signed first edition
1873 · Leipzig:
by KOLLIKER, Rudolf Albert (1817-1905).
Leipzig:: F. C. W. Vogel, 1873., 1873. 4to. VI, 86 pp. 8 color lithographic plates, 2 figures; light waterstaining, soiling, occasional blue pencil marginalia. Later blue gilt-stamped buckram; rubbed. Bookplate of "Herbert McLean Evans Library of Medical Classics" and with his ownership signature on the title-page, with rubber-stamps (title + p. 50). SIGNED BY HERBERT MCLEAN EVANS. Very good copy in a library buckram binding. First edition. Kolliker was on the cutting edge of applying histology to smooth muscle, striated muscle, skin, bone, teeth, blood vessels and viscera. His work broke open new understandings of anatomy, including this one wherein his discovered the osteoclast, the specific cell responsible for bone resorption. "The year 1853 also saw the publication by Rudolph Virchow . . . of the first description of the uncalcified matrix of bone or osteoid. Carl Gegenbaur in 1864 demonstrated that osteoblasts were present in both the periosteal layer and the endosteum. By 1873, the specific cell responsible for bone resorption, the osteoclast, had been identified and named by Rudolph A. Kolliker . . . " Peltier, Fractures, 1990, p. 219. PROVENANCE: "Herbert McLean Evans [1882-1971] made a monumental contribution to the field of endocrinology through his studies of the physiology of reproduction. Many have remarked that the ultimate recognition of his achievements eluded him. Four of his lines of research and discovery were often mentioned as deserving of the Nobel Prize: (1) development of the vascular system, (2) elucidation of the estrous cycle in the rat, and the role of pituitary gonadotropin in reproduction, (3) discovery of growth hormone, and (4) discovery of and isolation of vitamin E. The first of these was entirely Evans' own work. The other three were collaborative efforts, but Evans' contribution to each was crucial" (A History of UCSF). Hirsch III, 518. See: Nijweidi Peter J.; Feyen, Jean H. M. (1986), "Cells of Bone: Proliferation, Differentiation, and Hormonal Regulation", Physiological Reviews, 66 (4): pp. 855–886.
(Inventory #: MRM1231)