of the outlined, in a general, broad, and comenlightened scheme, see his country developed for the better, he worked for the prehensive manner, to credit its framers with honesty of of what for the elimiwas endeavour and purpose if such be apparent on the face. ill, regular gradual replacing for no less introduction the nation of faults, and of it, and to defer the task of searching for all the blots. regular of improvements. He displayed in imperial and municipal and defects that might be discoverable in their proposals, politics the qualities of foresight and accuracy that had until their exact effect and bearing are better known. rendered him famous in science, and won golden opinions as By showing a disposition to consider frankly and favouran economist and a practical sanitarian. No true medical ably any bonâ-fide scheme’ of reorganisation a fair claim man can ever be a party politician-the label under which is set up that regard must be given to subsequent critihe votes can never more than partly describe his creed; and cisms and objections. In the case of the long controversy Professor VIRCHOW, while he was a Radical in conservative that has been going on between the medical services and opinion, was ousted from his seat in the Reichstag for a numerous Governments we have considered that it was iii Berlin constituency by the Social Democrats. As a true the interest of the medical profession as a whole and of medical man he knew that complicated ills can harclly ever the medical services in particular to take the latter course. be dealt with by one drastic operation : they require all- It cannot be denied that the report of the Committee on. round treatment. At the same time lie knew that to tinker the Reorganisation of the Army Medical Services, in addi-

a

sound and

in this direction

symptoms,

and to

of the

or

in

that, in

neglect an

the desire

to deal with

exhaustive search for

is almost

a common

increase in the pay of medical officers, contains. other good proposals and suggestions. If it contained-

tion to some

an

to condemn the

certainly nothing else than a suggestion as to the possible translalife has been bed of no tion of the medical school from Netley to London and the patient political roses. Probably he could not go fast enough or far enough provision of a military hospital in the metropolis, where to please some, while his zeal for reform was too hot to medical officers would have unrivalled opportunities for suit others. He has lived to see the development of the seeing hospital work and for obtaining clinical instruction German Empire from a congeries of isolated kingdoms, of the best and most varied kind, it would be a great unable to see that their common good demanded a common step in the right direction and, as we believe, of policy and a common head, into a strongly welded union. He great value to the medical service. We need not, had stormy passages with the great architect of that Empire, say that, having already advocated this measure, we cause

symptoms

to death.

Hence his

Prince BISMARCK, and on all occasions he stuck to his guns. He was as a politician the true man of science, believing that all proceedings on a false theory must lead to disaster.

Political

quackery

was

abhorrent to

him, and

where he

thought system wrong; whatever the eminence of its supporters, he was bold to speak his mind. It is not to be wondered at that the career of such a man has inspired his scientific brethren with the desire to do him honour upon a

his

eightieth birthday.

Professor VIRCHOw.

We share

that desire.

Hoch !

quite concur recently said

in all that Sir WILLIAM MACCORMAC has on the subject. As he pointed out, some

institution is required similar to that of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Berlin. It would have been easy to find a number of enough points in the report which lent themselves to criticism or about which misgivings would naturally arise, for some of them lie on the surface, but we thought that such criticism would follow naturally and smoothly upon detailed consideration of the scheme. As we have stated, the effect and working, of some of