The human vomeronasal organ. V. An interpretation of its discovery by Ruysch, Jacobson, or Kölliker, with an English translation of Kölliker (1877)

Abstract

The vomeronasal organs (VNOs) of mammals are highly variable epithelial structures found bilaterally in the mucosa of the nasal septum. Whereas the discovery of the human VNO is traditionally ascribed to Frederick Ruysch (1703, 1724), the organ is named after Ludwig Levin Jacobson (1811, 1813) who described it in nonhuman mammals. We recently have pointed out controversies surrounding the incidence and structure of the enigmatic human VNO, and herein, we provide a historical analysis of its discovery. We present evidence that the honor of discovering the human VNO truly belongs to Kölliker (1877), and not to Ruysch. Ruysch illustrated the lateral view of a 2-year-old infant's nasal septum, and it is unclear whether the right nasal passage, the tubular VNO or its opening, or an unrelated duct is being indicated. Jacobson reported the VNO to be missing in humans. Its discovery in the human embryo can be related in part to later authors, such as Dursy (1869). Our reappraisal of the literature confirms that Kölliker was actually the first among these 18th-19th century investigators to provide evidence of the human VNO as a histologically identifiable structure in the fetus and the adult. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.