Find Books, Databases, Journals and more
Find Electronic and Print Journals
Have a question? Ask Us
Home > Resources > Personal Collections Finding Aids > FC001

Joseph Erlanger Papers

Joseph Erlanger, ca. 1950
Joseph Erlanger, ca. 1950
Joseph Erlanger Papers
Volume: 15 linear feet
Microfilm edition: 10 reels, 35mm. 6 reels 16 mm
Inclusive dates: 1874-1965
Collection code: FC001
Organization of the Collection
Container List
PDF Version

Historical Note

Joseph Erlanger (1874-1965) was born in San Francisco, studied at the University of California (B.S., 1895) and received his medical education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (M.D., 1899). He was an intern at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital under William Osler, 1899-1900. From 1900 to 1906, JE was an assistant in physiology at Johns Hopkins under William H. Howell. He became professor of physiology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1906. In 1910, he accepted an appointment as professor and head of physiology at Washington University in St. Louis. JE retained this position until retirement in 1946, continuing in research at the university for several years afterward. In 1944, he and Herbert S. Gasser were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for … discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of nerve fibres.”

JE’s chief contributions to physiology can be divided into two distinct phases. Until 1921, he concentrated on problems relating to the cardiovascular system, developing an improved sphygmomanometer, and making important discoveries about the relation of blood pressure and the conduction of electrical impulses in the heart. The second phase of his research career began in collaboration with Gasser, a former student. The two adapted a cathode-ray oscillograph for the purpose of amplifying and recording electrical conduction, or action potentials, of the nervous system. Using this instrument, they analyzed and compared action potentials of different portions of the nervous system, determining that the speed of conduction is proportional to the diameter of the nerve fiber. JE’s later research built upon this key electrophysiological discovery, with studies of excitation and polarization of nerve fibers, among other investigations. Throughout his tenure at Washington University, JE played an important role in the governance of the medical school through its Executive Faculty council. He also made important contributions to the American Physiological Society and other scientific organizations.

Provenance

Gift of Joseph Erlanger and the Erlanger estate, 1963-1966.

Access and Use

The collection is open and accessible for research. Certain categories of documentation, however, carry restrictions on access. For detailed information, contact the Archives and Rare Book Section (arb@wusm.wustl.edu). Large portions of the collection are on microfilm, a total of fifteen reels, either 35mm or 16mm. The individual series descriptions indicate the type of reels and where they begin and end. The Library holds copyright.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of eight series. The attempt has been made to maintain the original order as much as possible, and particularly in the correspondence and scientific data series. Much of the material, however, was transmitted and accessioned in small portions in the years 1963-1966, and in some cases items were placed on display in the Library before being arranged in series. The microfilming, moreover, was carried out before the final arrangement and analysis of the collection could be made; somewhat premature filming decisions have, therefore, affected the final arrangement that is presented here and some items are missing or poorly described on the film.

Organization of the Collection (Series List)

Series 1: Files from the Department of Physiology, 1910-1940, Boxes 1-13, Reel 1-10.

Series 2: Lectures, manuscripts, reports, papers, notes, 1882-1964, Boxes 14-15, Reel 11-12.

Series 3: Files compiled in retirement or posthumously, 1936-1966, Boxes 16-17. Reels 13-14.

Series 4: Scrapbook and album of tracings, 1902-03, 1943-44, Boxes 18-19. Reels 15.

Series 5: Bibliographies, lecture notes, 1900-1946, Boxes 20-24, 26-29, Reel 16.

Series 6: Oscillographic recordings and tracings, 1940-1951. Boxes 25, 30.

Series 7: Publications by Joseph Erlanger, 1901-1964, Boxes 31-33, Oversize Box 35.

Series 8: Books by other authors, 1897, 1940, Unboxed volumes after Box 35.

Series 9: Recording discs, 1944-1945, Box 36, Recorded materials section of archival stacks.

Container List

Series 1: Files from the Department of Physiology, 1910-1940

This portion of the Erlanger papers consists of files of correspondence, lecture notes, and other material, 1910-circa 1940, received by the Medical Library on June 7, 1963. They are contained in boxes 1 through 13, with folders consecutively numbered 1 through 154.

