'Zur Lehre von der Wirkung der Salze' (about the science of the effect of salts): Franz Hofmeister's historical papers

Specific ion effects are universal in biology, biochemistry, chemistry and chemical engineering. In a seminal series of papers, Franz Hofmeister, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Prague was the first to study these effects systematically. His work stands in the scheme of things in importance much as did the work of Mendel to genetics. For over a hundred years Hofmeister effects have not been encompassed by theories of solution or colloid chemistry. It is only recently, the subject of this special issue, that some progress has been made. Hofmeister's work is much quoted. But practically no one has ever actually read his papers (originals in archaic German). They are model scientific works for their, and indeed for our time. This article gives translations of two of his most important contributions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.