Joseph von Mering

Joseph Freiherr von Mering ( born February 28, 1849 in Cologne, † January 5, 1908 in Halle an der Saale) was a German physician and researcher in the field of physiology and pharmacology.

Life

Josef von Mering studied medicine at the universities of Bonn, Greifswald and Strasbourg. At the University of Strasbourg in 1874, he earned his doctorate at Felix Hoppe- Seyler, 1886, he was also an adjunct professor there. He moved in 1890 to the University of Halle, where he became head of the University Polyclinic. In 1894 he was appointed professor of internal medicine and 1900 in addition to the Director of the Medical University Hospital. He was a Catholic confession

Josef von Mering developed among others, along with Emil Fischer sleeping pills barbital, which was introduced in 1903 under the trade name Veronal, and was involved in the synthesis and testing of paracetamol. Mering was made famous by the discovery of the importance of the pancreas in the metabolism. He removed a dog's pancreas to study the sequelae. Some time later, were found in the dog's typical signs of diabetes mellitus, and Mering was unable to establish the links between diabetes and the pancreas. Thus, the basis for the discovery of insulin were determined. Along with Oskar Minkowski he thus contributed to confirm the thesis put forward by the French physician Étienne Lancereaux that the cause of diabetes is to be sought in the pancreas.

Works

• Josef von Mering (ed.): Textbook of internal medicine. Jena: Fischer, 1901