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Magnus Blix

Magnus Gustaf Blix (1849-1904) was a Swedish physiologist who was a professor at the universities of Uppsala and Lund.

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Blix is best known for his work in the 1880s concerning somatic sensation. He discovered that electrical stimulation on different points on the surface of the skin caused distinct warm or cool sensations. Subsequently he built a temperature stimulator which showed that a decreased skin temperature produced cool sensations from localized spots on separate skin locations. Blix also discovered that increased temperature induced warm sensations from different cutaneous locations. Blix also performed tests involving localized tactile sensitivity.

In 1881-82 Blix published his findings in two important documents. During this time frame, German neurologist Alfred Goldscheider (1858-1935), and American physician Henry Herbert Donaldson (1857-1938) of Johns Hopkins University were performing similar experiments, independent of Blix. Blix also did extensive research regarding the physiology of muscles.