Abstract
For more than 1,500 years, nerves were thought to function through the action of 'animal spirits'. In the seventeenth century, René Descartes conceived of these 'spirits' as liquids or gases, and used the idea to explain reflex action. But he was rapidly proven wrong by a young Dutchman, Jan Swammerdam. Swammerdam's elegant experiments pioneered the frog nerve–muscle preparation and laid the foundation of our modern understanding of nerve function.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Descartes, R. De Homine (Moyardum & Leffen, Leiden, 1662).
Harvey, W. De Motu Locali Animalium (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 1959).
Galen De Motu Musculorum (Rouillum, Leiden, 1549).
Canguilhem, G. La Formation du Concept de Réflexe aux XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles (Vrin, Paris, 1977).
Glynn, I. Two millenia of animal spirits. Nature 402, 353 (1999).
Schierbeek, A. Jan Swammerdam 1637–1680. His Life and Works (Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam, 1967).
Ruestow, G. The Microscope in the Dutch Republic (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 1995).
Cobb, M. Reading and writing The Book of Nature: Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680). Endeavour 24, 122–128 (2000).
Nordström, J. Swammerdamiana: excerpts from the travel journal of Olaus Borrichius and two letters from Swammerdam to Thévenot. Lychnos 16, 21–65 (1954–1955).
Swammerdam, J. The Book of Nature II 122–132 (Seyffert, London, 1758).
Anonymous (Swammerdam, J.). In Ranis (1665 xx Octob.) in Observationes Anatomicae Selectiores Collegii Privati Amstelodamensis 29–30 (Commelinum, Amsterdam, 1667).
Swammerdam, J. Tractatus Physico-Enatomico-Medicus de Respiratione Usuque Pulmonum (D., A. & A. Gaasbeeck, Leiden, 1667).
Jaynes, J. The problem of animate motion in the seventeenth century. J. Hist. Ideas 31, 219–234 (1970).
Holmes, F. L. The old martyr of science: the frog in experimental physiology. J. Hist. Biol. 26, 311–328 (1993).
Moe, H. Nicolaus Steno: an Illustrated Biography (Rhodos, Copenhagen, 1994).
Lindeboom, G. A. The Letters of Jan Swammerdam to Melchisedec Thévenot (Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam, 1975).
Cobb, M. Malpighi, Swammerdam and the colourful silkworm: replication and visual representation in early modern science. Ann. Sci. 59, 111–147 (2002).
Lux, D. S. & Cook, H. J. Closed circles or open networks? Communications at a distance during the scientific revolution. Hist. Sci. 36, 179–211 (1998).
Pubols, B. H. Jan Swammerdam and the history of reflex action. Am. J. Psychol. 72, 131–135 (1959).
Whitteridge, G. The Wilkins Lecture, 1979. Of the local movement of animals. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 206, 1–13 (1979).
Hodgson, E. S. Long-range perspectives on neurobiology and behavior. Am. Zool. 30, 403–505 (1990).
Foster, M. Lectures on the History of Physiology during the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 1901).
Fearing, F. Reflex Action: a Study in the History of Physiological Psychology (Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1930).
von Haller, A. Translated excerpt from Primae Lineae Physiologiae in Usum Praelectionum Academicarum Auctae et Emendatae (1751) in A Source Book in Animal Biology (ed. Hall, T. S.) 282–287 (McGraw–Hill, New York, 1951).
Galvani, L. Translated excerpt from De Viribus Electricitatis in Motu Musculari Commentarius... (1791) in A Source Book in Animal Biology (ed. Hall, T. S.) 199–201 (McGraw–Hill, New York, 1951).
Stillings, D. Did Jan Swammerdam beat Galvani by 134 years? Med Instrum 9, 226 (1975).
Du Bois-Reymond, E. Untersuchungen über thierische Elektricität (Reimer, Berlin, 1848).
von Helmholtz, H. Translated excerpt from Messungen über den zeitlichen Verlauf der Zuckung animalischer Muskeln und die Fortpflanzungsgeschwindigkeit der Reizung in den Nerven (1850) in A Source Book in Animal Biology (ed. Hall, T. S.) 313–320 (McGraw–Hill, New York, 1951).
Bernstein, J. Untersuchungen über den Erregungsvorgang im Nerven- und Muskelsysteme (Heidelberg, 1871).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Related links
Related links
FURTHER INFORMATION
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cobb, M. Exorcizing the animal spirits: Jan Swammerdam on nerve function. Nat Rev Neurosci 3, 395–400 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn806
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn806
This article is cited by
-
Is high-frequency neuromuscular electrical stimulation a suitable tool for muscle performance improvement in both healthy humans and athletes?
European Journal of Applied Physiology (2011)
-
From Galvani to patch clamp: the development of electrophysiology
Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology (2006)
