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European Journal of Anatomy June, 2019 Vol. 23, Supplement 1 Honoring Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), ‘an exemplary man’ Madrid, June 2019 Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. María Isabel Porras Gallo Prof. Dr. María José Báguena INDEX OF CONTENTS Honoring Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), ‘an exemplary man’ Presentation. Reassessing the context of Santiago Ramón y Cajal and his contributions in the 21st century: from the Neuroscience to the literature María Isabel Porras, María José Báguena………………………………………………….. I Chapter 1. Albert von Kölliker, Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Camillo Golgi, the main protagonists in the Neuron Theory debate Pedro Mestres-Ventura ……………………………………………………………………….. 05 Chapter 2. The image of Santiago Ramón y Cajal through the daily press. The awarding of the Nobel Prize José L. Fresquet Febrer ……………………………………………………………..…..……. 15 Chapter 3. The new lifeblood of the Spanish nation: the Regenerationist Movement and the genesis of the Cajal Institut in the late 19th Century Ángel González de Pablo ………………………………………………………………….…. 29 Chapter 4. Cajal in Barcelona: From yesterday to today, from the neuron to the network Joaquín M. Fuster ……………………………………………………….…………………… 39 Chapter 5. Fighting with the strong Antonio Calvo Roy …………………………………………………………….……….….….. 49 Chapter 6. The early drawings and prints of Santiago Ramón y Cajal: a visual epistemology of the neurosciences Miguel Ángel Rego Robles …………………………………………………………….……… 57 Chapter 7. The role played by Santiago Ramón y Cajal in the development of other disciplines: Biology, Psychology, Anthropology and Archaeology Mariano Ayarzagüena Sanz ……………………………………………………………….…. 67 Chapter 8. Modern Spain, a myth: regeneration through reeducation in Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s Vacation Stories (1905) Ryan A. Davis ………………………………………………………………………………… 73 Author Index ………………………………………………………………………………….. 85 PRESENTATION Eur. J. Anat. 23 (S1): I-VII(2019) Reassessing the context of Santiago Ramón y Cajal and his contributions in the 21st century: from the Neuroscience to the literature María Isabel Porras1, María José Báguena2 1University of Castilla-La Mancha , 2University of Valencia The quality of “exemplary man”, in Max Scheler’s also to the behavioural sciences and the concep- sociological definition of the expression (Scheler, tion of living organisms (López Piñero, 1988, p. 1981), is one which has been attributed to few sci- 19). entists throughout history by those who have at- However, it is not possible to fully understand his tempted their biographies: Pedro Laín Entralgo work, the importance of his neurological school used the term when referring to Ramón y Cajal and its subsequent impact, without taking into ac- (Laín Entralgo, 1978). A typical example is Severo count Ramón y Cajal's most distinctive features Ochoa’s description of Ramón y Cajal as one of and the context in which he developed his scien- the greatest men of science that mankind has ever tific work. The historian of Medicine, Pedro Laín known: of the stature, in his judgment, of a Galileo, Entralgo, highlighted Cajal’s propensity for insight, a Newton, a Darwin, a Pasteur or an Einstein, who his love of precision and his passion for personal with their work made possible our current under- uniqueness as the main personal characteristics standing of life, the universe, and nature (Ochoa, that enable us to understand the great work he did. 1983). Taking a quote from Cajal himself in which he In this sense, and not wishing to produce a hagi- confessed his great interest in philosophical read- ography, Ramón y Cajal can and should be con- ing in his early youth, driven –he said– by his sidered a classic (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 26). “obsession with reasoning”, Laín related his read- What has enshrined and defined certain texts and ing habit not only to intellectual ambition, but also authors as classics is the repeated reading of them to the hidden wish of the future Nobel Prize-winner over time and generations. A classic scientist is to arouse the admiration of his companions. Laín one whose work continues to be thought- also interprets this “obsession with reasoning”, provoking, valuable and fully contemporary in its along with his “literary obsession”, as two key ele- fundamental theoretical conceptions. In fact, today, ments that influenced his future scientific career, in Ramón Cajal is still the most frequently cited sci- that they would have driven him to seek the ulti- entist, after Einstein (López Piñero, 1988, p. 20). mate basis of what he could see and to interpret Like Claude Bernard, Louis Pasteur, Charles Dar- what lay before him, taking all imaginable options win, Gregor Mendel and Rudolf Virchow, Santiago into account (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 