Although identified by the library staff as one series, it appears in retrospect to contain several imperfectly ordered series or subseries. For example, the files 1:1 through 4:56, with contents concerning a variety of issues, have an alphabetical arrangement. They are followed by another group with varied contents, 4:57 through 7:101. Here too the arrangement is basically alphabetical. Files 8:103 through 8:110 pertain mainly to lectures which JE gave at out-of-town venues. Files on professional and scientific societies and research with which JE was concerned follow, 9:111 through 10:133. There is no discernable arrangement system. The series concludes with files of mainly personal correspondence, again with no discernable arrangement system, 13:134 through 13:154. The exact significance of the cryptic notations A1, B2, C3, etc. is not known. The series has been microfilmed, 35 mm reels 1-10.

Box 1

Reel 1 begins.

Box 2

Reel 2 begins.

Box 3

Reel 3 begins.

Box 4

Reel 4 begins.

Box 5

Reel 5 begins.

Box 6

Reel 6 begins.

Box 7

Box 8

Reel 7 begins.

Box 9

Reel 8 begins.

Box 10

Reel 9 begins.

Box 11

Box 12

Reel 10 begins.

Box 13

Back to Series List

Series 2: Lectures, Manuscripts, Reports, Papers, Notes, 1882-1964

Accessions received between June 7, 1963 and September 3, 1964 were grouped together by the library staff for reasons that are presently (2001) unknown. There seems to be no unifying characteristic about this particular mass of material other than it all was received from JE during a particular period of time.

Included are three short series possibly arranged by JE himself: lectures 1-13 (ca. 1905-1946, folders 14:155-14:164), manuscripts 1-8 (1905-09, 1929, 1964, folders 14:165-14:172), WUSM Physiology Journal Club reports (1927-1941, 15:173-15:189), and various private correspondence and notes (1882-1964, 15:190-15:198). It should be noted that all the 19th century documents in the JE papers are concentrated in one file, “Erlanger family correspondence,” 1882-1938. File 15:23 seems very likely to have been created by the library staff, possibly at the time of the official presentation of the Erlanger papers in 1963. Series 2 has been microfilmed on 16mm reels 11-12. Boxes 14-15.

Box 14

Reel 11 begins.

Box 15

Reel 12 begins.

Back to Series List

Series 3: Files Compiled in Retirement or Posthumously, 1936-1966

Most of the files in this series were compiled from materials supplied by the Department of Physiology, JE’s daughter Margaret Erlanger, or the Medical Library. As a group they testify to the high regard that JE was held at the end of his life and immediately thereafter, but they do not appear to be in a file order of his choosing. Included are documents from JE’s career that may have been gathered for his autobiography or perhaps for an exhibit honoring him as well as posthumously created items. It is difficult to date some of this material, but most of it falls within the period 1936-1966. Series 3 has been microfilmed on 16mm reels 13-14. Boxes 16-17.

Box 16

Reel 13 begins.

Box 17

Reel 14 begins.

Back to Series List

Series 4: Seventieth Birthday Scrapbook (1943-1944) and Album of Sphygmographic Tracings (1902-1903)

This series includes two items brought together because of what is only roughly similar format. More obvious is their very dissimilar inception and content. They were microfilmed on 16mm reel 15 in the order that follows. Box 18-19.

Box 18

Reel 15 begins.

Box 19

Back to Series List

Series 5: Bibliographies, Lecture Notes, and Abstracts from Scientific Literature, 1900-1950

JE engaged in the common scholarly practice of noting citations to publications and other information important to his work on file cards or on sheets and slips of paper. Some items contain lengthy abstracts or commentary on the works cited and these at least in part served as materials for his lectures and talks. Most of the information is hand-written and the series includes many items with drawings and diagrams. These materials were probably compiled in large part between 1900 and 1950. When first processed for the Library, these files were designated to be “Subgroup 5” and divided into series determined in part by the size of the card stock or paper size. The box numbers then were different from what they presently read. Samples of documents from two boxes were microfilmed on 16mm reel 16. Note that the box numbers in the series are not entirely consecutive: the box presently identified as Box 25 contains materials from Series 6 and thus those contents are described later in this finding aid. Boxes 20-24, 26-29.

Boxes 20-24

Reel 16 begins.

