196 Tubercle, Lond.

, (1970), 51, 196

OCCASIONAL SURVEY

THE HISTORY OF THE ZIEHL-NEELSEN STAIN

By P. J. BISHOP
from the Library, Institute of Diseases of' the Chest, London

and
G. NEUMANN
Stsidr, Gesundheitsamt,Abt. Tuberkulosefiirsorge, 7 Stuttgart 1, Schickhardtstrasse, 35, Germany

Although there are some good accounts in the literature of the history of staining the tubercle
bacillus, in particular those by the German historian of tuberculosis Predijhl (PredShl, 1888) and
Calmette (Calmette, 1923), many others are incomplete, contradictory, or even inaccurate. For
example William Bulloch in his history of bacteriology wrote-‘The so-called Ziehl-Neelsen
method was in reality Neelsen’s’ (p. 385) (Bulloch, 1938). This paper merely tries to trace the
chronology of events leading up the recognition of what is now known as the ‘Ziehl-Neelsen
method’, while at the same time reference is made to a few important or interesting early references
to the tubercle bacillus and its staining in some British journals of the period 1882-1887.
First of all it is necessary to say something about the two men eponymously commemorated in
this way. Friedrich Ziehl was born on the 13th April, 1857 at Wismar in Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
the son of a civil servant who later became an advocate. He studied and qualified at Heidelberg
in 1881. From 1882 until 1886 he was assistant in the Medical Clinic at Heidelberg, but he had to
leave for economii: reasons (the death of his father). From 1887 until his death on the 7th of April,
1926, he worked as a neurologist at Ltibeck, where he published several papers on neurological
subjects. The above details are taken partly from Fischer (Fischer, 1933) and partly from an
obituary published in a local Ltibeck journal. Fischer’s account would seem to be the only readily
accessible one in the literature. It stated that Ziehl’s name is known through his stain and gives the
reference to his 1882 paper. The Ltibeck obituary makes it clear that Ziehl was well-known in his
home town as the first to stain the tubercle bacillus with carbol fuchsin (Ltibeckische Blatter,
1926). No obituary of Ziehl appeared in the medical press, and as far as we have been able to find
out the only time he has been commemorated in recent years was in the paper by the late Dr. Walter
R. Bett (Bett, 1957).
Friedrich Karl Adolph Neelsen was born on the 29th March, 1854, at Uetersen, Holstein, the
son of a clergyman. He studied and qualified at Leipzig in 1876, where he was a pupil of Ernest
Wagner. From 1876 until 1878 he was an assistant at the Pathological Institute at Leipzig, and from
1878 until 1885 he occupied a similar position at Restock, where in 1884 he was made professor.
In 1885 he moved to Dresden, where he followed Birch-Hirschfeld as prosektor at the Stadtischem
Krankenhaus. He died on the 1lth of April, 1894. The above is again taken from Fischer (Fischer,
1933) who stated that he is remembered for the Ziehl-Neelsen stain, and also referred to his books:
his ‘Grundriss der pathologisch-anatomischen Technik’, Stuttgart, 1892, and a ‘Beitriige zur Pathologie’,
Vienna, 1888, written with F. M. Oberlander. Pagel’s account differs little from that of Hirsch
(Pagel, 1901). He gave a list of Neelsen’s writing, but did not mention his stain. He wrote ‘Neelsen
war ein ttichtiger Anathom und Patholog’. Apart from the above-mentioned accounts we have
been able to find only one informative obituary notice of Neelsen. This was written by a Dr. Grenser
and tells us that Neelsen published papers on disposition to disease in general; syphilis; carcinoma;
the role of bacteria within the body; methods of staining bacteria; spontaneous rupture of the