History of Anatomy and Activities of a Number of Famous Anatoms in the Reflection of Philately and Numismatics

The article presents the results of a new study devoted to the study of the representation of the history of world anatomy and famous anatomists of different countries, in such collectibles as philately, numismatics. Brand new postage stamps and envelopes, commemorative coins and medals that have never been included in the author’s research materials have been presented. The illustrative part of the article is provided with textual comments to the presented materials.

Keywords:Anatomy; History anatomy; Famous anatomists; Philately; Numismatics

Studying the history of medicine and, in particular, the history of world anatomy, the life and work of famous anatomists from different countries, in different periods of world history, is a very exciting and educational process. The world of collecting never ceases to amaze with its abundance and variety of presented postage stamps, envelopes, postage blocks, commemorative medals and coins dedicated to world anatomy and famous anatomists from around the world. It would seem that everything possible has already been found, everything has been told, but again and again, in the depths of the world Internet, there is something new that was not noticed earlier. The search process is so fascinating that it makes the researchers, again and again, to look for new material facts on tagging concerning the presentation of events and people who have given their lives to the ministry of anatomy. This article, presents a variety of completely new screenshots of postage stamps and envelopes, medals and coins, which represent a new page of living history, from important medical sciences - human anatomy.

Submit the results of new studies regarding the issue of the representation of the history of world anatomy and well-known scientists, in the reflection of such collectibles such as philately and numismatics.

To achieve this goal, we used such methods and tools as the study and analysis of all available sources of information, thematically relevant to the topic of the issue under study, namely: encyclopedias, reference books, thematic catalogs and articles, Internet pages.

Among famous people whose name is associated with anatomy and medicine, an honorable place in history is occupied by Professor Johan Ignaz von Döllinger (1799-1890) - a famous German anatomist, physiologist, theologian [6,13]. He, since 1873, was president of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, organized an anatomical school in Würzburg. Also, he modernized and improved the microscope [6,13]. A small selection of collection materials dedicated to him - a portrait, his works and a book about him, commemorative bronze and silver medals (obverse and reverse), minted in 1890, are presented in (Figure 1) [2,4,6,13,17, 18].

Also, in the history of anatomy, an honorable place is occupied by a famous English anatomist, histologist and surgeon, ophthalmologist – William Bowman (1816-1892) [12,13]. He is widely known in scientific circles for his study of human organs using a microscope [12,13]. So, he owns the discovery of Bowman’s capsules, an important component in the structure of the renal nephron, and the theory of urine formation by the process of renal filtration. He discovered the glands of the nasal mucosa and the membrane - a dense layer of the cornea of eye that separates the stroma of the cornea from its anterior epithelium. Both of these anatomical formations bear the name of this scientist [12,13]. In addition, he is the author of the five-volume work “Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man” (1843-1856) and “Encyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology” (1852) [12,13]. On (Figure 2) a small selection of collection materials (portraits, his autograph, a postage stamp of Ukraine (2016), an image of Bowman’s capsule), a commemorative sign dedicated to William Bowman [12-14,18].

On (Figure 3) a well-known German scientist is represented - anatomist, pathologist, pathologist – Friedrich Gustav Jacob Henle (1809-1885) [13-16]. He entered the history of world medicine, thanks to the discovery of the loop of Henle and the study of the structure of the renal nephron. A selection of collection materials dedicated to F. G. J. Henle is presented in (Figure 3) [13-16].

On (Figure 4) a collection selection is presented (portraits of the scientist, with his autograph, his books, a postage stamp of Ukraine, commemorative silver and bronze medals (in obverse and reverse), drawings of that time dedicated to his active work, illustrations to his scientific theories), which plot Dedicated to the Austrian anatomist and doctor - Franz Joseph Hall (1758-1828) [13,18, 22-26]. He was actively engaged in the study of the brain, put forward the idea that the more gray matter a person has, the latter, more reasonable. Created and actively developed science/ pseudoscience - phrenology. He actively measured the skulls of people and believed that the shape of the skull indicates different mental functions of people, studied the influence of various parts of the brain on mental behavior and differences in human behavior [13, 22-26]. He created a map of the human brain, with a detailed description of the sphere of responsibility of each part of the brain. On (Figure 4) these maps and diagrams are presented.

On (Figure 5) a small selection of collection materials is presented (portrait, autographed photographs of the scientist, his scientific works, a commemorative medal-plaque dedicated to the famous German scientist - anatomist and histologist, Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921) [13,18,20]. For his scientific work on the collarbone, in 1861 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine [13,18, 20]. From 1872 to 1883, he was professor of anatomy at the University of Strasbourg, and from 1883, he was actively engaged in anthropology. It was he who introduced into medical use such terms as “neuron”, “chromosome” [9,13,18, 20].

A small collection selection, which is shown in (Figure 6) (portraits of the scientist, commemorative bronze medal, obverse and reverse, his anatomical books and illustrations), dedicated to the famous Italian anatomist and illustrator of anatomical atlases and textbooks of that time, on human anatomy - Paolo Mascagni (1755-1815) [1,5,11,13, 16]. From 1801 he was professor of anatomy and taught anatomy at the University of Pisa, anatomy, physiology and chemistry, at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence. It was he who studied the anatomy and functioning of the spongy body in the male penis [5,11, 13]. Also, he created a large collection of wax bodies, in the anatomical museum, in Florence [1, 5,11, 13].

The collection selection presented in (Figure 7). (a commemorative bronze medal presented on the obverse and reverse, a commemorative badge, his books, his autographed photographs), dedicated to the Dutch anatomist, cardiologist, Professor Karel Frederik Wenckenbach (1864-1940) [7,8,13,18,19, 21]. In 1901, he became a professor of medicine at the University of Groningen, and subsequently he was a professor at the universities of Strasbourg (1911–1914) and Vienna (1914–1929) [7,8,13,18,19, 21]. K.F. Wenckebach described the median bundle of the conduction system of the heart, connecting the sinoatrial node with the atrioventricular node. This ligament is named after this scientist - the Wenckebach ligament [7,8,13,18,19, 21].

On (Figure 8) a selection of nominal award, bronze and silver medals is presented, which were awarded for achievements in practical anatomy, at the Royal Irish College of Surgeons, in different years [3,10, 18].

On (Figure 9) presented, obverse and reverse, a commemorative silver Irish medal – “CARMICHAEL PREMIUM”, dedicated to Carmichael school of Anatomy, Medicine and Surgery. The obverse of this commemorative medal features a portrait of Ricardu’s Carmichaels [10, 18]. The Carmichael School was established in 1826 as the “school of anatomy, medicine and surgery of the Richmond Hospital”, and renamed in 1849, following the death of Richard Carmichael, its first lecturer [10, 18].

This concludes this article, which was devoted to the history of world anatomy and a number of famous anatomists, representing their states from different periods of time, in the reflection of such collections as philately and numismatics. The author plans to prepare a number of articles on similar topics.

1. In this research article, available and in a fairly complete volume, reflecting such collectibles as philately and numismatics, biography and memorable data about a number of world-famous scientists-anatomists of different centuries are presented.

2. Collectibles, in all their diversity, are able to informatively present the available data on the history of medicine and, in particular, anatomy.

3. Studying and preserving the history of world medicine, and such an important section of it as the history of anatomy, will allow to preserve in the memory of new generations, important historical facts, about the discoverers of this science.

None.

No conflict of interest.