Wilhelm Filehne (12 February 1844, in Posen – 29 April 1927, in Bensheim) was a German pharmacologist, who specialized in research of antipyretic drugs.The Search for Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: Case Histories from Concept to Clinic edited by Vincent J. Merluzzi, Julian Adams
He studied medicine at the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, where his instructors included Emil du Bois-Reymond and Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs. In 1866 he received his doctorate, and afterwards, he worked as assistant under Rudolf Virchow in Berlin. After participation in the Franco-Prussian War, he returned to Berlin as an assistant to Ludwig Traube.Filehne, Wilhelm at Neue Deutsche Biographie In 1874 he relocated to the University of Erlangen, where he worked as an assistant under Wilhelm Olivier Leube at the medical polyclinic.Filehne, Wilhelm Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte
In 1876 he became an associate professor of pharmacology at Erlangen, and ten years later, was appointed a full professor of the same subject at the University of Breslau. In 1911 he was succeeded at Breslau by Julius Pohl.Pohl, Julius Heinrich In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, , S. 583.
In addition to work in the field of pharmacology, he made contributions in his research of optical illusions, being known for his experimentation with a phenomenon known as a Zöllner illusion.Seeing Motion: A History of Visual Perception in Art and Science by Romana Karla Schuler The so-called "Filehne illusion" is the illusory motion of a stationary background when smooth pursuit eye movements are made across the stationary background.
Selected works Ueber die einwirkung des morphins auf die athmung, 1879 – On the effect of morphine on respiration. Ueber das Antipyrin, ein neues Antipyreticum, 1884 – On antipyrine, a new antipyretic.Ueber das Antipyrin, ein neues Antipyreticum ZVAB.com Lehrbuch der Arzneimittellehre und Arzneiverordnungslehre, 1887 – Textbook of pharmacology.HathiTrust Digital Library (published works) Ueber das Pyramidon, ein Antipyrinderivat, 1896 – On Pyramidon, an antipyrine derivative.Ueber das Pyramidon, ein Antipyrinderivat ZVAB.com
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