Phobias; Carl von Voit

PHOBIAS, see Obsessive-compulsive states. VOIT, Carl (Carl v. Voit, 1831–1908), a famous German researcher in the field of physiology of metabolism and nutrition. He studied medicine in Munich and Würzburg, chemistry in Göttingen, and while still a student began to engage in physiology under the guidance of Bischof in Munich. In 1854, upon completing the course, he presented an outstanding dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine—'Beiträge zum Kreislauf des Stickstoffs im tierischen Organismus' (Munich, 1854)—and was retained as an assistant to Bischof. In 1857, he received the title of Privatdozent, in 1860—extraordinary professor, and in 1863 he occupied Bischof's chair, built a new physiological institute specially adapted for research on metabolism, and installed in it a large respiratory apparatus for humans, constructed jointly with Pettenkofer. Voit became the founder and leader of the famous 'Munich' school, the outstanding representatives of which are Atwater and Lusk in America and Rubner in Germany. Being an extremely thorough experimenter, Voit developed a methodology for experiments on metabolism, which is considered classical even to this day. Using the respiratory apparatus, he studied not only nitrogen metabolism but also the metabolism of non-nitrogenous food substances, carbohydrates, and fats. He studied starvation and the weight loss of various organs during it; established the preferential oxidation of proteins and carbohydrates in the body compared to fat; and carefully investigated the phenomenon of nitrogen balance. His research on the influence of table salt, coffee, and muscular movements on metabolism (1860) produced a complete revolution in the understanding of the processes of nutrition and the loss of substances during work, where he showed that protein metabolism does not depend on muscular activity but depends significantly on protein consumption. Voit's extensive research on nutrition in public institutions was of enormous importance. These studies, together with laboratory and statistical ones, led Voit to the establishment of his well-known 'ration,' which has retained its significance to this day. In 1881, in the well-known collective manual edited by Hermann (Vol. VI, part 1), alongside the physiology of general metabolism, Voit gave for the first time a systematically presented doctrine of nutrition and is therefore justly considered the founder of the latter. Numerous works of Voit and his school are published mainly in Zeitschrift für Biologie, which he, together with Pettenkofer and Buhl, began to publish in 1865 (publication continues to this day). From 1865, Voit was a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Munich, and from 1898, also of the Berlin Academy.