The original slides of Camillo Golgi

As it is well known, Camillo Golgi (1843-1926) reported in 1873 his discovery of the black reaction (reazione nera), based on nervous tissue hardening in potassium dichromate and impregnation with silver nitrate. This method first revealed neurons, including their processes, in their entirety, thus providing the tool for a breakthrough in the knowledge on the structure of the nervous system. Professor of Histology and of General Pathology, Camillo Golgi worked for decades at the University of Pavia, leading a very active laboratory. Most of the original histological preparations of Golgi’s laboratory have unfortunately been lost. However, some slides are still kept at the Museum of the University of Pavia (“Sistema Museale di Ateneo”) but they have not been examined in detail until now. This presentation will provide an account of Golgi’s original slides available nowadays. Images from these preparations (e.g. from the hippocampus, cerebellum, and spinal cord), mostly based on Golgi impregnation, will be shown and compared with Golgi’s drawings and his descriptions of neuronal wiring. The presentation is thus aimed at showing, for the first time, the images which have led to the pioneering observations made by Camillo Golgi, which have opened the field of neurohistology and neuroanatomy and have contributed to the foundations of modern neuroscience

The original histological slides of Camillo Golgi and his discoveries on neuronal structure

The metallic impregnation invented by Camillo Golgi in 1873 has allowed the visualization of individual neurons in their entirety, leading to a breakthrough in the knowledge on the structure of the nervous system. Professor of Histology and of General Pathology, Golgi worked for decades at the University of Pavia, leading a very active laboratory. Unfortunately, most of Golgi's histological preparations are lost. The present contribution provides an account of the original slides on the nervous system from Golgi's laboratory available nowadays at the Golgi Museum and Historical Museum of the University of Pavia. Knowledge on the organization of the nervous tissue at the time of Golgi's observations is recalled. Notes on the equipment of Golgi's laboratory and the methodology Golgi used for his preparations are presented. Images of neurons from his slides (mostly from hippocampus, neocortex and cerebellum) are here shown for the first time together with some of Golgi's drawings. The sections are stained with the Golgi impregnation and Cajal stain. Golgi-impregnated sections are very thick (some more than 150 \u3bcm) and require continuous focusing during the microscopic observation. Heterogeneity of neuronal size and shape, free endings of distal dendritic arborizations, axonal branching stand out at the microscopic observation of Golgi-impregnated sections and in Golgi's drawings, and were novel findings at his time. Golgi also pointed out that the axon only originates from cell bodies, representing a constant and distinctive feature of nerve cells which distinguishes them from glia, and subserving transmission at a distance. Dendritic spines can be seen in some cortical neurons, although Golgi, possibly worried about artifacts, did not identify them. The puzzling intricacy of fully impregnated nervous tissue components offered to the first microscopic observations still elicit nowadays the emotion Golgi must have felt looking at his slides

La scienza in chiaroscuro. Lombroso e Mantegazza a Pavia tra Darwin e Freud

Catalogo della mostra dedicata a Cesare Lombroso e Paolo Mantegazza, entrambi studenti nella Pavia dei moti risorgimentali, divenuti in seguito due veri e propri fenomeni culturali nell'Italia di fine Ottocento

The Oklo Phenomenon as Natural Analogue for Radioactive Waste Disposal. A Review

Abstract not availableNA-NOT AVAILABL

Sito Web del Sistema Museale d'Ateneo

Sito Web del Sistema Museale d'Ateneo costituitosi nel 2005 con lo scopo di riunire tutti i musei e le collezioni dell'Università di Pavia e di promuoverne la conservazione e valorizzazion

Clinical Neuropathology image 1-2018: Golgi silver staining, the black reaction

[no abstract available

Catalogazione digitale secondo sistema SIRBEC (schede PST, AUT e BIB) degli strumenti del Museo per la Storia dell'Università.

Sono stati catalogati circa 300 strumenti, quelli del Gabinetto di Fisica di Volta e parte di quelli del Gabinetto di Fisica dell'Ottocento e della sezione di Medicina