Leuckart

Leuckart Rudolf (Rudolf Leuckart, 1821-98), an outstanding zoologist, founder of the German helminthological school, professor in Giessen, then in Leipzig. His book "Die menschlichen Parasiten" (Lpz., 1863) is a classic work in medical helminthology; he deciphered the life cycle of Trichinella spiralis, studied the development of a number of human tapeworms, for example Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, clarified the biology of Fasciola hepatica and flukes. He became the founder of the preventive direction in medical and veterinary helminthology. In addition to helminthological works, L. wrote a number of classic works on zoology, as well as an excellent textbook (together with K. Bergmann) "Vergleichende Anatomie u. Physiologie" (Stuttgart, 1852), in which comparative anatomy was combined with comparative physiology, established the types of coelenterates and echinoderms, developed the doctrine of polymorphism, and introduced much new material into the doctrine of reproduction and development of animals. He created the famous zoological school from the Zoological Institute of Leipzig University. Loos, Braun and a whole host of other helminthologists are his direct students. Among Russian zoologists, Fedchenko, Melnikov and others worked with L. on helminthology. Main works: "Ober die Morphologie u. d. Verwandtschaftsverhaltnisse d. wirbellosen Thiere" (Braunschweig, 1848); Sur le developpement des pupipares" (Brussels, 1854); "Die Blasenbandwurmer, ihre Entwicklung" (Giessen, 1856); "Zur Kenntnis d. Generationswechsels und d. Parthenogenesis bei den Insekten" (Frankfurt, 1858); "Helminthologische Experimentaluntersuchungen" (Gottingen, 1862); "Die Parasiten des Menschen und die von ihnen herruhrenden Krankheiten" (2. Aufl., B. I, Lief. 1-5, Lpz., 1879-94); "Anatomisch-physiologische Uebersicht d. Thierreichs" (Stuttgart, 1852). Lit.: Grosse. Leuckart in seiner Bedeutung fur Natur- und Heilkunde, Jahresb. d. Gesellschaft fur Natur-u. Heilk., Dresden, 1897-98; Jacobi A., Rudolf Leuckart, Centralbl. f. Bakter. Orig., B. XXIII, 1898; Rudolf Leuckart, Deutsch. med. Wochenschr., 1898, № 7; Stiles C, The Rudolf Leuckart celebration, Science, v. II, 1895.