Prof. Rudolf Fick

Abstract

PROF. FICK, who died on May 23 at the age of seventy-three years, retired from the chair of anatomy in the University of Berlin in 1935. He brought down to the rising generation of German anatomists the great traditions of Gegenbaur and of Koelliker. Indeed Prof. Fick's first appointment was in Koelliker's department at Würzburg. His earliest research work was on the ripening of the cells of reproduction, which led to his becoming assistant to Wilhelm His in Leipzig. There the nature of his inquiries took a new direction; he applied to the study of the human body a more complete understanding of mechanics than had been dono previously. The results of his studies are embodied in his “Handbuch der Anatomie und Mechanik der Gelenke” (1904–1911; 3 vols.). His fellow anatomists admired his researches more than they studied them. In all he did there are to be seen care and accuracy. This is particularly true of his pioneer research into the anatomy of the orang—carried out on adult animals which died in the Zoological Gardens of Leipzig towards the end of the nineteenth century.