Boxes 26-27

Reel 16 resumes and ends in Box 26.

Box 28

Not microfilmed.

Box 29

Not microfilmed.

Back to Series List

Series 6: Oscillographic Recordings and Tracings, 1940-1951

Between 1943 and 1951 JE engaged in a complicated series of experiments using a cathode ray oscillograph. He and co-author Gordon M. Schoepfle reported their findings in a series of articles published in the 1940s and early 1950s. The last of these was Observations on the local response in single medullated nerve fibers (1951; a copy is in Series 7). The experiments involved various series of readings of electronic potentials and responses that measured and compared different stimulus strengths, durations, and patterns in the responses (described in terms such as hump heights, hump latencies, spike heights, spike latencies, etc.). The data are recorded in a series of forty-one 35mm film strips and in a series of files containing paper sketches, graphs, and notes. The series was not microfilmed.

Exactly how the data on film and on paper were related when they were in JE’s possession is presently unknown. The film strips are the primary documents in his research process, having been recorded by a camera trained directly on the screen of the oscillograph. The files of paper documents most likely represent subsequent analyses of the film data. Yet only some of the files appear to have had film strips stored with or linked to them. The original folders unfortunately were discarded and with them any labels that JE and his associates may have written to guide in retrieving the data. All the same, it seems appropriate to keep the film and the files together as one series, with the order of the one determined by the order of the other.

In approaching this material, one might initially assume that the dates marked on some of the film and paper documents would offer a more useful ordering principle than what follows, but on further analysis this seems not to be the case. The various types of results were evidently more important than dates to JE and his associates, who sometimes would review data recorded at various times over eight years and then would rearrange and re-annotate the findings in graphs (and thus dates entered are not necessarily the dates of the documents. Thus for example we find data from 1943 and 1950 included in the same folder, 30:6). Dates are nevertheless listed here as one means of identifying the data. Boxes 25, 30.

Box 30 (FILES), Box 25 (FILM)

Back to Series List

Series 7: Erlanger’s Publications, 1901-1964

This series was compiled in large part from books and reprints acquired directly from JE, but expanded in 2001 to include virtually everything that he published. As noted below, some items were bound into three volumes, presumably at JE’s own request. Others were placed into consecutive file folders. The book Electrical signs of nervous activity, co-authored by H. S. Gasser (1937) was placed in the Monuments of Medicine rare book collection of the Library. The series was not microfilmed. Boxes 31-33, Oversize Box 35.

1901

With A. W. Hewlett. A study of the metabolism in dogs with shortened small intestines. American Journal of Physiology, 6:1-30. 31:1.

1904

A new instrument for determining the minimum and maximum blood-pressures in man. Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports, 12:53-110. 31:2.

With D. R. Hooker. An experimental study of blood-pressure and of pulse-pressure in man. Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports, 12:145-378. 31:3.

1905

Vorläufige Mitteilung über die Physiologie des Herzblocks in Säugetieren. Zentralblatt für Physiologie, 19:9-12. 31:4

With Arthur D. Hirschfelder. Eine vorläufige Mitteilung über weitere Studien in bezug auf den Herzblock in Säugetieren. Zentralblatt für Physiologie, 19:270-74. In vol. 1, box 33.

On the union of a spinal nerve with the vagus nerve. American Journal of Physiology, 13:372-95. In vol. 1, box 33.

A report of some observations on heart-block in mammals. Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 16:202-5. 31:5.

Cardiograms obtained from a case of operative defect in the chest wall. Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 16:394-97. In vol. 1, box 33.

On the physiology of heart-block in mammals, with especial reference to the causation of Stokes-Adams disease. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 7:676-724. (See also 1906). In vol. 1, box 33.

With Arthur D. Hirschfelder. Further studies on the physiology of heart-block in mammals. American Journal of Physiology, 15:153-206. In vol. 1, box 33.

1906

On the physiology of heart-block in mammals, with especial reference to the causation of Stokes-Adams disease. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 8:8-58. In vol. 1, box 33.

Further studies on the physiology of heart-block: The effects of extra systoles upon the dog’s heart and upon strips of terrapin’s ventricle in the various stages of block. American Journal of Physiology, 16:160-87. In vol. 1, box 33.

