Büchli

Büchli, Otto (Otto Biitschli, 1848-1920), known German zoologist and histologist. In 1878 he received the chair of zoology at Heidelberg, which he held until his death. From the large number of scientific works by B. should be noted: 1) early works on cell division (1876), in which he first drew a parallel between the fertilization of multicellular organisms and the conjugation of protozoa; 2) a comprehensive treatise on protozoa, forming the first volume of the edition "Bronns Klassen und Ordnungen des Tierreichs"; 3) a work on the structure of bacteria, in which he established the presence of a nucleus in them (Uber den Bau der Bakterien, Jena, 1890); 4) classical works on the structure of protoplasm and other organic formations (starting from the 1890s; Untersuchungen uber mikroskopische Schaume und Protoplasma, Lpz., 1892). According to the teaching of B., protoplasm has a cellular or foamy structure, which can be reproduced by rubbing oil with potash and placing a drop of the mixture in water (amoeba model). The same structure is found in the nucleus, cell membranes, chitin, etc. In 1901 B. came out with a criticism of vitalism, proving the absence of a fundamental difference between living and inorganic nature [Mechanismus u. Vitalismus, Lpz., 1901 (Russian translation by N. Kholodkovsky - Biomechanism and Vitalism, in the collection "The Essence of Life", SPB, 1903)]. In his later years B. gave lectures on comparative anatomy [Vorlesungen iiber vergleichende Anatomie, Leipzig, 1910-12 (there is a Russian translation of vol. 1)]. Büchli had many followers and students; many Russian zoologists worked in his laboratory.