HALLER, ALBRECHT vow, an eminent physiologist, was b. at Bern, Oct., 1708, and died in that city, Dec. 17, 1777. In early life lie was feeble and delicate, being affected with rickets, a disease which is not unfrequently accompanied with considerable intellectual precocity. His father, Nicholas Emmanuel von Haller. who was an advo cate, and had the reputation of being an able lawyer, intended him for the church; but his own inclinations being in favor of medicine, he proceeded in 1723 (two years after his father's death) to the university of Tubingen, where he became the pupil of the well-known anatomist Duvernoy. In 1725 he removed to Leyden, where he attended with much advantage the lectures of Boerhaave and of Albinus, and obtained the degree of doctor of medicine in 1727. He then visited London, where lie made the acquaintance of Sloane, Douglas, and Cheselden, whence he proceeded to Oxford. and afterwards to Paris, where for six months he studied anatomy and botany under Wins low and De Jussieu; but one of his neighbors, who was annoyed by his dissections, having threatened to denounce him to the police, he made a rapid retreat to where he became the pupil of John Bernoulli, the celebrated mathematician. After seven years' study in these different seats of learning, lie returned, in his 22d year, to his native city and commenced practice as a physician. The professor of anatomy, Meig, having fallen ill, Haller undertook the duties of his class; he likewise devoted nuich of his time about this period to the botany of the Alps; and also published a celebrated descriptive poem, entitled Die Alpen (The Alps). In 1735 he was appointed physician to the hospital, and shortly principal librarian and curator of the cabinet of medals; but these Mikes he did not hold long, for in 1730, George II., wish ing to establish a university at Gottingen, offered him the professorship of medicine, anatomy, botany, and surgery, which after some hesitation, he accepted. From this time he gave up the practice of his profession, and for the next 18 years devoted himself wholly to teaching and to original research. He took an active part in the formation of the royal academy of sciences of Gottingen; and the memoir's of the society, which appeared under the title of Commentarii Societatis Regke Seientiarum Gottingensia, contain many of his papers. During the period that he held the professorship—viz., from 1736 to
1753—he composed and published 86 works on medical subjects, chiefly on physiology and botany; and it is recorded that he contributed upwards of 12,000 notices or reviews of books to the Gatingische gelehrte Anzeigen, a monthly periodical work, of which he was editor. In 1733, in consequence of disputes with his colleagues, and probably • in part from the delicate state of his health, he resigned his chair, and returned to his native town, where he subsequently held several important and honorable effices. He still, however, retained his position as president of the royal academy of sciences, and other more substantial distinotions,.,such as a retiring allowance, etc. It was after his retirement from Gottingen that sonfirof his most important writings were published swnongst which must be especially mentioned his Elementa Physiologica Corporis Humani (Lausanne, 8 vols. 4to, 1757-06)—by far the most important of his works—and his four Bibliotheca, or critical catalogues of works on botany, surgery, anatomy, and medicine. The increasing maladies of his later days did not distract his mind from the study of his favorite subjects. He recorded all the symptoms of his last illness—a combination of gout and disease of the bladder—and the gradual cessation of his vital functions; and his last words, addressed to his physician, were: "My friend, the pulse has ceased to beat." Haller's eminence as a man of science was duly recognized even in his own lifetime. In 1739 he was appointed physician to the king of Great Britain; he was ennobled by the emperor of Germany in 1748; the universities of Berlin, Oxford, and Utrecht in vain endeavored to obtain him as their professor; and he was an honorary member of all the scientific societies of Europe. His name is especially connected with the doctrine of muscular irritability, which is noticed in the article MUSCLE AND MUSCULAR TIssUE: and if he made but few positive additions to our knowledge, his teaching and writings impressed a new aspect on physiology—a science of which he has deservedly been termed "The Father." But, while his name is indelibly recorded in the annals of science, it should also be remembered that by his work as poet, Haller greatly con tributed to the movement which towards the end of the 18th c. brought new life to German poetry.