Paul Heinrich Gerhard Möhring (also Paul Mohr; 21 July 1710 in
Jever
Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland (district), 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 res ...
– 28 October 1792) was a German
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
,
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
and
zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
.
He studied medicine in
Danzig and
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...
, and following graduation (1733), he settled as a
general practitioner
A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice.
GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
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 and Jacob Winslow, he is sometimes r ...
,
Lorenz Heister,
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
,
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector. He had a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British ...
and
Paul Gottlieb Werlhof. The plant genus ''
Moehringia'' (family
Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...
) 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