22-24). Ramón y Cajal established a model of the struc- Ramón y Cajal himself established a connection ture of the nervous system and its functions, the between his interest in philosophical readings and key not only to developing knowledge related to the development of an appropriate attitude for sci- anatomy, physiology and nervous diseases, but entific research (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 45). An- other of Cajal’s traits that Laín highlights, relying heavily on information provided by the man him- Corresponding author: María Isabel Porras, self, was his great gift for patient contemplation, together with his ability to see and understand the E-mail: [email protected], María José Báguena2 E-mail: [email protected] I Presentation results obtained (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 25). This chow, On the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of same patience was also very useful when produc- Surgery (1882) by Joseph Lister or Über die Chol- ing his drawings. They clearly show the impact, as erabakterien (1884) by Robert Koch (López Cajal confessed, of being “a visual person” and, Piñero, 1988, p. 88). The Manual de Histología related to this, the signs of the figurative ability of was not only the fruit of his continued dedication to the painter that he would have become had his histology, but also an example of the scientific en- father not opposed the pursuit of his early love for richment of this future genius, who acknowledged painting (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 28). the inclusion of German contributions as well as In brief, as Laín Entralgo says, those of Aureliano Maestre de San Juan and the “Cajal was an eminent man of science, whose Parisian school of Ranvier (López Piñero, 1988, p. genius was characterised by four main features: 103). The year of 1887 provided a new opportunity being able to make visible what could not be seen; for scientific enrichment, when he had to be in Ma- being able to see; wanting to understand what he drid to take part in a tribunal for the appointment of saw according to his own reality; and thereby al- a professor. As López Piñero points out, he took ways to strive to refer ‘what is seen’ to ‘what advantage of his stay to tour the main micrograph- is’” (Laín Entralgo, 1978, p. 26). ic laboratories: his visit to Luis Simarro’s laboratory Together with the character of Cajal we have to was a milestone in his decision to devote himself consider the medium in which his great work was to the histological investigation of the nervous sys- developed. In spite of the lack of resources in tem, after Simarro had shown him the good results Spain, in the mid-19th century practical microgra- provided by silver chromate and had praised the phy began to be adopted, in line with the new the- value of Golgi's book (López Piñero, 1988, p. 104- ories and new technical resources that would 106). reach a greater degree of development in the fol- Cajal’s Barcelona visit also began in a university lowing decade. Ramón y Cajal came into contact environment dominated by the ascendancy of the with this milieu and with the proponents of histo- experimentalist philosophy and the existence of a logical studies when he went to Madrid to obtain significant scientific institution, the “Academy and the title of Doctor. In fact, as reported by the histo- Laboratory of Medical Sciences”, as well as of sev- rian of Medicine José María López Piñero, the fu- eral important journals (Catalan Medical Gazette, ture academic was impressed by the preparations Health Gazette of Barcelona and the Journal of shown to him by Aureliano Maestre de San Juan Medical Sciences of Barcelona), as mouthpieces and his assistants, and decided to create a micro- for that philosophy, which enabled him to present graphic laboratory (López Piñero, 1988, p. 65 -66). and publish his new concept of the structure of the Both this initiative and the relationship he began nervous system in 1892. During this period, with Aureliano Maestre de San Juan, who held the Ramón y Cajal embarked on the considerable task first official chair of histology (1873), were key to of international dissemination of his new research the development of his research. To this we must results (López Piñero, 1988, p. 109-125). add the contributions provided by the milieus that 1892 was also the year of his accession to the Cajal found in Valencia and Barcelona, of which he chair of Histology and Pathological Anatomy of the was also able to take great advantage during his Faculty of Medicine of Madrid, after the death of stays in those cities. Aureliano Maestre de San Juan. There he found When Cajal arrived at the Faculty of Medicine of an important group of disciples of Laboratory Medi- Valencia, most of his fellow academics followed cine, as well as a warm reception, thanks to the the new laboratory medicine and based

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