Abraham Vater (December 9, 1684 - (November 18, 1751) was a German anatomist born in Wittenberg. He received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Wittenberg in 1706, and his medical degree from the University of Leipzig in 1710. He later practiced medicine in Wittenberg, becoming "professor extraordinaire" in 1719, full professor of anatomy in 1732 and professory of therapy in 1746. December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events France under Louis XIV makes Truce of Ratisbon separately with the Empire and Spain. ... November 18 is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... Greek anatome, from ana-temnein, to cut up), is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and organization of living things; thus there is animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytonomy). ... Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ... Socrates (central bare-chested figure) about to drink hemlock as mandated by the court. ... The Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg is located in the German cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt and Wittenberg. ... The University of Leipzig (Universität Leipzig), located in Leipzig in the Free State and former Kingdom of Saxony, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. ... Look up Therapy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Vater is primarily known for his work in anatomy, but he also published works on chemistry, botany, pharmacology and gynaecology. He was the first to describe the hepatopancreatic ampulla, which is the juncture of the pancreatic duct and the common bile duct, and is now referred to as the ampulla of Vater. Chemistry (from Greek χημεία khemeia[1] meaning alchemy) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as molecules, crystals, and metals. ... Pinguicula grandiflora Botany is the scientific study of plantlife. ... Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon (φάρμακον) meaning drug, and logos (λόγος) meaning science) is the study of how substances interact with living organisms to produce a change in function. ... The shamefulness associated with the examination of female genitalia has long inhibited the science of gynaecology. ... The hepatopancreatic ampulla, also commonly called the Ampulla of Vater, is formed by the union of the pancreatic duct and the bile duct. ... A duct joining the pancreas to the bile duct to supply pancreatic juice which aid in digestion provided by the exocrine pancreas. ... Bile, which is synthesized in the liver, is carried to the right and left hepatic ducts, which converge to form the common hepatic duct. ... The Ampulla of Vater is the part of the duodenum where the common bile duct empties into the second part of the duodenum, so named because it has the appearance of an ampulla. ...

In 1719, Vater was the first to notice oval-shaped organs of concentric layers of connective tissue wrapped around nerve endings in the skin. They were between 1-4 mm long, and he called these structures papillae nervae. Apparently his research was forgotten, because in 1831 they were rediscovered by anatomist Filippo Pacini (1812-1883) while performing a dissection of a hand. Pacini was the first to describe their functionality as mechanoreceptors that are sensitive to vibration and pressure changes, and thus were to become known as Pacinian corpuscles. Today, the term Vater-Pacini corpuscles[1] is sometimes used to credit the discoveries of both men. These organs are one of four types of mechanoreceptors in the body, the others being Meissner corpuscles (tactile and touch receptors), Ruffini corpuscles (heat receptors), and Krause corpuscles (cold receptors). This microscope slide, prepared by Pacini in 1854, was clearly identified as containing the cholera bacillus. ... A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. ... A Pacinian corpuscle is a structure that functions as a mechanoreceptor. ... Meissners corpuscles (discovered by the anatomist Georg Meissner (1829-1903) are a type of mechanoreceptor and more specifically, a tactile corpuscle(corpusculum tactus). ... Ruffini Endings are one of the four main cutaneous mechanoreceptors. ... The bulboid corpuscles (end-bulbs of Krause) are minute cylindrical or oval bodies, consisting of a capsule formed by the expansion of the connective-tissue sheath of a medullated fiber, and containing a soft semifluid core in which the axis-cylinder terminates either in a bulbous extremity or in a...

Reference:

• German Wikipedia Page; Abraham Vater