Wrisberg

WRISBERG, Heinrich (Heinrich August Wrisberg, 1739–1808), a famous anatomist. He studied medicine at Göttingen, in France, and in the Netherlands. For some time W. lectured on obstetrics (from 1763), and later obtained a professorship in anatomy. W. acquired fame for his great skill in dissection. Numerous are his investigations in the field of the sympathetic nervous system. He described the nervus splanchnicus supremus and the great ganglion of the cardiac plexus (ganglion Wrisbergii); the nerve plexuses of the internal female genital organs were investigated with great care. W.'s literary activity was also extensive. He published the works of Haller, Hederer, and the anatomist Zinn ("Descriptio oculi humani"). A number of W.'s works are placed in the "Memoirs of the Göttingen Scientific Society" ("Schriften der Göttinger Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften"); among them should be noted: "Descriptio anatomica embryonis observationibus illustrata" (Anatomical description of the embryo, 1764); "Observationes anatomicae de quinta para nervorum encephali" (Anatomical observations on the V pair of cranial nerves, 1777); "Observationes anatomicae de testiculorum ex abdomine in scrotum descensu" (Anatomical observations on the descent of the testicles from the abdominal cavity into the scrotum); "Experimenta et observationes anatomicae de utero gravido" (Anatomical experiments and observations on the pregnant uterus, 1780).