Hermann Sahli (May 23, 1856 – April 28, 1933) was a Swiss

internist Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of th ...

who was a native of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. In 1878 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

, and subsequently became an assistant to

Ludwig Lichtheim Ludwig Lichtheim (7 December 1845 in Breslau – 13 January 1928) was a German physician of Jewish descent. Biography He was educated at the Gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Breslau, and studied medicine at the universities of University of B ...

(1845–1915) in Bern. Afterwards, he traveled to

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, where he worked under

Julius Friedrich Cohnheim Julius Friedrich Cohnheim (20 July 1839 – 15 August 1884) was a German-Jewish pathologist. Biography Cohnheim was born at Demmin, Pomerania. He studied at the universities of Würzburg, Marburg, Greifswald, and Berlin, receiving his doctoral de ...

(1839–1884) and Carl Weigert (1845–1904). He returned to Bern as an assistant at Lichtheim's policlinic, and in 1888 became a professor of

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

. At Bern, he also served as director of the Inselspital (medical clinic). Sahli was involved in almost all aspects of internal medicine, and made contributions in the fields of

neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

and

hematology Hematology (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to bloo ...

, being especially known for his work in

hemodynamics Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously ...

. He made improvements to the

sphygmomanometer A sphygmomanometer ( ), also known as a blood pressure monitor, blood pressure machine, or blood pressure gauge, is a device used to measure blood pressure, composed of an inflatable cuff to collapse and then release the artery under the cuff i ...

, and introduced "Sahli's hemoglobinometer", an instrument used for

colorimetric Colorimetry is "the science and technology used to quantify and describe physically the human color perception". It is similar to spectrophotometry, but is distinguished by its interest in reducing spectra to the physical correlates of color p ...

determination of the blood's

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...

content. His name is also associated with the "Sahli

pipette A pipette (sometimes spelled as pipet) is a type of laboratory tool commonly used in chemistry and biology to transport a measured volume of liquid, often as a media dispenser. Pipettes come in several designs for various purposes with differing ...

method" for performing

red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (, with -''cyte'' translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cel ...

counts, as well as the "Hayem-Sahli

hemocytometer The hemocytometer (or haemocytometer, or Burker's chamber) is a counting-chamber device originally designed and usually used for counting blood cells. The hemocytometer was invented by Louis-Charles Malassez and consists of a thick glass mi ...

", which is a device used to find the quantity of

platelet Platelets or thrombocytes () are a part of blood whose function (along with the coagulation#Coagulation factors, coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping to form a thrombus, blood clot. Platelets have no ...

s in a specified volume of blood. This device is named in conjunction with French

hematologist Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

Georges Hayem (1841–1933). Sahli was the author of over 175 scientific articles, and in 1894 published an important book on clinical investigation methodologies called ''Lehrbuch der klinischen Untersuchungsmethoden''. His name is associated with " 2088 Sahlia", which is an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

that was discovered in 1976.

External links

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

''.
''Hermann Sahli''
at

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

References

# {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahli, Hermann Swiss hematologists 1856 births 1933 deaths Academic staff of the University of Bern University of Bern alumni