HISTOLOGY. MICROSCOPIC PERIOD. MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DIRECTION IN THE MEDICINE OF NEW TIME 1640-1918

 

History of medicine

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MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DIRECTION IN THE MEDICINE OF NEW TIME (1640-1918)

HISTOLOGY. MICROSCOPIC PERIOD

 

Histology (from the Greek. Histos - tissue, logos - teaching) - the science of the structure, development and functioning of the tissues of living organisms.

The formation of histology is closely connected with the development of microscopic techniques and microscopic research, the creation of a cellular theory of the structure of organisms and the study of the cell.

In the history of the study of tissues and the microscopic structure of organs, two periods are distinguished: 1) pre-microscopic and 2) microscopic (ultramicroscopic stage inside).

 

DOMICROSCOPIC PERIOD

 

In this very long period (up to the XVIII century), the first ideas about tissues were formed on the basis of anatomical examinations of corpses, and the first scientific generalizations were made without a microscope.

At the same time, it was during this period that the microscopic technique was created (the use of magnifying glasses and the creation of the first microscopes) and the first fragmentary information about the microscopic structure of individual cells was accumulated.

The first device of magnifying glasses was designed around 1590 by Hans and Zachary Jansen in the Netherlands (Holland). In 1609, Galileo Galilei, using the information about the invention of a magnifying tube that had reached him, designed his optical device, which had a 9-fold increase. His first demonstration in Venice made a huge impression. Galileo first used his optical system to study the structure of various objects (1610-1614), and then for the first time turned it into the night sky to examine the celestial bodies.

 

The term “microscope” appeared only in 1625. Its first application in natural science is associated with the name of Robert Hooke (Hooke, Robert, 1635-1703), who in 1665 first discovered and described plant cells on a tube cut using a microscope of his own design with magnification 30 times.

Of great importance for the development of histology, embryology and botany were the work of Marcello Malpighi (Malpighi, Marcello, 1628-1644) - an Italian physician, anatomist and naturalist. He owns the discovery of capillaries (1661), which completed the work of William Harvey, and the description of the blood corpuscles (1665). The kidney bodies and the epidermis layer are named after him.

 

The self-taught Dutch naturalist Anton van Leeuwenhoek (Leeuwenhoek, Antony van, 1632—1723) made a significant contribution to the development of microscopy. Being engaged in polishing optical glasses, he achieved high perfection in the manufacture of short-focus lenses, which gave an increase of up to 270 times. Inserting them into the metal holders of his own design (Fig. 110), he first saw and painted red blood cells (1673), spermatozoa (1677), bacteria (1683), as well as protozoa and individual plant and animal cells. These isolated observations on cells were not accompanied by generalizations and have not yet led to the creation of science.

The first attempt to systematize body tissues (without using a microscope) was undertaken by the French physician Marie Francois Xavier Bisch (Bichat, Marie Frangois Xavier, 1771-1802, fig. Ill), who is considered the founder of histology as a science (see p240). Among the variety of structures of the body, he singled out a tissue “system” and described them in detail in his writings “A Treatise on Membranes and Shells” (“Traite des membranes en particulate et al.”, 1800) and “General Anatomy as applied to physiology and medicine "(" Anatomie generale, appliquee a la physiologie et a la medecine ", 1801). Along with cartilage, bone and other tissue "systems", he distinguished between hair, venous, circulatory, which (as is known today) are structures of an organ character, not tissue. Bisha died in his prime at the 32nd year of life. After his death, J.-N. Korvizar wrote to Napoleon: “No one has done so much and so well in such a short time.”

 

MICROSCOPIC PERIOD

 

The period of systematic microscopic examination of tissues opens with one of the largest generalizations of nineteenth-century natural science — the cellular theory of the structure of organisms. In its main features, the cell theory was formulated in the works of German scientists, the botanist Mathias Schlei-Dien (Schleiden, Matias, 1804-1881) and the zoologist Theodor Schwann (Schwann, Theodor, 1810-1828, Fig. 112). Their predecessors were R. Tuk, M. Malpighi, A. van Leeuwenhoek, J. La Mark.

 

In 1838, M. Schleiden in his article “Materials for phytogenesis” showed that each plant cell has a nucleus, and defined its role in the development and division of cells.

In 1839, the fundamental work of T. Schwann “A Microscopic Study on Conformity in the Structure and Growth of Animals and Plants” (“Mikroskopische Unter-suchungen iiber die Obereinstimmung in der Struktur und dem Wachstum der Thiere und Pflanzen”) was published, in which he identified cell as a universal structural unit of the plant and animal world, showed that plant and animal cells are homologous in their structure, similar in function, and gave the main characteristics of their formation, growth, development and differentiation.

According to F. Engels, the creation of cell theory was one of the main scientific achievements of the era, which revealed the identity of the processes occurring in all multicellular organisms.

 

One of the founders of the cell structure theory was Jan Purvane the Evangelist (Purkine Johannes Evangelista, 1787–1869) - a Czech natural scientist and public figure, founder of the Prague Histological School, an honorary member of many foreign academies of science and scientific societies (including St. Petersburg and Kharkov) . Purkin was the first to see the nerve cells in the gray matter of the brain (1837), described the elements of neuroglia, isolated large cells in the gray matter of the cerebellar cortex, later named after him, opened the fibers of the cardiac conduction system (Purkin fibers), etc. He was the first to use the term Protoplasm (1839). One of the first microtomes was created in his laboratory. Ya.E. Purkine was the organizer of the Czech Scientific Society of Physicians, which now bears his name.

 

Cell theory gave the key to the study of the laws of the structure and development of various organs and tissues. On this basis in the XIX century. microscopic anatomy was created as a new section of anatomy. By the end of the XIX century. In connection with the progress in studying the fine structure of the cell, the foundations of cytology were laid.

In the histological practice, water and oil immersion objectives were introduced, invented by a microtome, and new fixtures were used. The introduction of the impregnation method with silver salts (K. Golgi) made it possible to conduct fundamental studies of the nervous system (S. Ramon-i-Kahal) and lay the foundations of neurohistology. In 1906, K. Golgi and S. Ramon-i-Kahal were awarded the Nobel Prize.

 

In Russia, histology developed in close connection with the achievements of world science. In the 40s of the XIX century. Histology was included in the program of teaching related disciplines - anatomy and physiology. The first course of histology in Russia was read by embryologist KM Baer, ​​who headed the department of comparative anatomy and physiology at the Medico-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg. From 1852 this subject was singled out as an independent course, which was read by N. M. Yakubovich. The first departments of histology and embryology in Russia were organized in 1864 in Moscow (A.I. Ba-Bukhin) and Petersburg (F.V. Ovsyannikov) universities. Later they were created in Kazan (K.A. Arn-matte), Kiev (P.I. Peremezhko), Kharkov (N.A. Khrzhonshchevsky) and other cities of the country.

Russian scientists have made a great contribution to the development of histology. The Kazan School of Neurohistologists has glorified the domestic science by researching the retina in various vertebrates and analyzing the neural composition of the spinal and vegetative ganglia (A. S. Dogel). In 1915, A.S. Dogel founded the journal Archive of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology.

 

The fundamental works of the Kiev histologist V. A. Bets, who studied cytoarchitects, are well known.

 

 

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