"Die Analyse organischer Substanzen hat den Zweck, die Elemente derselben ihrer Natur und Menge nach zu bestimmen; sie macht einen der wichtigsten Teile der analytischen Chemie aus. Der Weg, den man einschlug, um sich in fruheren Zeiten eine Vorstellung uber die chemische Zusammensetzung organischer Korper zu verschaffen, hat mit der jetzigen Analyse nicht die geringste Ahnlichkeit. Man unterwarf diese Korper der trocknen Destillation, und aus den Produkten, die man erhielt, schloss man auf die Verschiedenheit in ihrer Zusammensetzung. Erst seit den letzten 30 Jahren ist dieser Teil der...

Zoonoses are a persistent threat to the global human health

Today, more than 200 diseases occurring in humans and animals are known to be mutually transmitted. Classical infectious diseases, such as rabies, plague, and yellow fever, have not been eradicated despite major efforts.

New zoonotic diseases are on the increase due global conditions such as overpopulation, wars, and food scarcity, which facilitate human contact with rodents, stray animals, and their parasites. In addition, humans are unwittingly becoming accidental hosts and new links in an infectious chain...

At the age of thirteen, chemistry enthusiast Justus von Liebig (1803-73) witnessed the devastation caused by a summer of crop failure. Three decades later, Liebig had become a leading German chemist based at the University of Giessen and had made significant contributions to agriculture and medicine in addition to his pioneering work in organic chemistry. This 1842 study in animal metabolism includes detailed analysis of the chemical transformation undergone in healthy and diseased organisms. Although Liebig considers that chemical analysis alone is not sufficient to explain physiological...