Obituary notices of fellow deceased

It is fitting that some account should be given, in the publications of this Society, of a Fellow so eminent in Science and of an influence so great as Paul Ehrlich. We shall first give the chief facts of his life and afterwards consider the nature and significance of his work. Ehrlich was born in 1854 at Strehlen, a small town in Silesia. He was of Jewish extraction, like so many others who have risen to fame, and was a cousin on his mother’s side of Carl Weigert, with whom he enjoyed an intimate and valuable friendship, lasting till Weigert’s death. Ehrlich’s early education was received in his native place, and afterwards in the Gymnasium of Breslau. At Breslau also he attended the University for a semester and then went to Strasburg, where he took up the study of medicine. Amongst his teachers there were Waldeyer, the anatomist, whose attention he attracted by his application of aniline dyes to the staining of tissues, and Biermer, the distinguished physician. After completing his curriculum, he worked for a year in the Pathological Institute, under the stimulating direction of Cohnheim and Heidenhain, and in association with Weigert, Salomonsen, and Welsh. There is little evidence, however, that he was much swayed by the influence of any one man; certainly his field of work was chosen and laid out by himself.