Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/874

OERSTED. 744 (ESOPHAGUS. University of Copenliagen. In 1812 he again visited Gcruiaiiy and France, alter liaving pub- lished a manual under the title of 'idc>iskahen our .Wiltinn's AliiiiiulcUge Love, and I'orste In- dUduing til den Ahnindelige yaturlcEre (1811). During his residence in Berlin he wrote his famous essay on the identity of cliemical and electrical forces, in which he first developed the ideas on which were based his great discovery of the intimate connection existing between inag- netisra and electricity and galvanism — a treatise which, during his residence in Paris, he trans- lated into French, in conjunction with Marcel de Serres. Oersted's great discovery, made in 1819, was that a magnetic needle was deflected by a current in a wire passing over or below it. This is the earliest experiment in electric magnetism, and at once paved the way for the work of Anipfrc and made possible the galvanometer, the electromagnet, and other apparatus soon to be devised. This discovery was announced shortly afterwards in a Latin essay, entitled Expirimrnla circri Effccfum Conflictus Electric! in Acum Mnynctictiiii. This memorable experiment ob- tained for Oersted the Copley medal from the Royal Society of England, .ind the |)rincipal mathematicar prize of the Institute of Paris. Oersted endeavored to make science popiilar among all classes; with this object he wrote numerous works, contributed scientific |)a])ers to the newspapers and magazines of his own coun- try and f^rmany. and. in addition to his regular lectures in the university, gave courses of popular scientific lectures. Among the works specially written to promote the diffusion of scientific knowledge, those best known are Aandcn i .Vn- turen (Copenhagen. IS50) and Xntiirliirens mechaiiiscke Dccl (Copenhagen, 1844). The ma- jority of his more important physical and chemical papers are contained in Poggendorlfs Aiinalen. OERTEL. er'trl, Max .TosErn ( lS.3.'5-97) . A Ciermau ]ihyslcian, specialist in diseases of the lungs and heart. He was born at Dillingen, studied at ^Munich, and in 18G7 became docent of laryngology there, from which post he was pro- moted to "a professorship in ISTfi. Oertcl dis- covered the bacillus of diphtlieritis in ISfiS. but is better known for his system nf hlll-i-linil)lng as a cure for faulty respiration or circulation. A device for examining the larynx, the laryngostro- boscopp, is one of his inventions. He contributed to Ziemssen's //""(/f/i/r/i dcr spczicUrit Pntholofiie ■und Tlicrnpic. klel>reich's Encuclopiidic dcr The- rapir, and other encyclop.-rdic works. His most famous work is Mlricnwinc Thcrapic dcr Kreis- hiiifaloriinfioi (1884). Besides he wrote: J'chcr drn larnngoloqischen Vntcrricht (1878) ; I'chcr Trrriiinkitrorle ciir Bchandlunrj dcr Krrislauf- sliinnuicn (1887) : Pnthoqcncxr dcr cpidrmlnchen Diphtheric (1887) : Massrific dcx Tlcrzen.t (1889) : and Dnx Lnriinfroxlrohosl-op und seine Verwen- diinti in dcr Phiinik, Phi/siolnriie vnd .l/crfi;i» (180.-.). OESEL, r-'zrl. A Russian island. See OSEL. OESER, c'zr-r. An.>r 'FRiEnRirii (1717-90). A Cernian painter, etcher, and sculptor, bom at Pressburp. Hungary. He was a piipil. in Vienna, of Van Schuppen lind Daniel Crau at the .ead- pmy. where he was awarded the first prize in 173.5. and of Raphael Donner in sculptiire. In n.'Jft he went to Dresden, won reputation with portraits, executed mural paintings in Castle Ilubertsburg iu 1740, and removed to Leipzig in 1759. Appointed director of the newly founded Academy there in 1704, he zealously opposed mannerism in art and was a stout champion of WInckelmann's advocacy of reform on aiititiue lines. Among the numerous pupils he educated was Goethe, with whom he kept up friendly rela- tions afterwards at Weimar. As specimens of Oeser's paintings may be mentioned "The Artist's Children" (17Uti, Dresden Gallery); "ilarriage at Cana" (1777), and four others (Leipzig Mu- seum) ; and "The Painter's Studio" (Weimar iluseum). His best etlort in sculpture Is the monument of Elector Frederick Augustus (1780) on the Kiinigsplatz in Leipzig. For his biog- rapliy consult Diirr (Leipzig, 1879). (ESOPH'AGUS (Xeo-Lat.. from GV. oi<ro<piyos, oisophitijos. gullet, from olauy, oisein, to be about to carry + (tiayfTv, phuyein, to eat), or GiLLET. A membranous canal, about 9 inches in length, extending from the pharynx to the stom- ach, and thus forming a part of the alimentary canal. It commences at the lower border of the cricoid cartilage of the larynx, descends in a nearly vertical direction along the front of the spine', passes thrcujgh an opening in tlie dia- phragm, and thus enters the abdomen, and ter- minates in the cardiac orifice of the stomach opposite the ninth dorsal vertebra. It has three coats — viz. an external or muscular coat (con- sisting of two strata of fibres of considerable thickness — an external, longitudinal, and an in- ternal, circular) ; an internal or mucous coat, which is covered willi a thick layer of squamous epithelium: and an intermedinte cellular coat, uniting the muscular and mucous coats. In this tissue are a large number of oesophageal glands, which open upon the surface by a long excretory duct, and are most numerous round the cardiac "orifice, where they form a complete ring. The o'sophagus Is liable to a considerable num- ber of morbid changes, none of which are, how- ever, of very common occurrence. The most prominent symptom of rrsoplici(iitis, or inflammalion nf the cefophafnis. is pain be- tween the shoulders, or behind the trachea or sternum, augmented in deglutition, which is usuallv more or less difficult, and sometimes im- possible. The affection is regarded as a very rare one. unless when it originates from the direct application of irritating or very hot sub- stances, or from mechanical violence. Spasm of the ccftophtinnx — a morbid muscular contraction of the tube, producing more or less difficulty of swallowing— is a much more com- mon affection than inflamniatlnn. The spasm generally comes on suddenly during a meal, t'pon an attenipt to swallow, the food is arrested, and is either immediately rejected with considerable force, or is retained for a time, ami then bniuglit up by regurgitation; the former happening when the contraction takes place In the upper part of the canal, and the latter when it is near the lower part. In some eases solids can be swal- lowed, while liquids excite spasm; while in other cases the opposite is observed : hut in general either solids or liquids suffice to excite the con- traction, when a predisposition to it exists. Tlie predisposition usually consists in an excitable state of the nervous' system, such as exists in hvsteria. hvpochondriasis. and especially In hy- ilrophobia. ' An attack may consist of a single