Recent contributions to the physiology of the circulation. Journal of the American Medical Association, 47:1343-51. 31:6.

1907

With J. R. Blackman. A study of relative rhythmicity and conductivity in various regions of the auricles of the mammalian heart. American Journal of Physiology, 19:125-74. In vol. 1, box 33.

1908

Irregularities of the heart resulting from disturbed conductivity. American Journal of Medical Sciences, 135:797-811. In vol. 1, box 33.

1909

Über den Grad der Vaguswirkung auf die Kammern des Hundsherzens. Archiv für die gesamte Physiologie, 127:77-98. 31:7.

Can functional union be re-established between the mammalian auricles and ventricles after destruction of a segment of the auriculo-ventricular bundle. American Journal of Physiology, 24:375-83. In vol. 1, box 33.

1910

Observations on auricular strips of the cat’s heart. American Journal of Physiology, 27:87-118. In vol. 1, box 33.

With Julian R. Blackman. Further studies in the physiology of heart-block in mammals. Chronic auriculo-ventricular heart-block in the dog. Heart, 1:177-230. In vol. 1, box 33.

The role of the practicing physician in the defense of medical research. Wisconsin Medical Journal, 8:543-48. 31:8.

Chronic auriculo-ventricular heart-block in the dog. Wisconsin Medical Journal, 8:624-31. 31:9.

Animal Experimentation in Relation to Practical Medical Knowledge of the Circulation. Defense of Research Pamphlet No. 13. Chicago, American Medical Association. 40 pp. In vol. 1, box 33.

1912

Observations on the physiology of Purkinje tissue. American Journal of Physiology, 30:395-419. In vol. 1, box 33.

With E. G. Festerling. Respiratory waves of blood pressure, with an investigation of a method for making continuous blood pressure records in man. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 15:370-87. In vol. 2, box 33.

Sinus stimulation as a factor in the resuscitation of the heart. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 16:452-69. In vol. 1, box 33.

A criticism of the Uskoff sphygmotonograph. Archives of Internal Medicine, 9:22-31. In vol. 1, box 33.

1913

The localization of impulse initiation and conduction in the heart. Archives of Internal Medicine, 11:334-64; Harvey Lectures, 8:44-85. 31:10.

1914

With R. Gesell. Device for interrupting a continuous blast of air, designed especially for artificial respiration. American Journal of Physiology, 33:33-34. In vol. 2, box 33.

With W. E. Garrey. Faradic stimuli: a physical and physiological study. American Journal of Physiology, 35:377-473. 31:11.

With W. B. Cannon, G. W. Crile, Y. Henderson, and S. T. Meltzer. Report of the Committee on Resuscitation from Mine Gases. United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Technical Paper, No. 77, pp. 1-33. 31:12.

1915

An analysis of Dr. Kilgore’s paper: “The large personal factor in blood pressure determinations by the oscillatory method.” Archives of Internal Medicine, 16:917-26. 31:13.

Studies in blood pressure estimations by indirect methods. I, The mechanism of the oscillatory criteria. American Journal of Physiology, 39:401-46. In vol. 2, box 33.

1916

Studies in blood pressure estimation by indirect methods. II, The mechanism of the compression sounds of Korotkoff. American Journal of Physiology, 40:82-125. 31:14. Also in vol. 2, box 33.

A note on the contractility of the musculature of the auriculo-ventricular valves. American Journal Physiology, 40:150-51. 31:15.

Movements of the artery within the compression chamber during indirect estimations of blood pressure. American Journal of Physiology, 42:588-89. 31:16.

1917

With R. Gesell, H. S. Gasser, and B. Elliott. An experimental study of surgical shock: preliminary report. Journal of the American Medical Association, 69:2089-92. 31:17.

With R. Woodyatt. Intravenous glucose injections in shock. Journal of the American Medical Association, 69:1410-14. In vol. 2, box 33.

1918

With R. Gesell, H. Gasser, and B. Elliott. Some reactions in the development of shock by diverse methods. American Journal of Physiology, 45:546-47. 31:18.

The preanacrotic phenomenon and its relation to the arterial compression sounds of Korotkoff. American Journal of Physiology, 45:565-66. 31:19.

