| RefNo | AP/32/1 |
| Level | File |
| Title | Unpublished paper, 'On the physiology and pathology of phosphate and oxalate of lime, and their relation to the formation of cells' by William Beneke |
| Creator | Beneke; William (fl 1850) |
| Date | 1850 |
| Description | Beneke begins by referring to a work recently published by him, entitled 'Der Phosphorasure Kalk in physiologischer und therapeutischer Beziehung' [Phosphate of lime in physiological and therapeautic relation], in which he believes that he has established the indispensable necessity of phosphate of lime to the formation of cells in man, as well as in animals and plants; its deficiency as a cause of disease; and its efficacy administered internally as a means of alleviation or cure in the treatment of such disease. He cites from Liebig various proofs of the necessity of the presence of phosphate of lime for the formation of nitrogenous compounds in plants; and from Carl Schmidt, that it has an intimate relation to the formation of cells in invertebrate animals; and argues from his own experiments, that it has the same relation to the formation of cells in the higher classes of animals and in man. These experiments consisted, first, in the chemical examination of various pathological discharges, such as the serum produced by blisters and the secretions of wounds and ulcers, the result of which satisfied him, that, wherever a formation of cells took place, phosphate of lime was present in considerable quantity, and wherever it was absent, he could not detect any phosphate. Beneke believes that from a mixture of albumen, pure fat and phosphate of lime, put in a sand-bath at 104 degrees Celsius, he has succeeded in artificially producing cells, which he describes and figures in various stages. He further adduces, in proof of his theory, the beneficial results of the treatment of various diseases connected with dyscrasia, by the administration of phosphate of lime.
Followed by four plates showing cells, lime crystals and graphs relating to the text.
Subject: Medicine / Chemistry
Received 15 June 1850. Read 20 June 1850. Communicated by Sir James Clark.
Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 5 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'On the physiology and pathology of phosphate and oxalate of lime, and their relation to the formation of cells'. |
| Extent | 115p |
| Format | Drawing |
| Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink and graphite pencil on paper |
| Digital images | View item on Science in the Making |
| AccessStatus | Open |
| AccessConditions | Not available to view, off site for conservation. Please refer to digital surrogate on Science in the Making. |
| RelatedMaterial | DOI: 10.1098/rspl.1843.0263 |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7543 | Clark; Sir; James (1788 - 1870) | 1788 - 1870 |