An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

WOLFF, Caspar Friedrich

2 entries
  • 470

Theoria generationis.

Halle: lit. Hendelianis, 1759.

Wolff observed in great detail the early processes of embryonic differentiation. He disposed of the “preformation” theory, substituting his view that the organs are formed from leaf-like (blastodermic) layers. He thus laid the foundation of the “germ-layer” theory of Baer and Pander. His book includes descriptions of the “Wolffian bodies” and “ducts”. Reprinted 1966.



Subjects: EMBRYOLOGY
  • 471

De formatione intestinorum praecipue.

Novi Comment. Acad. Sci. Petropol., 12, 43-7, 403-507; 1769, 13, 478-530, 1768.

One of the acknowledged classics of embryology. Wolff’s description of the formation of the chick’s intestine by the rolling inwards of a leaf-like layer of the blastoderm was important as proving his theory of epigenesis. A German translation by J. F. Meckel was published in 1812.



Subjects: EMBRYOLOGY