Johann Julius Walbaum
Johann Walbaum | |
---|---|
Born | 30 June 1724 |
Died | 21 August 1799 | (aged 75)
Occupation | German naturalist |
Johann Julius Walbaum (30 June 1724, Wolfenbüttel, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel – 21 August 1799, Lübeck) was a German physician, naturalist and fauna taxonomist.
Works
As an ichthyologist, he was the first to describe many previously unknown fish species from remote parts of the globe, such as the Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), the Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) from the Kamchatka River in Siberia, and the curimatá-pacú (Prochilodus marggravii) from the São Francisco River in Brazil.
He was also the first to observe gloves as a preventative against infection in medical surgery. In 1758, the gloves he observed were made from the cecum of the sheep, rather than rubber, which had not yet been discovered.
Legacy
The Naturhistorische Museum in Lübeck, opened in 1893, was based on Walbaum's extensive scientific collection, which was lost during the Second World War.
See also
References
- German naturalists
- German taxonomists
- Taxa named by Johann Julius Walbaum
- 1724 births
- 1799 deaths
- German ichthyologists
- German zoologists
- People from Wolfenbüttel
- People from Brunswick-Lüneburg
- 18th-century German physicians
- 18th-century German zoologists
- 18th-century German writers
- German zoologist stubs
- German medical biography stubs