.* ' J. . ELEMENTS OF GENERAL ANATOMY, OR, A DESCRIPTION OF EVERY KIND OF ORGANS COMPOSING THE HUMAN BODY. BY P. A. BECLARD, PROFESSOR OF AFfATOMY OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICIME OF PARIS. Preceded, by a Critical and Biographical Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Author, BY OLIVIER, M. D. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, WITH NOTES, BY JOSEPH TOGNO, M. D. MEMBER. OF THE PHILADELPHIA MEDICAL SOCIETY. $fttiafcela)fua. CAREY AND LEA. 1830. ►j. a * * Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit: BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twentieth day of October, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A.D. 1830, Carey & Lea of the said district have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors in the words following, to wit: “ Elements of General Anatomy, or, a description of every kind of organs composing the human body. By P. A. Bedard, Professor of Anatomy of the Faculty ofMedicine ofParis. Preceded by a critical and Biographical Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Olivier, M. D. Trans- lated from the French, with notes, by Joseph Togno, M. D. Member of the Philadelphia Medical Society.” In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled “ An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned;” — And also to the Act entitled “ An Act supplementary to an Act entitled ‘ An Act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,’ and ex- tending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.” D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. THE MEMORY OF BICHAT, BECLARD, AND 01W, the translator. My a. 1 « H JtV Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 « https://archive.org/details/elementsofgenera01becl THE TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. The task of the translator, although very confined, is not altogether unimportant to the advancement of the arts and sciences, and especially to the improvement of the medical science in this country, at this present time. Forbidden to add to, or to subtract from the original, the translator’s business is simply to interpret and translate his author’s meaning faithfully, and to render it in clear and in- telligible language. It has been the fate of the translator of the present work, to give an English version of the last labours of the lamented Bichat; and now, again, the ten-fold more difficult, but pleas- ing task devolves on him, of presenting to the medical profes- sion of this country, the last work of the eminent, erudite, and much lamented Beclard. The object of the translator will be fulfilled, and he will be repaid for his trouble, if without deviating from his author, he has made the original, clear and comprehensible to his English reader. But should some stern critic, eager to find fault, censure the performance, which has cost the trans- lator much labour, trouble and solicitude ; and under circum- stances that the reader is seldom solicitous to know, and sel- domer inclined to make due allowance for ; let him remember, that if this English version is not faultless, still much has been Vi THE TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. done to render it worthy of the approbation of the profession. Indeed, I may well be contented, without claiming for this translation, the praise of perfection, while I daily witness similar attempts, coming from higher sources, not altogether exempt from errors. For instance, since the greater part of this version has been printed, we have had in our hands the translation of the same work by Dr. Knox of Edinburg, well known to the medical profession as a writer and a lecturer. We opened this volume by chance in many places, and we have, not without great sur- prise, found some very gross errors. We will point out some of them, not to gratify malice or jealousy on our part, but merely to show that the faithful and correct performance of a translation, is not as easy a task as some critics would make us believe. Should we ourselves have fallen into errors, not- withstanding all our care and attention to produce a faultless translation, we wish thereby to show, that we are entitled to some indulgence from our reader. Dr. Knox points out one single error in his erratum, and we turned to the page indicated; on reading the same para- graph, we found just above the error alluded to the following sentence, which we shall give with the original, and opposite to our own version. This induced us to look cursorily into the book, and to our great astonishment, we found such errors, in point of science, as made us rather tremble for the performance of the other parts of the work. We shall here quote some of the principal blunders committed by Dr. Knox, for the edifica- tion of our readers. THE TRANSLATOR. S PREFACE, 8 6 3 D ba S c 3 "S3 >> 2 S$.S 53 S-Ci <10 > .5 CP *£ h H-. “ .S =3 " O h 5J §r : ^ > s -3 ., o g ff 5>«w c to ° tf s; g 2 * ^ § « Svi • O *-* +J '■' 8 "so’S^j » " a. *0 -*J V-! rZj r- • § r O b/3.2 « •-J S to +J ,8 2 a ±; - feflt- ■8M.S & ” & -S ■ g 2 53 r* -i-> SX 5^0 2 -* -f ctc g U- CL) _ CO — 1 «u +J ifl 4 " -a — 55 q cS .5 O oT ^ •£> | cr e -3 S'- O co +-> HI 6 s'|. 