Arthur Van (or van) Gehuchten (20 April 1861 – 9 December 1914) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in the faculty of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

at the University of Leuven until the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914. He moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and taught

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

until his death. Van Gehuchten is especially known for his contributions to the theory of neurons. In

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, the van Gehuchten

method Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

is the

fixing Fixing may refer to: * The present participle of the verb "to fix", an action meaning maintenance, repair, and operations * "fixing someone up" in the context of arranging or finding a social date for someone * "Fixing", craving an addictive drug, ...

of a

histologic Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

tissue in a

mixture In chemistry, a mixture is a material made up of two or more different chemical substances which are not chemically bonded. A mixture is the physical combination of two or more substances in which the identities are retained and are mixed in the ...

glacial acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...

10 parts,

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with chemical formula, formula Carbon, CHydrogen, HChlorine, Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to ...

30 parts, and

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

60 parts.

Writings

* ''L'Anatomie du système nerveux de l'homme'' (1893) * ''Contribution à l'étude du faisceau pyramidal'' (1896) * ''Structure du télencéphale: centres de projection et centres d'association''. Polleunis & Ceuterick, 1897 * ''Cours d'anatomie humain systématique'' (I-III, 1906–09) * ''Les centres nerveaux cérébro-spinaux'' (1908) * ''Het zenuwgestel''. Nederl. Boekh, 1908 * ''La radicotomie postérieure dans les affections nerveuses spasmodiques'' (1911) * ''Coup de couteau dans la moelle lombaire. Essai de physiologie pathologique''. Le Névraxe 9, ss. 208–232 (1907) * ''Le mouvement pendulaire ou réflexe pendulaire de la jambe. Contribution à l'étude des réflexes tendineux''. Le Névraxe 10, ss. 263–266 (1908) * ''Over myopatische ziekten. Voordracht met kinematographische lichtbeelden''. Handelingen van het XIVe Vlaams Natuur-en Geneeskundig Congres 1–8 (1910) * ''La radicotomie postérieure dans les affections nerveuses spasmodiques (modification de l'opération de Foerster)''. Bulletin de l'Académie royale de Médecine de Belgique ss. 1–43 (1910) * ''Het doorsnijden der achterste ruggemergwortels als behandeling van zekere vormen van spastische paraplegie, (met kinematographische lichbeelden)''. Handelingen van het XVIe Vlaamsch Natuur- en Geneeskundig Congres 422–43 (1913)

Neurone

Van Gehuchten adopted Waldeyer’s coinage for the

nerve cell A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. No ...

, but spelt this in French as ‘le neurone' rather than 'le neuron'. It is believed that the reason for adding the ‘e’ at the end of the word relates to the interplay between linguistics and phonetics: the final ‘n’ in ‘neuron’ would have been ‘sounded’ in the classical Greek, and also in Waldeyer’s German coinage, and, to do the same in French, there needed to be an ‘e’ placed at the end of the word. Without this, ‘neuron’ would have rhymed with ‘maison’ and the link with the original Greek would have been lost. CC-BY icon

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Bibliography

* Aubert G. Arthur van Gehuchten takes neurology to the movies. "Neurology". 59. 10, pp. 1612–8, 2002. . * Aubert G. Arthur Van Gehuchten (1861–1914). "J Neurol". 248 (5), pp. 439–40, 2001. . * James W. Papez. Arthur Van Gehuchten (1861–1914) in: Webb Haymaker (ed.): The Founders of Neurology. One Hundred and Thirty-Three Biographical Sketches. Prepared for the Fourth International Neurological Congress in Paris by Eighty-Four Authors. Springfield: C.C.Thomas, 1953, pp. 38–41

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Gehuchten, Arthur 1861 births 1914 deaths Belgian anatomists Belgian educators Belgian writers in French Belgian medical writers