Emil Huschke

Emil Huschke (1858).

Emil Huschke (December 14, 1797 – June 19, 1858) was a German anatomist and embryologist who was a native of Weimar.

He studied medicine at the University of Jena, and spent most of his professional career at Jena. In 1827 he was appointed professor of anatomy and director of the anatomical institute. Huschke was politically active and took part in the foundation of the Deutsche Burschenschaft, a student movement for German national unity. In 1867 his daughter Agnes Huschke married famed biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919).

Although Huschke was a devoted advocate of nature philosophy, and sought to find the connection between brain and soul (Hirn und Seele), he made important contributions in comparative anatomy. He was the first to describe a handful of anatomical structures that now contain his name, including:

• Auditory teeth of Huschke: Tooth-shaped ridges occurring on the vestibular lip of the limbus lamina spiralis of the cochlear duct.
• Huschke ’s foramen: An opening in the floor of the bony part of the external acoustic meatus in the vicinity of the tympanic membrane. It is normally closed in adults.
• Huschke ’s canal: a canal formed by the tubercles of the tympanic ring. This canal usually disappears during childhood.

In 1829 Huschke was credited for establishing the heteronemertean genus called Notospermus.

References

• Sketches of Otohistory (biography)