Capillary Function and the Contractility Controversy (1923–1936)

Abstract

While August was waiting for the new institute to be built, work continued in his small laboratory. The capillary book resulting from his Silliman Lectures had become an instant success. At an Alfred Benzon Symposium in 1969, Eugene M. Landis said, “Very few books yielded as prompt and as widespread stimulation of research as this monograph did when it was read by histologists, physiologists, pathologists, and clinicians.”¹ In the foreword to the 1959 edition of Krogh’s capillary book, Landis wrote:

“It was written in a style, much more freely, much more con amore than his other books. He seems to be an artist painting a canvas of ideas in minutest detail wherever possible, but still willing with large brushstrokes, or even with exploratory pencil sketches to let the picture evolve fully rather than omit any challenging theoretical or practical implication. This is the reason for its provocative eliciting, from others, researches designed to amplify, test, or modify specific propositions.”²

Rehberg has succeeded in my laboratory in demonstrating with absolute certainty the folding of the endothelium in strongly contracted capillaries.