Caspar Friedrich Wolff (18 January 1733 – 22 February 1794) was a German
physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
and one of the founders of
embryology
Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...
.
Life
Wolff was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
. In 1759 he graduated as an M.D. from the
University of Halle
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
with his dissertation "Theoria Generationis" where he revived and supported the theory of
epigenesis previously proposed by
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
and
William Harvey
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and proper ...
. The paper consisted of three parts devoted to (1) development of plants, (2) development of animals, and (3) theoretical considerations. It indicated that organs are formed in differentiated layers from undifferentiated cells. Traditional and prevailing theory had speculated that organisms were already preformed in the seed (theory of
preformation
In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is a formerly popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believed that the form of living things exist, ...
), that is in the human a
homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...
was already sitting in the sperm. His views were not well received.
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave, he is often referred to as "the fa ...
was a powerful antagonist. During the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, Wolff was required to practice as a field doctor in the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
. Thereafter he had difficulty entering academic life. Finally, in 1767, with help of the mathematician
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
he obtained the chairmanship of
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 ...
at the St.Petersburg Academy of Sciences (now
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
). He died in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
Research
Wolff's research covered embryology, anatomy, and
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
. He was the discoverer of the primitive kidneys (mesonephros), or "Wolffian bodies" and its excretory ducts. He described these in his
dissertation "Theoria Generationis" after observing them in his studies on chick embryos. According to Locy, since he assumed a total lack of organization in the beginning, he was obliged to make development "miraculous" through the action on the egg of a hyperphysical agent; from a total lack of organization, he conceived of its being lifted to the highly organized product through the action of a "vis essentialis corporis." In 1768–1769, he published his best work in embryology on the development of the intestine; of which Baer said, "It is the greatest masterpiece of scientific observation which we possess." Again, according to Locy, while Wolff's investigations for "Theoria Generationis" did not reach the level of
Marcello Malpighi
Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Founder of microscopical anatomy, histology & Father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by several phy ...
’s, those of the paper of 1768 surpassed them and held the position of the best piece of embryological work up to that of
Heinz Christian Pander
Heinz Christian Pander, also Christian Heinrich Pander ( – ), was a Russian Empire ethnic Baltic German biologist and embryologist.
Biography
In 1817 he received his doctorate from the University of Würzburg, and spent several years (1827 ...
and
Karl Ernst von Baer
Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer Edler von Huthorn ( – ) was a Baltic German scientist and explorer. Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and is considered a, or the, founding father of embryology. He was ...
.
Wolff’s "De Formatione Intestinorum" rather than his "Theoria Generationis" embodies his greatest contribution to embryology; in it he foreshadows the idea of
germ layer
A germ layer is a primary layer of cells that forms during embryonic development. The three germ layers in vertebrates are particularly pronounced; however, all eumetazoans (animals that are sister taxa to the sponges) produce two or three pr ...
s in the embryo, which, under Pander and von Baer, became the fundamental conception in structural embryology—he laid the foundation for the germ layer theory. Wolff foreshadowed the germ layer theory by showing that the material out of which the embryo is constructed is, in an early stage of development, arranged in the form of leaf-like layers. Locy recognizes Wolff as the foremost investigator in embryology before von Baer.
Wolff contended that the organs of animals make their appearance gradually and that he could actually follow their successive stages of formation.(Dye)
Eponyms
Wolff's eponyms are:
#
Wolffian ducts or mesonephric ducts
#
Wolffian cysts
Christian Wolff (less correctly Wolf, ; also known as Wolfius; ennobled as Christian Freiherr von Wolff in 1745; 24 January 1679 – 9 April 1754) was a German philosopher. Wolff is characterized as the most eminent German philosopher between Le ...
#
Wolffian body
The mesonephros ( el, middle kidney) is one of three excretory organs that develop in vertebrates. It serves as the main excretory organ of aquatic vertebrates and as a temporary kidney in reptiles, birds, and mammals. The mesonephros is included ...
or
mesonephros
The mesonephros ( el, middle kidney) is one of three excretory system, excretory organs that develop in vertebrates. It serves as the main excretory organ of aquatic vertebrates and as a temporary kidney in reptiles, birds, and mammals. The mesone ...
#
Wolff's islands or
blood islands
Blood islands are structures around the developing embryo which lead to many different parts of the circulatory system. Blood islands arise external to the developing embryo on the umbilical vesicle, allantois, connecting stalk and chorion. Th ...
References
# William A. Locy, Biology and its Makers, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1908
# Frank J. Dye, Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, Wiley-Liss, New York, 2002
# Speert H. Obstetrical and Gynecological Milestones. The Macmillan C., New York, 1958.
Medical eponyms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Caspar Friedrich
1733 births
1794 deaths
German embryologists
German physiologists
German military doctors
Scientists from Berlin
People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg
German people of the Seven Years' War
University of Halle alumni
Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Physicians of the Charité