43 « ,o - « o ■ X v to g-§ "• &'£ H . O £ S „ IJ- §■ ^ o _o S a 8 w a 1 •S-§ 65 "8 Co 55 s <3 Q 4) co "3 C > ci :"d C5 : 2 .2 -S 3 o CO +J o £ Qr 2 s M.g &£> 3 C 3 ; B^>i »!§ : cj S C^S5- o'g o 9 CO O II • CO £ b, o O * 0^0 *o ^ O : £ ^5 ^■§^2 S'S > a -rt S £ o m X, > . rt 'ts o a ° to a 3 ~ CO ^ d C O H-1 £ r- v - ) i§ £ erd o O CO "5» „• g “ I u s g 2 3 -c- d « a °so «,sS >>«« "S 'o 5 •s ° a ° -yaga S. 2^-2 SSH "S3 a a c'T 5 > s 5 C3 to u O u m tf -3 a - 3 -S 3 ; P 6 V CO Spa •S o 5> . 53 ^ ^ fj S’ ?. C3 a ? -_T - rr -o S 3 £ 2 55 o 0.2 "S ^ S gC e -00 P o ^ ^ r o r g -*-» co O ^ £ £ £ c- yii What connexion, what relation can there ever be between a muscle or muscles generally, and a pair of mittens ? Unfortunately, the translator was not aware that un moufle had more meanings than one. Dr. Knox's Translation. Text. Dr. Togno’s Translation. via THE TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. s 5 ■ CO O C ^ T 1 " CJ P 5P fe-3 s 3 CO o a rO OS d o< d c - > £ 8 rt Po^-5 i od 2 -t-> O 3 t* o o g ft) CO Spa &H o o pg oJ ^ ■>£’" f-« c g * o 2 M ^ a ^ O d -1 1 _?« 3 S 2 ^ 1 - 0-73 ■-j d o -3 o is ^ ci ci o *SiH \a> ~ d ^ O 3 ci -d • - ^3 d O « H « rt ^ d (U 5 O O ' r n C-) O ^ « fl+J « g a_, co ft, O ^ *>Q O R H cS d ° d d o d: ° O 2 rP C V +-•<&> £ > Ct ■S vd # d ’bp S ^’3 rd O A Co . fcp. C+h ^ O -S • a T) * co ^ CD > a o c3 "5^ §»£§• . .£ •§ ^ o ’■|-Q * Co 3 3 O o co cp d S3 CD 0 ^ 3 co © 3 ! t 3 t 3 d c, 2 O 5 o u e* rt fc - rt c £ .22 §t2 _ O ^ C d J 'S* ^ ^ 3 co .-h o - > PZ co" g ^1^ i £c 3 co l-s.§ to CD "d i3 5 O 2 -3 JJ § CD d II 9 a. -4_> CS g O • o/DO O ’ > o ' ^ ci ,00. o d 00 OJD— 3 rt co 2 CO ' ^ *?o 3 -S.S <3 g>5 £ 1) O to 53 S . “Sooo Ctf O CO rP O «2 s s ft T3 _Q cj cj s 8 ■§ •ho CO ,ss . S ^ w c h •ss 8>a kS°cl u « t? 7/ is 5 ° d 5 ® o 3 - 2-g s-fll ^3.£§ 1 * c s ™ o D Jr . m S O tJ • — -o J3 % a 2 3T3 -D ^ 3 3 n ° « O ^ ,-C £ c/3 CO C 8,> «. g 03 Oo .Jj - C ^0 3 | S-5 I 2 ^ « C ^ cj «_< G a qj _ S •- ^ c *• ^ ° CLp in s - - 1 h & a| a I 3 1 4-> ^ CO QJ O *G ^3 «y .-g “ 3 O cj T— ( £ £> O § ^ o -j V3J S g CO c O Pt ^ c; o "'I p< i-J o -- e S5 a oj^'CS » § | ° 1 ^ ’■« ® h > 2 33 .2 ^ S §■ P-i C & o "G CD - pt; o * § *CpS T3 P . .2 ^ ’-g CO © @ The work I publish is a compendium of a course of anatomy, which I have been delivering for these ten years past ; and is solely intended for students of medicine. My object in publishing it, is to offer them, in a small volume, an abridg- ment of the numberless labours undertaken for more than twenty centuries, in the science of the organization of man. I divide the anatomy of man into general anatomy, special anatomy of the organs, and anatomy of the regions. This volume contains only the General Anatomy, and may be con- sidered either as a separate work, or as the first part of a ge- neral treatise. In writing this part of Anatomy, I have made a liberal use of the work of our celebrated Bichat, as well as of those works which have since been published on the same subject. I have also consulted treatises ex-professo, for each s}’stem or kind of organs. I have been careful to quote in every chap- ter, the titles of the works which furnished me with the ma- terials necessary to compose it, less with the view of making an easy and vain display of erudition, than to exempt others from the necessity of reading the works which 1 was myself obliged to peruse; and at the same time to point out, to those who are anxious to make farther researches and more profound studies, a sort of select anatomical library. I have also indi- cated the plates, which may be consulted with advantage for each kind of organ. 2 VI PREFACE. 1 have begun each chapter, with an abridged history of the principal discoveries made respecting the system of organs which compose it; to enable me, the better to compile some of these historical notices, I made free use of Lauth’s History of Anatomy, of which as yet one volume only is published. The introduction treats, in the first section, of organization in general, and in the second, of the human body. It was my intention, in the first section, to give merely to my reader a general idea of comparative anatomy and physiology. In so doing, it was not my object to exempt the student from studying the anatomy of animals; but on the contrary, to show them the utility of this kind of knowledge. In writing this part of the introduction, I have profited by the labours of Dumeril, Blainville, Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Lamarck, and especially of those of Cuvier, whom I could have cited at every