Am J Physiol Cell Physiol AJP: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 271: C1-C8, 1996;
0363-6143/96 $5.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kleinzeller, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kleinzeller, A.

AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 271, Issue 1 C1-C8, Copyright © 1996 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

William Hewson's studies of red blood corpuscles and the evolving concept of a cell membrane

A. Kleinzeller
Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA.

The botanist Carl Nageli is generally considered to have laid the basis for the cell membrane concept by his 1855 study of the osmotic properties of plant cells. It is shown here that William Hewson in 1773 presented cogent experimental evidence for the concept of a cell membrane in red blood corpuscles. Although his work was largely confirmed in subsequent studies, and a cell membrane became an attribute of the cell in T. Schwann's cell theory, the idea of a cell membrane was rejected by anatomists in 1861 essentially on theoretical grounds, and plant physiologists did not mention Hewson's pioneering endeavour. As a consequence, Hewson's work has been ignored to this day. A broad cell membrane concept then had to await the ingenious work of Overton, started in 1895. The possible reasons for these lapses in scientific recognition are analyzed.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol.Home page
M. J. Yost, D. Simpson, K. Wrona, S. Ridley, H. J. Ploehn, T. K. Borg, and L. Terracio
Design and construction of a uniaxial cell stretcher
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, December 1, 2000; 279(6): H3124 - H3130.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online