Illustration of the laboratory of Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), Swiss physician and naturalist. Von Haller worked on the nervous system, and recognised the tendency of muscle fibres to contract when stimulated, or when the attached nerve is stimulated. He showed that only the nerves can transmit sensation, and that they are gathered into the brain. He wrote the first physiology textbook and worked on the circulation, respiration and digestion. He was the first to assess the effect of a medicine by testing it on the healthy. He was also a poet, bibliographer, botanist and political writer. Illustration published in 1879.