Carl Wedl (14 October 1815 – 21 September 1891) was an Austrian

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

who was a native of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1841 he obtained his doctorate in Vienna, and subsequently practiced medicine in

Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. In 1844 he took a scientific journey to France and England, afterwards returning to Vienna, where he performed histological research. With assistance from Karl Rokitansky (1804–1878), he received his habilitation in 1849. In 1853 he became an associate professor, and in 1872 was appointed professor of

histology 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 ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. Some of his well-known students were Heinrich Auspitz (1834–1885),

Moritz Kaposi Moritz Kaposi ( hu, Kaposi Mór, ; 23 October 1837 in Kaposvár, Hungary – 6 March 1902 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was a Hungarian physician and dermatologist who discovered the skin tumor that received his name (Kaposi's sarcoma). Biography ...

(1837–1902) and

Salomon Stricker Salomon Stricker (1 January 1834 – 2 April 1898) was an Austrian pathologist and histologist. Career Stricker was born in Waag-Neustadtl (Hungarian: Vágújhely, now Nové Mesto nad Váhom in Slovakia). He studied at the University of Vienna, ...

(1834–1898). Wedl is largely remembered for his work in microscopic

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and

. He made contributions in the fields of

helminthology Helminthology is the study of parasitic worms (helminths). The field studies the taxonomy of helminths and their effects on their hosts. The origin of the first compound of the word is the Greek '' ἕλμινς'' - helmins, meaning "worm". In ...

neurology Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...

and

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

, and was one of the first physicians to apply

cell theory In biology, cell theory is a scientific theory first formulated in the mid-nineteenth century, that living organisms are made up of Cell (biology), cells, that they are the basic structural/organizational unit of all organisms, and that all cell ...

to pathology of the eye. The eponymous "Wedl cells" are named after him, defined as

dysplastic Dysplasia is any of various types of abnormal growth or development of cells (microscopic scale) or organs (macroscopic scale), and the abnormal histology or anatomical structure(s) resulting from such growth. Dysplasias on a mainly microscopic ...

bladder-like fibers in the

crystalline lens The lens, or crystalline lens, is a transparent biconvex structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps to refract light to be focused on the retina. By changing shape, it functions to change the focal length of the eye so that it can ...

of the eye.

Drusen Drusen, from the German word for ''node'' or ''geode'' (singular, "Druse"), are tiny yellow or white accumulations of extracellular material that build up between Bruch's membrane and the retinal pigment epithelium of the eye. The presence of a f ...

, the hallmark of AMD, were first described in 1854 by Wedl. Wedl named them

colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others extend ...

bodies of the

choroid The choroid, also known as the choroidea or choroid coat, is a part of the uvea, the vascular layer of the eye, and contains connective tissues, and lies between the retina and the sclera. The human choroid is thickest at the far extreme rear ...

and thought that they were incompletely developed cells, because they had no cell membrane or nucleus. The genus ''Wedlia'' ( Cobbold 1860) is named after him, as are the species ''Didymosulcus wedli'' (Ariola, 1902), ''Ascaris wedli'' ( Stossich, 1896) and '' Paroneirodes wedli'' ( Pietschmann 1926).
petymol Biographical Etymology of Marine Organism Names- W. Wedl was the author of numerous books and articles, a few of which have been translated into English. He died on September 21, 1891, bequeathing his estate to the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna Academy of Sciences.

Written works

* ''Beiträge zur Lehre von den Hämatozoen'', 1850 - Contributions to the study of hematozoa. * ''Beiträge zur Anatomie des zweibuckeligen Kameeles (Camelus bactrianus)'',1852 (with Franz Müller) - Contributions to the anatomy of the

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped drom ...

. * ''Grundzüge der pathologischen Histologie'', 1854, translated and edited by George Busk as "Rudiments of Pathological Histology", 1855 * ''Über das Nervensystem der Nematoden'' 1855 - - On the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes th ...

of the

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

. * ''Über einige Nematoden'', 1856 - On some nematodes. * ''Charakteristik mehrerer Grössentheils neuer Tänien'', 1856 - treatise on Taenia. * ''Über ein in den Mägen des Rindes Vorkommendes Epiphyt'' 1858 - * ''Anatomische Beobachtungen über Trematoden'', 1858 - Anatomical observations on

trematode Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host ...

s. * ''Über die bedeutung der in den schalen von manchen acephalen und gasteropoden vorkommenden canäle', 1859 - * ''Beiträge zur Pathologie der Blutgefässe'', 1859 - Contributions to the pathology of

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

s. * ''Über einen im Zahnbein und Knochen keimenden Pilz'', 1864 - On bone and dentin in germinating fungi. * ''Atlas zur Pathologie der Zähne'', 1869 (with

Moriz Heider Moriz Heider (21 June 1816, Vienna – 29 July 1866, Vienna) was an Austrian dentist born in Vienna. He studied medicine in Vienna, where he was an assistant to Georg Carabelli (1787-1842). In 1858 he became an associate professor at the Universi ...

and Joseph R von Metnitz) translated into English as "Atlas to the pathology of the teeth". * ''Über die Haut-Sensibilitätsbezirke der einzelnen Rückenmarksnervenpaare'', 1869 (with

Ludwig Türck Ludwig Türck (22 June 1810 – 25 February 1868) was an Austrian neurologist who was a native of Vienna. In 1836 he obtained his medical doctorate from the University of Vienna, where in 1864 he became a full professor. He is remembered for hi ...

) - On sensitivity areas of each

spinal nerve A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human body there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, one on each side of the vertebral column. These are grouped into th ...

pair. * ''Histologische Mittheilungen. Zur Anatomie der Milz'', 1871 - Histological Mittheilungen. On the anatomy of the

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

. * ''Pathologie der Zähne, mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Anatomie und Physiologie'', 1870, translated into English by W.E. Boardman (with notes by T.B. Hitchcock) as "The pathology of the teeth, with special reference to their anatomy and physiology", 1872. * ''Zur pathologischen Anatomie des Glaukoms'', 1882 - The

pathological anatomy Anatomical pathology (''Commonwealth'') or Anatomic pathology (''U.S.'') is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the macroscopic, microscopic, biochemical, immunologic and molecular examination ...

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

. * ''Der Aberglaube und die Naturwissenschaften'', 1883 - Superstition and

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

. * ''Pathologische Anatomie des Auges'', 1886 - Pathological anatomy of the eye.

References

translated biography @

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

WorldCat Libraries
List of publications

biography @

AEIOU Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German language, German and English language, English about Austria-related topics. Background The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedl, Carl 1815 births 1891 deaths Austrian histologists Austrian pathologists Scientists from Vienna Academic staff of the University of Vienna

Written works

See also

References