With H. S. Gasser. The treatment of standardized shock. Comptes Rendus des Seances de la Societe de Biologie et de ses Filiales, 81:898-909. 31:20.

1919

With R. Gesell and H. S. Gasser. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. I, The circulation in shock after abdominal injuries. American Journal of Physiology, 49:90-116. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. II, Shock due to mechanical limitation of blood flow. American Journal of Physiology, 49:151-73. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. III, Circulation failure due to adrenalin. American Journal of Physiology, 49:345-76. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser and W. Meek. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. IV, The blood volume changes and the effect of gum acacia on their development. American Journal of Physiology, 50:31-53. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. V, Restoration of the plasma volume and of the alkali reserve. American Journal of Physiology, 50:104-18. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Studies in secondary traumatic shock. VI, Statistical study of the treatment of measured trauma with solutions of gum acacia and crystalloids. American Journal of Physiology, 50:119-48. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Studies on secondary traumatic shock. VII, Note on the action of hypertonic gum acacia and glucose after hemorrhage. American Journal of Physiology, 50:149-56. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. Hypertonic gum acacia and glucose in the treatment of secondary traumatic shock. Annals of Surgery, 69:389-421. In vol. 2, box 33.

1920

With H. L. White. The effect on the composition of the blood of maintaining an increased blood volume by the intravenous injection of a hypertonic solution of gum acacia and glucose in normal, asphyxiated and shocked dogs. American Journal of Physiology, 54:1-29. In vol. 2, box 33.

With C. M. Jackson, G. Lusk, W. S. Thayer, and V. C. Vaughan. An investigation of conditions in the departments of the preclinical sciences. Journal of the American Medical Association, 74:1117-22. 31:21.

1921

Studies in blood pressure estimation by indirect methods. III, The movements in the artery under compression during blood pressure determinations. American Journal of Physiology, 55:84-158. In vol. 2, box 33.

Blood volume and its regulation. Physiological Reviews, 1:177-207. In vol. 2, box 33.

1922

The past and the future of the medical sciences in the United States. Science, 55:135-45. In vol. 2, box 33.

With H. S. Gasser. The cathode ray oscillograph as a means of recording nerve action currents and induction shocks. American Journal of Physiology, 59:473-75. 31:22.

With H. S. Gasser. A study of the action currents of nerve with the cathode ray oscillograph. American Journal of Physiology, 62:496-524. In vol. 2, box 33; also in vol. 3, box 34.

1924

With H. S. Gasser. The compound nature of the action current of nerve as disclosed by the cathode ray oscillograph. American Journal of Physiology, 70:624-66. In vol. 2, box 33, also in vol. 3, box 34.

With H. S. Gasser. The nature of conduction of an impulse in the relatively refractory period. American Journal of Physiology, 73:613-35. In vol. 3, box 34.

1926

Department of Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. In: Methods and Problems of Medical Education, 5th ser., pp. 43-50. New York, Rockefeller Foundation. 31:23.

With G. H. Bishop and H. S. Gasser. Experimental analysis of the simple action potential wave in nerve by the cathode ray oscillograph. American Journal of Physiology, 78:537-73. In vol. 3, box 34.

With G. H. Bishop and H. S. Gasser. The action potential waves transmitted between the sciatic nerve and its spinal roots. American Journal of Physiology, 78:574-91. 31:24.

With G. H. Bishop and H. S. Gasser. Distortion of action potentials as recorded from the nerve surface. American Journal of Physiology, 78:592-609. In vol. 3, box 34.

With G. H. Bishop. The effects of polarization upon the activity of vertebrate nerve. American Journal of Physiology, 78:630-57. In vol. 3, box 34.

With W. J. Meek. An adjustable sphygmoscope for the recording sphygmomanometer. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, 12:172-82. 31:25.

1927

With H. S. Gasser. The role played by the sizes of the constituent fibers of a nerve trunk in determining the form of its action potential wave. American Journal of Physiology, 80:522-47. In vol. 3, box 34.

With H. S. Gasser and G. H. Bishop. The absolutely refractory phase of the alpha, beta and gamma fibers in the sciatic nerve of the frog. American Journal of Physiology, 81:473-74. In vol. 3, box 34.

