Friedrich Sigmund Merkel

Friedrich Merkel

Friedrich Sigmund Merkel (5 April 1845 – 28 May 1919) was a leading German anatomist and histopathologist of the late 19th century. In 1875 he provided the first full description of Tastzellen (touch cells) which occur in the skin of all vertebrates. They were subsequently given the eponym Merkel cells in 1878 by Robert Bonnet (1851–1921).

Merkel was a native of Nürnberg. In 1869 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Erlangen, becoming habilitated in the field of anatomy during the following year. He was a professor at the Universities of Rostock (from 1872), Königsberg (from 1883) and Göttingen (from 1885). Two of his better known assistants were Dietrich Barfurth (1849-1927) and Hermann Kuhnt (1850-1925),

Selected publications

• Das Mikroskop und seine Anwendung, 1875.
• Handbuch der topographischen Anatomie (Textbook of topographical anatomy), 1885-1907.
• Ergebnisse der Anatomie und Entwickelungsgeschichte; from 1892 one annual volume, published with Robert Bonnet (1851-1921).
• Menschliche Embryonen verschiedenen Alters auf Medianschnitten untersucht, 1894.
• Die Anatomie des Menschen. Mit Hinweisen auf die ärztliche Praxis, 1913-18.

External links

• Friedrich Sigmund Merkel @ Who Named It