Scientific developments in the second half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

About the middle of the last century microscopical research in France was directed in particular at pathologic cytology, whilst in Germany, where Johannes Müller’s school was predominant, more attention was being paid to the structure of the diseased tissues. At the same time, German research workers displayed great interest in the genesis of cancer: where do the first cancer cells come from? They first focussed attention on blastema, the matrix of all cells as was generally accepted in the 1840’s and still adhered to by many even in the fifties.