The interpretation of the action potential in cutaneous and muscle nerves. American Journal of Physiology, 82:644-55. 31:26. Also in vol. 3, box 34.

1928

Analysis of the action potential in nerve. Harvey Lectures, 22: 90-113. In vol. 3, box 34.

With F. O. Schmitt. Directional differences in the conduction of the impulse through heart muscle and their possible relation to extra-systolic and fibrillary contractions. American Journal of Physiology, 87: 326-47. 31:28.

1929

With H. S. Gasser. The role of fiber size in the establishment of a nerve block by pressure or cocaine. American Journal of Physiology, 88:581-91. In vol. 3, box 34.

1930

With H. S. Gasser. The action potential in fibers of slow conduction in spinal roots and somatic nerves. American Journal of Physiology, 92:43-82. 31:29.

With H. S. Gasser. The ending of the axon action potential and its relation to other events in nerve activity. American Journal of Physiology, 94:247-77. 31:30.

1931

With E. A. Blair. The irritability changes in nerve in response to subthreshold induction shocks, and related phenomena including the relatively refractory phase. American Journal of Physiology, 99:108-28. 31:31.

With E. A. Blair. The irritability changes in nerve in response to subthreshold constant currents, and related phenomena. American Journal of Physiology, 99:129-55. 31.32.

1932

With E. A. Blair. Responses of axons to brief shocks. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 29:926-27. 31:33.

With E. A. Blair. On the effects of polarization of nerve fibers by extrinsic action potentials. American Journal of Physiology, 101:559-64. 31:34.

1933

With E. A. Blair. A comparison of the characteristics of axons through their individual electrical responses. American Journal of Physiology, 106:524-64. 31:35.

With E. A. Blair. The configuration of axon and “simple” nerve action potentials. American Journal of Physiology, 106:565-70. 31:36.

William Beaumont’s experiments and their present day value. Weekly Bulletin of the St. Louis Medical Society, 28:180-91. 31:37.

1934

With E. A. Blair. Manifestations of segmentation in myelinated axons. American Journal of Physiology, 110:287-311. 32:1.

1935

With E. A. Blair. On the process of excitation by brief shocks in axons. American Journal of Physiology,114:309-16. 32:2.

With E. A. Blair. On excitation and depression in axons at the cathode of the constant current. American Journal of Physiology, 114:317-27. 32:3.

With E. A. Blair. Observations on repetitive responses in axons. American Journal of Physiology, 114:328-6 1. 32:4.

1936

With E. A. Blair. Temporal summation in peripheral nerve fibers. American Journal of Physiology, 117:355-65. 32:5.

1937

With H. S. Gasser. Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation for Medical Physics. Electrical signs of nervous activity. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press. x + 221 pp.

See Monuments of Medicine collection, xxWL 102 E69e 1937.

1938

With E. A. Blair. Comparative observations on motor and sensory fibers with special reference to repetitiousness. American Journal of Physiology, 121:431-53. 32:6.

With E. A. Blair. The action of isotonic, salt-free solutions on conduction in medullated nerve fibers. American Journal of Physiology, 124:341-59. 32:7.

1939

With E. A. Blair. Propagation and extension of excitatory effects, of the nerve action potential across nonresponding internodes. American Journal of Physiology, 126:97-108. 32:8.

The initiation of impulses in axons. Journal of Neurophysiology, 2:370-79. 32:9.

1940

With E. A. Blair. Facilitation and difficilitation effected by nerve impulses in peripheral fibers. Journal of Neurophysiology, 3:107-27. 32:10.

The relation of longitudinal tension of an artery to the preanacrotic (breaker) phenomenon. American Heart Journal, 19:398-400. 32:11.

With E. A. Blair. Interaction of medullated fibers of a nerve tested with electric shocks. American Journal of Physiology, 131:483-93. 32:12.

1941

Remarks on some evidences of a subconducted process in medullated nerve fibers. Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift, 22:394-95. 32:13.

With G. M. Schoepfle. The action of temperature on he excitability, spike height and configuration, and the refractory period observed in the responses of single medullated nerve fibers. American Journal of Physiology, 134:694-704. 32:14.

