Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm von Bischoff

Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm von Bischoff was a German medical doctor and biologist, born in Hannover in 1807 and died in Munich in 1882. He lectured on pathological anatomy at Heidelberg University from 1835 to 1843, held professorships in anatomy and physiology at the University of Giessen from 1843 to 1855, and was appointed to the chair of anatomy and physiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1854. His most important contributions were in embryology, in four exhaustive memoirs on the development of the mammalian ovum published in 1842 for the rabbit, 1845 for the dog, 1852 for the guinea pig and 1854 for the roe deer. His studies of animal metabolism by measuring urea were less successful, as was his research on the anatomy of the skull and brain. He was elected to the German Academy of Sciences in 1843 and became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1878, and in 1872 he published a work on the study and practice of medicine by women.