his text book that Rokitansky's studies on blood "were like an electric shock for all those who were driven by a zeal to uncover the secrets of the pathological processes themselves". However, the physiologist and chemist Carl Gotthelf Lehmann (1812–1863) described the doctrine of crases and dyscrases as a "monstrosity" of pathological anatomy. The 25-year-old physician Rudolf Virchow (1821– 1902), who later became a renowned cellular phathologist, accused Rokitansky of having fallen back into an outdated doctrine of humoral pathology, calling the illnesses of proteins and fibrin "grave ontological errors" and Rokitansky's Manual a danger to medicine. In response to the controversy, Rokitansky withdrew those aspects of his visionary humoral pathological views which could not yet be scientifically proven. However, this did not mean that he disavowed his theory and thus he petitioned for the establishment of two new faculties in Vienna, the Institute of Medical Chemistry and the Department for General and Experimental Pathology, to press ahead with research in these fields. Virchow's criticism was not just scientifically motivated: At the time, Virchow was a young protegé of the influential privy councillor Joseph Hermann Schmidt (1804–1852) at the Ministry of Culture in Berlin. He had sent Virchow to Vienna to develop strategies to ensure the success of the Berlin Medical School on the Austrian model. Schmidt was discontented with the situation in Prussia, complaining that "it is unbearable that we are outstripped by the Viennese.". In December 1846, after staying just 10 days in Vienna, Virchow presented the Minister of Education Friedrich Eichhorn (1779–1856) with a programme on pathological anatomy. In his report Virchow criticised several respected Austrian scientists, but focused chiefly on Rokitansky as the founder of the New Viennese School. He hoped that this would lead to his rapid advancement to a position of associate professor – a hope that was not disappointed. As early as February 1847, Virchow's application for early habilitation was approved by the Prussian Minister of Education. This was highly unusual, as physicians were ordinarily required to demonstrate three years of medical practice before they could submit this application. The Prussian government, however, credited Virchow with having shaken one of the "pillars" of the Viennese School. Virchow had thus served both the interests of the Prussian educational bureaucracy and his own career. Political career The old prosecture also played an important role in the March Revolution of 1848. What became known as the