They Gave Their Names to Body Parts Quiz

Answer: Charles McBurney

McBurney's point is located in the lower right abdomen, two thirds of the way from the tummy button to the edge of the pelvis. Dr Charles McBurney (1845-1913) discovered that pressing on this point would cause acute pain in a patient suffering from appendicitis. (I first heard the term at the age of seven, when my doctor pressed there and decided to operate right away.)

Charles Heber McBurney, MD was born and died in Massachusetts, but practised mainly in New York state after qualifying at Columbia University in New York city. He specialised in the treatment of appendicitis, but also contributed in other areas, including using rubber gloves when operating, before it was the general practice.

Answer: Achilles

As noted, the Achilles tendon connects the muscles of the lower leg to the heel. It is one of the strongest tendons in the body, and is what allows us to stand on tip-toe and other marvellous feats. It is also vulnerable to injury, including tears, tendinitis and ruptures (which can make a popping sound) any of which could lay a person up for a considerable length of time.

In Greek mythology, the mother of Achilles wanted him to be immortal, and so dipped him as a babe into the River Styx, holding him by one heel. The heel that was not immersed remained vulnerable, and it was an arrow in this heel that eventually killed him, at least according to some sources. The term "Achilles heel" came to mean a person's weak spot, and "Achilles tendon" was applied to the strong but vulnerable body part.

Answer: Sir John Struthers

Struthers' ligament occurs only rarely in humans, and is associated with a bone spike in the upper arm when it does, running from there to the elbow. It was first identified by Scottish anatomist Sir John Struthers MD (1823-1899) in the 1840s. The existence of the rare connective tissue came to be useful in proving Darwin's theory of evolution.

John Struthers studied anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, and was later professor of that subject at the University of Aberdeen. He was well-respected in the field of medical education, and was knighted for his services to that field in 1898.

Answer: Carl Wernicke

Wernicke's area, in the left temporal lobe of the brain, is the part of the brain that makes sense of what we say and hear. (Broca's area, named for Frenchman Paul Broca, is the part that allows us to produce speech.) Some years after Broca identified his 'area' and problems associated with damage thereto, Carl Wernicke identified similar problems with comprehension related to damage to the area of the brain that bears his name. The resulting language impairment is known as Wernicke's aphasia.

Carl (Karl) Wernicke (1848-1905) studied at the University of Breslau, and served as an army surgeon during the Franco-Prussian War. His medical specialties were psychiatry and neurology.

Answer: Henry Shrapnell

Shrapnell's membrane is also known as Rivinus' ligament or, more formally, as Pars flaccida of tympanic membrane. It is part of the eardrum, though its actual function in the transmission of sound is not clearly understood.

Englishman Henry Jones Shrapnell (1792-1834) was an anatomist, and a pioneer in the field of otology (the study of the ear). Information about his life appears to be as hard to come by as a definitive description of the function of his membrane.

Answer: Bartolomeo Eustachi

The Eustachian tube (or auditory tube, or pharyngotympanic tube) is a very handy body part, that is useful for equalizing pressure in the ear when climbing in an aeroplane, or other activities that can bother the ears. It also serves to drain mucus from the ears, lessening the chance of infection.

Bartolomeo Eustachi (fl.1514-1574) was an Italian, from San Severino, and one of the founders of the science of human anatomy. Amongst other things, he contributed greatly to knowledge of the structure and function of the inner ear.

Answer: Johann Gottfried Zinn

The zonule of Zinn, to give these ligaments their other name, is a band of fibres that keep the lens of the eye centred on its optical axis and assists in focussing on distant objects. Zinn, after whom it was named, was the first to describe it.

Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759) was a German anatomist and botanist who, despite living for only just over 30 years, contributed the first comprehensive description of the anatomy of the human eye to the world. Incidentally, the genus of flowers known as Zinnia was named in his honour by Carl Linnaeus.

Answer: Gabriele Falloppio

The Fallopian tubes, which connect a woman's ovaries to her uterus, were first described by sixteenth century anatomist and physician Fallopius, to give him the Latin name by which he was sometimes known. These tubes allow eggs to pass from the ovary to the uterus, where they then have the possibility of being fertilized and producing an embryo.

Italian Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562), studied medicine at the University of Ferrara, where he was later a professor of anatomy. At the time of his death he held the chair of anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. Besides his work with the reproductive systems of both males and females, he made contributions to our understanding of various parts of the head, including both the eye and the ear, and to the practice of medicine in general.

Answer: F.G.J. Henle

There are a vast number of nephrons in a human kidney, inside which are a number of tubes and tubules, and structures known as the loop of Henle, named for the German anatomist who discovered them in the nineteenth century. The loop of Henle plays an important part in the concentration of urine prior to excretion.

Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle (1809-1885) was born in Bavaria, and studied at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Bonn, receiving a medical degree. He later taught in Zurich and at Heidelberg, and published the multi-volume "Handbook of Systematic Human Anatomy" between 1855 and 1873.

Answer: Paul Langerhans

The insulin produced in the Islets of Langerhans is important to the way the human body processes sugars, and damage to the insulin producing cells in these cell clusters can lead to diabetes. Other hormones, such as glucagon, are produced by other cells in these so-called islets.

Paul Langerhans (1847-1888) was born in Berlin and studied medicine there and in Jena. His thesis putting forward his findings regarding the structure and function of the pancreas was published in 1869.