 | The University of Virginia record February, 1909 |  |
PHYSIOLOGY.
Professor Hough.
Mr. Purdum.
Mr. Setzler.
Mr. Vaiden.
The required course of study in this subject begins with the spring
term of the first year and continues throughout the second year. It is
divided into two courses, as follows:
Physiology 1: Physiological Chemistry.—Three lectures, three recitations,
and nine hours of laboratory work weekly during the spring term
of the first year. The fundamentals of physiological chemistry, especially
the chemical structure, properties, and reactions of the more important
compounds with which the student must deal in his subsequent studies
of physiology. The laboratory work, for which ample facilities are provided,
consists of the thorough study of the properties of the carbohydrates,
fats, soaps, fatty acids, and proteins and of the more important
members of each of these groups; the composition of blood, milk, muscle,
pancreas, and other organs; the action of the more important digestive
enzymes and of the bile; and the chemistry of the urine. Accurate quantitative
determinations are required of urea (Folin), total nitrogen
(Kjeldahl), uric acid (Hopkins-Folin), ammonia (Folin), sugar (Fehling
and Benedict), and kreatinin (Folin). Other processes of quantitative
analysis, such as the Soxhlet method of fat determination and the silver
nitrate method of determining the total purins, are either demonstrated
or their essential manipulations carried out by the student himself. The
exceptional preparation of students not only in general but also in organic
chemistry makes it possible to acquire in this course not only a clear understanding
of the problems of physiological chemistry but also skill in
the use of the fundamental qualitative and quantitative methods.
A grade of 70 per cent. on this course is required for admission to
Physiology 2. Open only to students who have attained a grade of 70
per cent. in Organic Chemistry.
Physiology 2.—The Physiology of Function.— Four hours weekly
of lectures, recitations, and demonstrations throughout the second year;
six hours weekly of laboratory work in the fall term and three hours
weekly in the winter term. The physiology of muscle and nerve; blood
and lymph; the circulation; respiration; secretion; digestion and nutrition;
excretion; the sense organs; and the central nervous system. The laboratory
is equipped with kymographs, induction coils, signals, muscle and
heart levers, tambours, manometers, etc. for thirty men working at one
time in pairs. The work of the laboratory closely follows the lectures
and is an integral part of the study of each subject. The student becomes
practically acquainted with the methods of modern physiological
with full descriptions of his experiments. The satisfactory completion
of the laboratory work is as necessary to a clear record on the course
as is the passing of the final examinations.
Open only to students who have obtained a grade of seventy per
cent. in Histology and in Physiological Chemistry. The satisfactory
completion of the laboratory work of this course is necessary for admission
to Pharmacology.
During the winter and spring terms a student's Physiological Journal
Club meets with the professor one evening every two weeks to report and
discuss current literature.
Advanced Physiology.—Six hours weekly throughout the fall and
winter terms. An elective open to fourth year students who have completed
Physiology 1 and 2. Some one portion of physiology—the subject
changing from year to year—is studied more fully than is possible in
the required courses and students are referred to the original literature
as far as possible. As an introduction to the methods of experimental
investigation, either a number of more difficult experiments are assigned
or else the student repeats the experimental work of some original
memoir. He then undertakes, under the guidance of the professor in
charge, an investigation, which may be continued, if desired, into the
spring term. There are weekly conferences for the discussion of the
assigned reading and experiments.
The object of the course is to afford those students who are inclined
to specialize in physiology the opportunity to do so. Application
for admission to the course must be made at the close of the third year,
since the course must at present be limited to four students.
| The University of Virginia record February, 1909 | |