Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 57-59. (Budapest, 1971)

KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK — ELŐADÁSOK - Sós József: A kísérletes orvostudomány megalapozói a pesti orvostudományi karon (angol nyelven)

THE FOUNDERS OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICAL SCIENCE ON THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE IN PEST* by JÓZSEF SÓS T

he experimental approach of medical science, as a result of the activities of our predecessors, forms not only the basis of Hungarian medical science, but also of our medical education, and consequently of our whole medical thinking. In this country the morphological subjects are deeply experimental. This feature gives a peculiar character and at the same time guarantees success and recognition to Hungarian medicine on the international level. It is sufficient to mention the names of the clinicians who are best known abroad such as Sándor Korányi and Ernő Jendrassik from the previous generation or István Rusznyák from ours, to prove the thesis. The origin of that approach goes back to Jenő Jendrassik (1824-1891), and the appearance of the experimental school can be fixed at 1860, when Jenő Jendrassik came over from Kolozsvár to succed Czermák as professor of physiology. Previous to him Schordann (1794-1862) and Czermák were only talking about the necessity of the experimental approach. In the account of the medical historian Györy : "If the understanding of the authorities had given him the means Schordann would have become the first to introduce experimentally based physiology at our university" But owing to the difficulties he had been only its intellectual precursor, who spent his own money on the instruments and the books. One single room was his institute! His sucessor, Czermák, proved to be luckier as in 1858 the institute was transfered to the Kunewalder building. There presented itself the first opportunity to demonstrate on animals. But that meant only the demonstration of already taught theses, it did not render possible to try to make new scientific discoveries. The road, however, was opened up for the next generations. The experimental school was established in physiology by the successor of Czermák, Jenő Jendrassik, and in pharmacology by their common disciple, Kálmán Balogh. Jendrassik applied experimental physiology still in a very narrow field: in the examination of muscular activity. But he did it in a way most inspiring for his disciples. His physiological thinking meant experimental scientific thinking * A lecture delivered on November 11th 1969 at the medical historical session commemorating the 200 year anniversary of the foundation of the Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest. — Hungarian: Sós József: A hazai kísérletes orvostudomány megalapozói. Magyar Tudomány 1971. 1« 25—35.