Physiology became an independent subject of instruction at the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in 1749. In the same year, the first genuine textbook of physiology was published by Jiri Prochaska, the promoter of the modern reflex theory. The Institute of Physiology in Prague was founded by Jan Evangelista Purkyne (Purkynje) in 1851 as the second physiological institute in the world. The founder and the first head of the Institute was an ingenious Czech researcher in the fields of physiology, histology and embryology, who was the author of many discoveries, a number of which bear his name. The directors of the Institute were: Jan Evangelista Purkyne (1851 - 1869), Maxmilian von Vintschgau (1869 - 1870), Ewald Hering (1870 - 1883), Vladimir Tomsa (1883 - 1895), Frantisek Mares (1895 - 1930), Antonin Hanak (1930 - 1935), Frantisek Karasek (1935 - 1936), Vilem Laufberger (1936 - 1953), Frantisek Karasek (1953 - 1970), and Lubor Jilek (1970 - 1975).