When botany inspired pathology of the peripheral nervous system.

Abstract

Medicine and botany are 2 distinct disciplines of "natural science," one focusing on humans, the other on plants. However, among the life sciences, both were quite close in earlier times. Moreover, the history of neuropathology, especially in the field of the peripheral nervous system, has been marked by many examples of "botanical images" used to describe certain histopathologic structures. We propose to better understand the reasons why neuropathologists used these botanical terms from a number of interesting anecdotes.