Friedrich Goll (1 March 1829 – 12 November 1903) was a Swiss neuroanatomist born in

Zofingen Zofingen (french: Zofingue) is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement. History In ancient times Zofingen was a settleme ...

, a town located in the canton of

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

. In 1853 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Zurich, and furthered his education in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he studied under physiologist Claude Bernard (1813–1878). Afterwards he returned to Zurich, where from 1855, he worked as a general practitioner of medicine. In 1862 he became habilitated for special

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

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 ...

at the University of Zurich, where from 1863 to 1869, he was director of the medical polyclinic.: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB)
(biography)Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz
(biography) From 1885 to 1901 he served as an associate professor of pharmacology in Zurich. He was an avid mountaineer and promoter of spas and resorts in Graubünden. From 1885 to 1895, he served as president of the Medical Society of the

Canton of Zurich Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

. Goll is remembered for his description of the

fasciculus gracilis ''Fasciculus vesanus'' is an extinct species of stem-group ctenophores known from the Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Canada. It is dated to and belongs to middle Cambrian strata. The species is remarkable for its two sets of long and sho ...

, a bundle of axon fibers in the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

that is also known as the "tract of Goll" in honor of his discovery.

Selected writings

* ''Über den Einfluss des Blutdruckes auf die Harnabsonderung'', (dissertation, 1853) - On the influence of

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

on urinary secretion. * ''Beiträge zur feineren Anatomie des menschlichen Rückenmarks'', 1860 - Contributions to the finer anatomy of the human spinal cord.Google Books
(publications)

References

* Swiss anatomists Academic staff of the University of Zurich People from Zofingen 1829 births 1903 deaths Swiss general practitioners {{Switzerland-med-bio-stub