Rudolf L.K., German pathologist and politician, 1821–1902. See V. angle, V. cells, under cell, V. corpuscles, under corpuscle, V. crystals, under crystal, V. disease, V. node, V. psammoma, V.-Holder angle, V.-Hassall bodies, under body, V.-Robin space.
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Vir·chow (fērґko) Rudolf Ludwig Karl, 1821–1902. German writer and editor, politician and statesman, anthropologist, ethnologist, archaeologist, and pathologist; his Cellularpathologie (1858) finally overthrew humoralism and marked the beginning of modern pathology. He made valuable contributions to anatomy, parasitology, the history of medicine, public health, histology, and anatomic pathology. He regarded the body as a cell-state in which every cell is a citizen, with disease being a civil war brought about by external forces among the cells; he thought all cells arose from other cells (implicitly rejecting spontaneous generation), and that cell theory applied to diseased tissue. He opposed Pasteur's theory of germs, Darwin's theory of natural selection and evolution, and Semmelweiss's washing of hands to prevent puerperal fever.Medical dictionary. 2011.