The sun., 1894-09-09

FHor. HELMHoLTt.
- he was old enough 20 study. The family b.
ing poor. that was his only opening. and that
vas possible because the Government gave free
instruction in medicine on condition that the
recipient would serve the State without pay for
several years after graduation.
Al the age Of Il. therefore, Helmholtz entered
the royal military school at Berlin, from which
he was graduated four years later. That he was
. close student and patient investigator was
shown in his graduating thesis. In this he en-
deavored TO prove the existence OF an anatomca al
connection between the nerves OF motion and
those OF sensation through the intermediate
means Of ganglion cells. and presented the re-
suits of numerous examinations OF the delicate
nerve hbres Of bugs. spiders. crabs. and many
lower animals. He became assistant physician at
the Charlie Hospital in Berlin the same year.
Prof. Rudolf virchow Was there in the same
pacity: and these two men. who were TO move
through life on a common plane. TO earn Ike
honors, to be masters 10 Thousands OF followers,
20 be comrades in Investigations and expert
ments. and finally 20 DO linked In name forever
in the history Of the medical profession. wero
brought into companionship at the very outset
of their brilian: careers.
Helmholtz remained at the Charlie only one
year and then went back to Potsdam, where he
became an army surgeon. For the fye years
following he practised medicine and con-
tnbuted many articles on mathematical and
physical science TO various periodicals.. II was
at this time that he laid the foundation OF his
scientific reputation by paper entitled :" On the
Conservatism OF Force" which was published In
Berlin In ls47. II was frst read before the
Physical Society of Berlin, and attracted atten-
tion throughout the medical profession in Ger
many, and resulted In his recognition as one OF
The foremost Investigators and promoters Of the
new philosophy Of force. IL was the precursor
ofa celebrated lecture on the same subject de-
1ivercd at Konigsberg some years later. which.
published in the Philosophical MdoiIinS gained
the attention Of the whole medical world. The
Theory OF Helmholtz on this subject that moth
ing exists In the outer world but matter, and
that matter in itself Is capable OF no alteration
modifsd only BY iSsd attractions and repnIs
stons, and that this Is true everywh here. even in
as daring and oppo1ed to e every lind 81 pniSsi
ophy. But many looked upon II as the epoch
making work from which must date the great
est scientific discovery that man has made, and
II Was ACCEPTED.
plumber OF treatises on medical subjects. incud-
ing On the Nature OF Putretsction and Fer
mentation. written to prove that pptrefaction
Heat with especial consideration OF the qne-
and change OF. the food it takes in; ION 'ths the
!ion," and Proof. Of a Development Of Heat
During Muscular Action"
In ls4s he returned TO Berlin, where he be-
Arts. He then for the ms; time proved by
composition In the active and guiescent muscle
A year afterward he Was appointed professor Ot
tions as % the rapidly OF propagation Of nerve
sxcitation, which made him famous. lie pub
1880 and DTS issa By mean. Of %etSeSs
Tor sscertaining eIceedingly email differences
NnafanlAnHOua "a he USrz nsI,.
anything it takes definite periOd 10 become
Sonscious Of IT, and that a certain time elapses
movement. His MIND a. that lin time ''s@ seems rs to o
have been turned 10 q number Of curious expert
the hrst correct explanation Of the fact that
when person gales into ano'hers eyes the
ordinary circ umstAnces, one cannot see into the
interior OF the eye Ihe-e eAPerimeuts bad
fsSde2s pos.iSis tie inspection % Of the raEa T.eiGa
sd The The hsA h. ooaSon 5iSGS'iOn
health and disease. A curious story is told OF
ment hr-t occurred TO him. lie had several
times remarked that he could see into the in
street at night when the lamps were liz but thai
70 the daytime he could sc nothing. He found,
however. that BY throwing the reflections Of the
that he could see it, interior clearly. His rehec-
kons upon thsse facts gave him the idea Of the
ysntion appeared in pamphlet published At
Berlin In 1851, and in the following year he de-
II WAS at this time that he began the study OF
elecuodynAmies, and shortly he Was promoted
course upon his installation dealt With peripheral
sensations. particularly those Of sight and hear
Ing. and Vas . comparison OF the relationship
existing between the vibrations that excite a
given sense and those existing between the sen
eAtions themselves. la SIS he became professor
ofanAtomy and physiology IN the University OF
Bona hut three years later left this chair for that
of physiology at Heidelberg. The same year he
surprised the mathematical world by his great
memoir on eddisS, or NoItless, matter Of fun
damentAl importance in hydrod ynAmCs Dur
ing the ne1t two years his AnOustical researches
were very prolinc. aud he publ shed some re-
mArkAole pap@rs upon color blindness aud upon
It vas while At Heidelberg that Helmoltz's
most Important work WAS given 10 the world. !
emphndunEen- ais PhysioloEischs GrundlAge |
FUR die Theorte der Musk. " which q known al |
over the civilized world, In il Helmholtz threw !
the light Ol natural scieIce upon the inmost I
priactples of music and asthetiCs. Philosophers !
had sought in vain for twenty centurirs for the I
eovsTy OF its cause Is due mainly 10 Heimhoitz. /
He lnyentsd ths method Of snAlyEing sound, |
ihsf.oS ihs tSoiSI itsInlshlng a means OF Ao9uiT-
This inyentiOn consisted essentially in /
the 1ss of hollow bOdieA, called rssonAtors the /
volume Of air IN which vibraies in the presence /
OF > sound previously determined. These res 4
hOltE discovered that The difference OF quality /
stTansnts is due 70 The fact thai dinerent com /
pound tones may contain the same fundamental i
tans. bot differently mixed With Other tones. /
vowel sounds OF human speech. and not only i
anAly Led them into their constituent elementary Il
tonss; but also aTtincially produced yOsel /
sounds from the elementary tones Of tuning
forks
The other great work, pqblishsd in 1897, Is
Il eo1tains an anatomical descTlption OF he ere,
~ three separats AFticls8 o. the sye. sntiued i