Christian Georg Schmorl (May 2, 1861 - August 14, 1932) was a German pathologist who was a native of Mügeln

Mügeln

Mügeln is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located 9 km southwest of Oschatz and 14 km northwest of Döbeln. The town has a population of approximately 4700 people.- Geography :...

 in the Kingdom of Saxony

Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony , lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire. It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War...

. He studied medicine in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 and for most of his career (1894-1931) he was associated with the city hospital in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

.

Schmorl is remembered for his work in histology

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

 and his studies of the human skeleton

Skeleton

The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...

. He created an histological stain especially designed to show the canaliculi

Canaliculus (bone)

Canaliculi are microscopic canals between the various lacunae of ossified bone. The radiating processes of the osteocytes project into these canals. These cytoplasmic processes are joined together by gap junctions. Osteocytes do not entirely fill up the canaliculi. The remaining space is known...

 and lamellae

Cortical bone

Cortical bone, synonymous with compact bone, is one of the two types of osseous tissue that form bones. Cortical bone facilitates bone's main functions: to support the whole body, protect organs, provide levers for movement, and store and release chemical elements, mainly calcium. As its name...

 in sections of bone. He also described protrusions of the intervertebral disc

Intervertebral disc

Intervertebral discs lie between adjacent vertebrae in the spine. Each disc forms a cartilaginous joint to allow slight movement of the vertebrae, and acts as a ligament to hold the vertebrae together.-Structure:...

 into the vertebral body. These protusions are now known as Schmorl's nodes

Schmorl's nodes

Schmorl's nodes or Schmorl's nodules are protrusions of the cartilage of the intervertebral disc through the vertebral body endplate and into the adjacent vertebra.-Presentation:...

. Shortly before his death, Schmorl published Die Gesunde und Kranke Wirbelsäule (The Healthy and Sick Spine).

In 1904 Schmorl coined the term kernicterus

Kernicterus

Kernicterus is damage to the brain centers of infants caused by increased levels of unconjugated bilirubin. This may be due to several underlying pathologic processes. Newborn babies are often polycythemic. When they break down the erythrocytes, one of the byproducts is bilirubin, which circulates...

 to describe nuclear jaundice

Jaundice

Jaundice is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae , and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia . This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid...

 of the basal ganglia

Basal ganglia

The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei of varied origin in the brains of vertebrates that act as a cohesive functional unit. They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and other brain areas...

. This condition was earlier identified in 1875 by pathologist Johannes Orth

Johannes Orth

Johannes Orth was a German pathologist who was a native of Wallmerod. He studied medicine at the University of Bonn, earning his doctorate in 1872. Afterwards he became an assistant to Rudolf Virchow in Berlin...

(1847-1923).