HERING, EWALD (1834-1918), German physiologist and psychologist, was born at Alt-Gersdorf, Saxony, on Aug. 5, He practised medicine in Leipzig, where in 1862 he became lec turer in physiology at the university. He was professor of physiol ogy at the medico-surgical Josephs-Akademie in Vienna (1865 7o) ; at Prague (18 7o-95) and then again at Leipzig. Hering's chief work was in physiological optics and more especially the per ception of colour. He gave the four-colour theory authoritative form by making it a theory of antagonistic colour-pairs (black and white, blue and yellow, red and green) ; and formulated the logical conclusion of the principle of the nativistic theory of the visual perception of space against the "empiristic" doctrine of Helm holtz.
His chief works are: Beitriige zur Physiologie (1861) ; fiber das Gedachtnis als eine allgemeine Funktion der organisierten Materie (187o, 4th ed., 1913 ; Eng. trans. 1897) ; Grundziige einer Theorie des Temperatursinnes (1877) ; Zur Lehre vom Lichtsinne (1878) ; Tem peratursinn (188o) ; Zur Theorie der Nerventhdtigkeit (1899) ; Grund ziige der Lehre vom Lichtsinn (1905-11) . See O. Klemm, A History of Psychology (1914) ; F. Hillebrand, E. Hering (1918) ; G. S. Brett, A History of Psychology (vol. 3, 1921).