page. In the second part of the introduction, I have given general views of the human body ; I have spoken of its humours generally, part of the science of organization too much neglected, since Haller and his school, who erroneously thought they had found the whole secret of life in the nervous system, and in the phenomena of irritability and sensibility. Anatomy not being an object of mere speculation and sterile curiosity to the physician, but the basis of all knowledge re- lating to medicine, I thought that physiology and pathology, ought not to be entirely separated from it. Pathological anatomy, particularly, ought, in my estimation, to be connected with special anatomy, and in this view, the description of each tissue is terminated, by a brief survey of the varieties and alterations therein observed, and the whole work itself is con- cluded by a chapter on anomalous or accidental productions, common to all, or to several kinds of organs. P. A. BECLARD. Paris, August 30th, 1223. ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. To write the life of a celebrated man, is at once to honour his memory, and confer a benefit on society; for, while we recall to mind the triumphs of him whose every step was crowned with success, we teach those who wish to imitate him, by what means glory is attained, and of what value, in this world, is a reputation justly acquired. It is with this double object in view, that we propose to lay before our readers, the laborious life of the learned man, whom the school of medicine of Paris will long regret, and of which he was one of the no- blest ornaments. Peter Augustine Bedard was born at Angers, October 12th, 1785. His parents had no other fortune than their good name, and in their family probity was hereditary. His father, al- though loaded with the cares of a numerous family, by a strict economy, was enabled to give to each of his children the ele- mentary education, requisite to enable them to continue the limited business which supported them. Thus, when young Beclard had learned to read, write and cipher, he was made to understand that to this, the extent of his knowledge should be confined. But either because he bad a foreboding of his future success, or that he was inspired by instinct, or by an irresisti- ble inclination, Beclard, heedless of these remarks, eagerly read every book which fell into his hands. 2 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. The centra] schools, which had been established in the de- partments, and from the heart of which radiated the instruc- tion destined to enlighten a regenerated nation, were then in all their activity. Beclard had himself inscribed as one of the pupils of that formed at Angers, and he was soon remarked for his proficiency and rapid improvement. Here, for the first time, he discovered the advantages of study; here he was im- bued with the love of the sciences, and here he learned to worship them. Notwithstanding the illusions with which he already fed his ardent soul, his relations saw with sorrow such dispositions developed in him, and in order to keep him in the rank in which he was born, they from time to time, tried to make of him a clerk of a store, then of a lottery office, and at last secretary to the director of the stage-office. Beclard but ill fulfilled those employments for which he had great re- pugnance, and but little aptitude; and indeed, he was consi- dered by his employers as unfit for the occupations of busi- ness. The disgust that he experienced in this situation, very unsuitable to his natural inclinations, from this moment tinged with melancholy the character of Beclard, which afterwards redounded to his advantage, by early preparing his mind for that kind of meditation which the profound cultivation of science always demands. There is an epoch in the life of man, when as yet undecided on the profession he shall embrace, he studies, as it were, the part he is to perform on the theatre of the world, and prepares himself beforehand to fulfil it well. This period in the life of B6clard, was marked with such indolence, as reduced his family to despair; he is fit for nothing, said they, and neglect- ful of the future: — this was owing to their having misunder- stood his secret intentions, and to the want of the aliment they required; but as soon as his father was enlightened by good advice, softened by the solicitations of his son, who only wish- ed to become a surgeon in the army, and had permitted him to follow the medical courses established in the hospital of the same city, from that moment did the young student see open- ed before him a profession in which he ardently desired to LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 3 enter, from that moment also ceased that torpor which had so long held his faculties in chains. He began the study of medicine in 1814. A circumstance soon presented