Though not its original discoverer, von Hebra's 1844 research dispelled any remaining doubt that the itch mite was the cause of scabies, helping to dispel the humoral theory of skin disease.[4] This publication was the inflection point where the term 'scabies' transitioned from referring to a collection of non-specific itchy ailments, to a particular pathological process specifically caused by the itch mite.[5]
In the second half of the 19th century, Hebra introduced resurfacing and restoring skin with chemical peel. He used exfoliative agents, like phenol, croton oil, nitric acid in various cautious combination for treating freckles and skin irregularities.[6] He greatly influenced Carl Mayrhofer, who continued Semmelweis's research on puerperal fever.[7]
In 1878, Hebra began writing another milestone work, the Lehrbuch der Hautkrankheiten (Textbook of Skin Diseases). However this book was not finished during Hebra's lifetime and was instead completed by his former student, the dermatologist Moritz Kaposi.[9] The book was internationally influential in the field of dermatology and was translated into English, French, Italian and Russian.[10]
Following the death of Carl von Rokitansky in July 1878, Hebra was elected president of the College of Physicians in Vienna, though he died on 5 August 1880 of pulmonary emphysema before chairing a single meeting.[4] During the College's first subsequent gathering, Hebra's colleague and friend Heinrich von Bamberger provided a eulogy, stating Hebra's death meant that "one more name adorns the pantheon of Austrian scholars".[11]
Hebra's research was influential in his time, to the extent that "his clinic became the mecca and shifted the centre of dermatology from England and France to Austria", according to the medical historians Walter B. Shelley and John T. Crissey, who describe Hebra as "by far the most important" dermatologist in the 19th century.[9] In the early 20th century, medical historian Victor Robinson described Hebra as "the undisputed potentate of Hautkrankheiten [skin diseases]" in his lifetime.[12]
Hebra was known to his contemporaries as an engaging teacher and interesting speaker, combining both sympathy and satire into his talks.[12] He taught many students who went on to be influential dermatologists in their own right, such as Kaposi, Auspitz and Neumann.[9]
An early supporter of Ignaz Semmelweis and the editor of a leading Austrian medical journal, Hebra announced Semmelweis's discovery that handwashing with chloride of lime reduces the incidence of puerperal fever in the December 1847 and April 1848 issues of the Viennese medical journal. Hebra claimed that Semmelweis's work had a practical significance comparable to that of Edward Jenner's introduction of cowpox inoculations to prevent smallpox.[13]
Hebra was the only friend who kept in touch with Semmelweis after his departure from Vienna.[13]
Due to Semmelweis's suffering from severe depression and other mental problems, János Balassa signed a document which committed him to a mental institution. On 30 July 1865 Hebra was one of the party who arranged Semmelweis’s fake trip to his “new water-cure hospital”, actually taking the long-time friend into a Viennese asylum for the insane located in the Lazarettgasse (Landes-Irren-Anstalt in der Lazarettgasse). On arrival there, Semmelweis guessed what was happening and tried to leave, but he was forcibly subdued by the asylum's guards and died two weeks later from a gangrenous wound which may have been caused by the struggle.[14][15]
Young (undated image)
Old (undated image)
With colleagues in Vienna, 1853
Lupus erythematosus, illustration from Hebra's Atlas of Skin Diseases
^Regarding personal names: Ritter is a title, translated approximately as Sir (denoting a Knight), not a first or middle name. There is no equivalent female form.
Benedek, István (1983). Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis 1818–1865. Druckerei Kner, Gyomaendrőd, Hungary: Corvina Kiadó (Translated from Hungarian to German by Brigitte Engel). ISBN963-13-1459-6.
Pretterklieber, M L (July 1996). "Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra--founder of modern dermatology". Isr. J. Med. Sci. 32 (7): 584. PMID8756989.
Tappeiner, J; Holubar, K (September 1981). "[Ferdinand von Hebra: the man and his work (author's transl)]". Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 93 (16): 503–6. PMID7029925.
