Paul Heinrich Gerhard Möhring (also Paul Mohr; 21 July 1710 in
Jever
Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer, Jever Pilsener, which is produced there. The city is also a popular holiday resort. Jever was granted c ...
– 28 October 1792) was a German
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
botanist
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 wo ...
and
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
.
He studied medicine in
Danzig and
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...
, and following graduation (1733), he settled as a
general practitioner in his hometown of Jever. Möhring was a physician to the Prince of Anhalt. In 1752 he published ''
Avium Genera'', an early attempt to classify bird species, which divided birds into four classes and shows the beginnings of the modern groupings.
During his long career, he maintained correspondence with
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 ...
,
Lorenz Heister
Lorenz Heister (Latin: ''Laurentius Heister'') (19 September 1683 – 18 April 1758) was a German anatomist, surgeon and botanist born in Frankfurt am Main.
Biography
From 1702 to 1706 Heister studied at the Universities of Giessen and Wetz ...
,
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
,
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
and
Paul Gottlieb Werlhof
Paul Gottlieb Werlhof (24 March 1699 – 26 July 1767) was a German physician and poet who was a native of Helmstedt.
He studied medicine at the University of Helmstedt under Lorenz Heister (1683–1758) and Brandanus Meibom (1678–1740) ...
. The plant genus ''
Moehringia
''Moehringia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae.Volker Bittrich. 1993. "Caryophyllaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki. ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants''. volume II, pages 206-236. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg ...
'' (family
Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...
) was named in his honor by Carl Linnaeus.
Principal works
* "De inflammationis sanguineae theoria mechanica", 1733.
* "Historiae medicinales", 1739.
* "Avium genera", 1752.
* ''Geslachten der Vogelen'' 1758.
WorldCat Identities
Publications by Möhring.
References
External links
IPNI
List of plants described by Paul Möhring.
1710 births
1792 deaths
18th-century German zoologists
18th-century German physicians
18th-century German botanists
Botanists with author abbreviations
Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
University of Wittenberg alumni
People from Jever
{{Germany-botanist-stub