Nikolaus Rüdinger (25 March 1832 – 25 August 1896) was a German

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 it ...

born in

Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ''Mäuseturm'', k ...

, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse (present-day

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

). He studied at the Universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

. In 1855 he worked as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, where in 1870 was appointed professor of anatomy and second

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the anatomical institute. Rüdinger is credited for introducing a new method for preservation of corpses in the dissecting room. This procedure involved injections of

carbolic acid Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromaticity, aromatic organic compound with the molecular chemical formula, formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatility (chemistry), volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

mixed with

glycerine Glycerol (), also called glycerine in British English and glycerin in American English, is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known ...

and alcohol. In addition, he is remembered for using

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

for anatomical diagnoses. He died in

Tutzing Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town was traditionally a favorite vacation spot for thos ...

on 25 August 1896 at the age of 64. Grabstätte von Nikolaus Rüdinger

Selected publications

* "Anatomie des peripherischen Nervensystems des menschlichen Körpers" (Anatomy of the

peripheral nervous system The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is one of two components that make up the nervous system of bilateral animals, with the other part being the central nervous system (CNS). The PNS consists of nerves and ganglia, which lie outside the brain ...

of human corpses), two volumes- 1870 * "Atlas des peripherischen Nervensystems" (Atlas of the peripheral nervous system), 1872 * "Atlas des menschlichen Gehörorgans" (Atlas of the human hearing organs), 1867–70 * "Topographisch-chirurgische Anatomie des Menschen" (Topographical-surgical anatomy of humans), 1870–78 * "Beitrag zur Morpholegte des Gaumsegels und des Verdauungsapparats", (Contributions to the morphology of the

soft palate The soft palate (also known as the velum, palatal velum, or muscular palate) is, in mammals, the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is part of the palate of the mouth; the other part is the hard palate. ...

and the digestive apparatus), 1879 * "Beitrag zur Anatomie der Affenspalte und der Interparietalfurche", 1882 * "Beitrag zur Anatomie des Sprachzentrums" (Contributions to the anatomy of the language center), 1882 * "Zur Anatomie der Prostata" (The Anatomy of the

prostate The prostate is both an accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemically, and phys ...

), 1883

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.''
Maryland Medical Journal, Article on Preservation of Corpses
1832 births 1896 deaths People from Bingen am Rhein People from Rhenish Hesse German anatomists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty Heidelberg University alumni University of Giessen alumni {{Germany-med-bio-stub