Talk:Embryology History - Robert Meyer

Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Über verschiedene Erscheinungsformen der als Typus Brenner bekannten Eierstocksgeschwulst, ihre Absonderung von den Granulosazelltumoren und Zuordnung unter andere Ovarialgeschwülste Robert Meyer Archiv für Gynäkologie October 1932, Volume 148, Issue 3, pp 541–596 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01700859

Über das Stadium proliferationis s. hyperaemicum sowie über den Begriff und die Abgrenzung des Blütestadiums des Corpus luteum beim Menschen Robert Meyer Archiv für Gynäkologie June 1932, Volume 149, Issue 2, pp 315–346 | Cite as https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01820104

Fig. 138. Section through the head of a human embryo of 18.5 mm greatest length. (Collection of Robert Meyer, Template:Meyer 32; Normentafel of Keibel and Elze, Plate 64, Fig. XXI.) X 15. G.L., palatal process; J.O., Jacobson's organ; point of union with the nasal cavity; S., nasal septum, in which there is a common blastema for the cartilage of the septum and Jacobson's cartilage; Z., tongue, in which the musculature is beginning to differentiate. The tongue (Z) lies between the palatal processes. An early stage of the dental ridges may be recognized.

Thompson P. Description of a human embryo of twenty-three paired somites. (1907) J Anat Physiol, 41(3):159-71. PMID 17232726

The embryo, obtained at an operation, was recorded as 2.5 mm. long, and was cut transversely into 488 sections, each 5 , in thickness, and stained with borax-carmine. In making the model, every other section was drawn, enlarged 100 diameters, and the wax plates were made 1 millimetre in thickness. When the plates had been cut and laid in position, it was found, owing probably to the hot weather and the weight of wax, that the total height of the model was only 220 millimetres, and, in order to correct the error, 24 additional wax plates were made, duplicates of every tenth section, and introduced into the series. In this way the total length of the model was brought up to 244 millimetres, corresponding to the 244 sections used, which indicates a shortage of less than 3 per cent, when compared with the 250 millimetres, the absolutely accurate measurement which the enlargement should have been, taking the length of embryo as 25 min. The difference is probably due to a slight shrinkage, which would most probably occur in preparing the specimen for cutting. It may be stated here that the embryo is histologically in excellent condition, mitosis being readily observed in the multiplying cells, and there seems no valid reason for doubting that the specimen is a normal one. Inaddition to the model of the whole embryo and its yolk sac, other models were made of special organs, namely, the heart and its endothelial tube, the brain, a part of the alimentary canal, and the septum transversum.

History of Gynecological Pathology - X. Dr. Robert Meyer

Gisela Dallenbach-Hellweg, M.D., and Dietmar Schmidt, M.D.

Robert Meyer (Fig. 1), whose monumental contribu- tions to gynecological pathology span 50 years (1–245), was born in Hannover, Lower Saxony, on January 11, 1864. He was the third child and second son of Moritz and Bettina Meyer who subsequently had another son and daughter. His father, originally a successful banker, resigned his post to engage in the manufacture of rubber. When Robert was 15 years old, his father died of pneu- monia at the age of 57 years. His mother, then 40 years old, did not remarry. She was financially secure, and maintained the family mansion, which was regarded as one of the architectural sights of Hannover and where concerts were often held. Hannover also offered excel- lent theater, opera, and diverse concerts, which Robert attended as often as possible. He learned to play the violin when he was 11 years old. One of his brothers became a first-rate pianist, further attesting to the musi- cal talents of the Meyer children.

Greatly stimulated by attending a course in embryology given by Professor Oscar Hertwig and deeply impressed by Professor Rudolf Virchow, Meyer began to concentrate on studies of fetal organs, to clarify malformations of the female genitalia. By publishing from his studies of 125 fetuses reviews on gynatresia (2), hematocolpos (3), and duplex uterus (5) in Veit’s highly regarded Handbuch der Gynäkologie 1st edition (1897), Meyer began to make a name for himself. To ensure his private practice did not suffer from his absence, Meyer transferred the small laboratory of pathology from the Veit clinic to his home and prepared all the histological sections himself. When his wife finally realized that his technical burden was proving too much for him, she arranged for a servant girl to assist him. Under Meyer’s guidance she soon became a skillful histotechnologist and was his assistant for the next 30 years.

In 1932 Meyer began his fundamental studies of the development of the vagina based on his serial sections of 112 fetuses. He published his results in five major contributions totaling 470 pages in the Archiv für Gynäkologie (231,232, 235,237,238), and he dedicated the 3000 microphotographs, which he had made for these studies and collected in five large albums, to his good friend Geheimrat Stoeckel.