born July 15?, 1809, Fürth, Bavaria
died May 13, 1885, Göttingen, Ger.
German pathologist and anatomist.
He published the first descriptions of the composition and distribution of the surface tissue of anatomical structures (epithelium) and of fine eye and brain structures. Henle embraced Girolamo Fracastoro 's unpopular microorganism theory. His General Anatomy (1841) was the first systematic histology treatise. His Handbook of Rational Pathology (2 vol., 1846–53) described diseased organs in relation to their normal functions, opening the era of modern pathology.