Robert James Graves (1796-1853), the famous Dublin clinician, once remarked, "few and scanty, indeed, are the rays of light which chemistry has flung on the vital mysteries." Pioneers such as Johann Joseph Scherer (1814-1869), who first used the term "clinical chemical laboratory" ("klinisch-chemischen Laboratorium"), and
Max Josef von Pettenkofer (1818-1901) both often complained that clinicians do not use their chemistry laboratory services except when needed for "luxurious embellishment for a clinical lecture," as the latter once remarked.