Johannes Peter Müller

We had, it is true, an almost uncultivated field before us, in which almost every stroke of the spade might produce remunerative results.

It was one man more especially who aroused our enthusiasm for work in the right direction, that is, Johannes Müller, the physiologist.

In his theoretical views he favoured the vitalistic hypothesis, but in the most essential points he was a natural philosopher, firm and immovable.

For him all theories were but hypotheses, which had to be tested by facts, and about which facts alone could decide.

If these cannot be given, the explanation attempted is merely a modest confession of ignorance, and then it is decidedly better to confess this openly.

If any process in vegetation is referred to forces in the cells without a closer definition of the conditions among which and of the direction in which they work, this can at most assert that the more remote parts of the organism are without influence, but it would be difficult to confirm this with certainty in more than a few cases.

In like manner, the originally definite sense which Johannes Müller gave to the idea of reflex action is gradually evaporated into this, that when an impression has been made on any part of the nervous system and an action occurs in any other part, this is supposed to have been explained by saying that it is a reflex action.

Much may be imposed upon the irresolvable complexity of the nerve fibers of the brain, but the resemblance to the qualities occulta of ancient medicine is very suspicious.

We had, it is true, an almost uncultivated field before us, in which almost every stroke of the spade might produce remunerative results.

It was one man more especially who aroused our enthusiasm for work in the right direction, that is, Johannes Müller, the physiologist.

In his theoretical views he favored the vitalistic hypothesis, but in the most essential points he was a natural philosopher, firm and immovable.

For him all theories were but hypotheses, which had to be tested by facts, and about which facts alone could decide.

If any process in vegetation is referred to forces in the cells without a closer definition of the conditions among which and of the direction in which they work, this can at most assert that the more remote parts of the organism are without influence.

But it would be difficult to confirm this with certainty in more than a few cases.

In like manner, the originally definite sense which Johannes Müller gave to the idea of reflex action is gradually evaporated into this, that when an impression has been made on any part of the nervous system and an action occurs in any other part, this is supposed to have been explained by saying that it is a reflex action.

Much may be imposed upon the irresolvable complexity of the nerve fibers of the brain, but the resemblance to the qualities occulta of ancient medicine is very suspicious.