Paul Walther Fürbringer (7 August 1849 – 21 July 1930) was a German physician and
chemist born in
Delitzsch
Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...
, in the
Prussian
Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
. He was a brother to
anatomist Max Fürbringer
Max Carl Anton Fürbringer (January 30, 1846 – March 6, 1920) was a German anatomy, anatomist, known for his anatomical investigations of vertebrates and especially for his studies in ornithology on avian morphology (biology), morphology and clas ...
(1846-1920).
He studied medicine at the Universities of
Jena and
Berlin. He served as an assistant physician during the
Franco-Prussian War, afterwards working as an assistant in the institute of
pathology at
Jena, and in
Nikolaus Friedreich
Nikolaus Friedreich (1 July 1825 in Würzburg – 6 July 1882 in Heidelberg) was a German pathologist and neurologist, and a third generation physician in the Friedreich family. His father was psychiatrist Johann Baptist Friedreich (1796–1862) ...
's clinic at the
University of Heidelberg. In 1876 he received his habilitation for
pharmacology
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...
and medicinal
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
with a dissertation involving
oxalic acid
Oxalic acid is an organic acid with the systematic name ethanedioic acid and formula . It is the simplest dicarboxylic acid. It is a white crystalline solid that forms a colorless solution in water. Its name comes from the fact that early inve ...
excretion in the
urine.
In 1879 he became an associate professor and head of the district health center in Jena, and during the following year was director of the ''Amtsphysikat''-Jena. From 1886 to 1903 he was director of the city hospital at
Friedrichshain-Berlin.
Fürbringer's interests in medicine were many and varied. He performed investigations of
salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H4CO2H. A colorless, bitter-tasting solid, it is a precursor to and a metabolite of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is a plant hormone, and has been listed by the EPA Toxic Substance ...
as well as research on the effects of
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
; conducted studies on
alkaptonuria,
liver disease, diseases of the
genitourinary system
The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the organs of the reproductive system and the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the use of common pathwa ...
and acute
infectious diseases
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
. He also conducted research on subjects such as
hand sanitation,
physical education,
balneology, sexual pathology and
impotence.
From 1890 to 1921 he was a member of the ''Medizinalkollegiums'' for Berlin and
Brandenburg.
Written works
* ''Zur vergleichenden Anatomie der Muskeln des Kopfskeletts der Zyklostomen'' (Jena 1875).
* ''Untersuchungen und Vorschriften über die Desinfektion der Hände des Arztes'', 1888 (Studies and regulations for disinfection of the hands of the physician).
* ''Die Krankheiten der Harn- und Geschlechtsorgane'' (1884; second edition 1890) -- "Textbook of diseases of the
kidneys and urinary organs"; translated from the German with annotations by W.H. Gilbert; commendatory letter from Sir
Thomas Grainger Stewart (London :
H.K. Lewis, 1895).
On Line Books
* ''Über die Punktionstherapie der serösen Pleuritis und ihre Indikation'' 1890 (On puncture therapy of serous pleurisy and its indication).
References
Deutsche Biographie
(biography)
* List of written works copied from an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furbringer, Paul
1849 births
1930 deaths
People from Delitzsch
Physicians from the Province of Saxony
German pharmacologists
Academic staff of the University of Jena