With E. A. Blair and G. M. Schoepfle. A study of the spontaneous oscillations in the excitability of nerve fibers with special reference to the action of strychnine. American Journal of Physiology, 134:705-18. 32:15.

1942

With A. G. Krems and G. M. Schoepfle. Nerve concussion. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 49:73-75. 32:16.

1943

Letter to the editor regarding “Histologic demonstration of accessory muscular connections between auricle and ventricle in the case of short P-R interval and prolonged QRS complex,” by Wood, Wolferth, and Geckeler. American Heart Journal, 26:419-20. 32:17.

1944

Obituary. Albert Ernest Taussig. Transactions of the Association of American Physicians, 58:35-36. 32:18.

1945

Obituary. William Henry Howell. Science, 101:575-76. 32:19.

A reassessment of Beaumont the investigator. Weekly Bulletin of the St. Louis Medical Society, 40:147-50. 32:20.

1946

With G. M. Schoepfle. A study of nerve degeneration and regeneration. American Journal of Physiology, 147:550-81. 32:21.

1949

With G. M. Schoepfle. Relation between spike height and polarizing current in single medullated nerve fibers. American Journal of Physiology, 159:217-32. 32:22.

Some observations on the responses of single nerve fibers. In: Les Prix Nobel en 1947, pp. 173-95. Stockholm, Imprimerie Royale. In box 34. Also in box 34 is Les Prix Nobel en 1940-1944 (1946), containing Ragnar Granit’s account of the 1944 prize awarded to Erlanger and Gasser.

1950

William Henry Howell, 1860-1945. National Academy of Sciences, Biographical Memoirs, 26:153-80. 32:23.

1951

With G. M. Schoepfle. Observations on the local response in single medullated nerve fibers. American Journal of Physiology, 167:134-46. 32:24.

1964

Prefatory chapter: A physiologist reminisces. Reprint from Annual Review of Physiology, 26:1-14. 32:25.

Artifact

“Nerve papers 1930, v. 2, property of Joseph Erlanger.” In metal two ring binder.
Retained as an example of Erlanger’s laboratory equipment that once afforded him ready access to selected journal literature. Stored in box 35.

Back to Series List

Series 8: Books by Other Authors, 1897, 1940

Most of the publications in JE’s office library by authors other than himself were given to the Library and thereupon cataloged for use in various book collections. Three volumes are retained with his archival papers, although for disparate reasons. 1. Blue and gold, University of California, 1894, an illustrated yearbook. JE is listed as a member of the junior class, but otherwise receives no mention. The item provides at best a superficial glimpse of his undergraduate environment. What the experience meant to him then and later is largely undocumented. 2. JE acquired his copy of The second edition of William Osler’s The principles and practice of medicine in the year that it came out (1897) and it was likely his primary vade mecum for his clinical years as a medical student at Johns Hopkins. He annotated and underlined important passages in black ink throughout the volume. For this collection, therefore, the item is more significant appraised as an Erlanger manuscript than as one of thousands of extant copies of Osler’s classic text. 3. Heinrich von Recklinghousen’s Blutdruckmessung und Kreislauf in den Arterien des Menschen (Blood pressure measurement and circulation in human arteries, 1942) was a gift of a nephew of the author to JE in 1963. The donor, Herbert Spiegelberg, revealed that his uncle (1867-1942) had wanted to send JE a copy shortly after the publication of the work (presumably World War II prevented this), and also recalled that JE had once met an older member of the family, Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen, when a student in Strasbourg before World War I. In other words, the item is testimony to JE’s renown as a scientist, which for a few at least transcended savage political and cultural conflicts of the 20th century. No items in this series have been microfilmed. Unboxed.

1894

University of California. Blue and gold [yearbook]. Berkeley.

1897

Osler, William. The principles and practice of medicine designed for the use of practitioners and students of medicine. 2nd edition. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

1940

Recklinghausen, Heinrich von. Blutdruckmessung und Kreislauf in den Arterien des Menschen: Geschichte und heutige Lage der Probleme, neue Losungversuche. Dresden and Leipzig: Verlag von Theodor Steinkopff.

Back to Series List

Series 9: Recording Discs, 1944-1945

Shelved in the Recorded Materials Section of the archival stacks. Box 36.

Box 36

Back to Series List