![]() ![]() Hemoglobin was discovered by Hoppe-Seyler in 1864.Īlthough these physiological studies were of considerable importance, Meyer’s greatest achievement is no doubt tied to his work on the periodic classification of the elements. His preliminary searches for this constituent were unsuccessful. This suggested to him that the same constituent of blood reacted with both gases. Further, he found that the amounts of oxygen and carbon monoxide taken up by the blood were in a simple molecular ratio, the carbon monoxide being able to expel volume for volume the oxygen already in the blood. When he turned his attention to carbon monoxide poisoning, Meyer demonstrated a similar chemical linkage between that gas and a constituent of the blood. This suggested to him that some possibly loose chemical linkage occurred. Magnus, he was able to demonstrate in 1856 that oxygen absorption by blood in the lungs occurs independently of pressure. Meyer’s earliest research dealt with physiological aspects of the uptake of gases by the blood. For the year 1894–1895 he was elected rector of Tubingen University. Meyer was concerned with higher education and gave a number of lectures-later published - on that subject. In 1890 Meyer published Grundzuge der theoretischen Chemie, a less technical account of the theoretical foundations of chemistry than the later editions of his Moderne Theorien had become. In excellent health until his sudden death, he guided the work of over sixty doctoral candidates and with his associate Karl Seubert he published a careful analysis of the best atomic weight determinations available until then. Meyer’s Tubingen years, at last, offered an opportunity for the intensive pursuit of his major interests. In the summer of 1870 the Franco-Prussian War broke out and Meyer made use of his medical abilities, helping to organize an emergency hospital in the buildings of the Polytechnic. Mendeleev’s 1869 paper on the periodic table led him to submit his own matured ideas for publication in December of that year. Two major events occurred in the early years of Meyer’s stay at Karlsruhe. His final move, in 1876, was to Tubingen, where he taught until his death. Weltzien as professor of chemistry and director of the chemical laboratories at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic Institute. Meyer was called to the School of Forestry at Neustadt-Eberswalde in 1866 for his first independent position. From a flimsy pamphlet it grew to a stately volume, and it has generally been recognized as the best presentation of the fundamental principles of chemistry until the physicochemical movement beganю In a brief obituary in 1895 the book was described as “not especially well received at first, but as years passed it exerted a more and more powerful influence on the thoughts of chemists. Meyer edited Cannizzaro’s paper for Oswald's Klassiker der Exacten Wissenschaften and describes in that work how “the scales fell from my eyes and my doubts disappeared and were replaced by a feeling of quiet certainty.” Meyer’s Moderne Theorien was a direct outcome of that experience. Meyer had attended the 1860 Karlsruhe Congress, where he heard Cannizzaro and read his paper on the use of Avogadro’s hypothesis and the law of Dulong and Petit in establishing atomic weights and formulas. It went through five editions and was translated into English, French, and Russian. During his stay at Breslau, the first edition of his Die modernen Theorien der Chemie umi ihre Bedeutung fur die chemische Statik appeared (1864). In February 1859 Meyer established himself as Privatdozent in physics and chemistry at Breslau with a critical historical work, “Uber die chemischen Lehren von Berthollet und Berzelius.” That same spring he took over the direction of the chemical laboratory in the physiological institute and lectured on organic, inorganic, physiological, and biological chemistry. ![]()
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