itself, as if on purpose, to give to Beclard a knowledge of his powers: a competition occurred for the first time for the situation of resident physician in the hospital. One of the pupils, who since has been lost in the crowd, had then a reputation, we might say brilliant, for every age has its kind of celebrity, and was considered as a very formidable competitor; so much so as to fix the eyes of every one on him, for that situation. Notwithstanding this, Beclard so as- tonished his judges with the extent of his knowledge, and the precision of his language, that he was proclaimed the success- ful candidate. This was the first glimpse of that glory which was to shine on him, even to his tomb. During his residence in the hospital of Angers, he conse- crated almost all his time to the study of anatomy — a study for which he had a great predilection; he accustomed himself to observe every kind of malady, which were infinitely varied, and which presented themselves in an abode opened to all the miseries to which humanity is subject. He habituated himself to a skilful manipulation of the knife. He studied with expert masters, among whom Mirault was a distinguished practi- tioner, and whose name is enrolled in the pages of our art. He learned, I say, to interpret with wisdom, and without preju- dice, the facts which abound in our science, and from which we are often exposed to draw conclusions favourable to our fa- vourite opinions; finally, he received from this school, more useful than celebrated, the germ of a correct knowledge, and of that eclectic and rigorously exact mind which afterwards rendered him so valuable a man. The example of Beclard, and his success, prove, better than a long argument, the utility of elementary or secondary schools of medicine, where the number of pupils being small, they have a better opportunity to observe for themselves, and consequently, are enabled early to obtain that experience which in the larger schools, the eager crowd of students never acquire but with the greatest trouble. Thus we see him leaving the retired scenes of his first studies, 4 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. already rich in scientific lore, if not very extensive, at least very positive. During the first years of his medical studies, he devoted himself to the study of the Latin language and philosophy, which the clergyman attached to the hospital taught him, and who delighted to instruct a young man already so rich in knowledge. He cultivated at the same time Botany; he ob- tained several premiums on subjects of natural history, and by his zeal, ardour, and success, from this time, gave hopes of a brilliant career. Beclard, during his residence in the hospital of Angers, left to his successors a noble example of emulation which will be long remembered. At this time Bichat had reached the middle course of his career, and filled the learned world with his glory and his name. In the many conversations young Beclard had with his relations, he often remarked how happy he should be if he were one day able to cope with the Father of General Anato- my and become his equal. Bichat was his idol; he was anxious to render homage to his genius and be considered one of his followers. Unfortunately for B6clard, Bichat died before he was able to attend his lectures, for it was not until 1808, that he went to Paris; but he had carefully transcribed notes taken at the last course of this celebrated anatomist.* In 1808, Beclard was distinguished in the first rank of the pupils of the Practical School or clinical courses, and of the hospital of Paris. In 1809, premiums were conferred on him by the medical school, on subjects of anatomy, physiology, medical natural history, chemistry, and physicks. He was soon after appointed resident physician (6leve interne ,) to va- rious hospitals. He again, 1810, received premiums on anato- my, physiology, medicine and surgery; and Mr. Roux select- ed him for the honourable office of preparing and repeating lectures at the hospital of La Charite. Hitherto, Beclard was only known to his rivals in fame, and to his friends; and all his merit only consisted in a vast * This passage alludes particularly to the work of Bichat on Pathological Anatomy, which was published from an authographic MS. of Beclard, and which are the only authentic notes we possess of Bichat’s last course. Thans. LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 5 memory and an easy elocution. His genius had not yet as- sumed a determinate character; as yet, no original production had unveiled his resources; but at last an important occasion of distinguishing himself occurred. M. Dupuytren being ap- pointed to the chair of operative surgery, the place of adjunct professor of anatomy in the faculty of Paris became vacant. Beclard, being appointed assistant, in 1811 , he presented him- self as a candidate, and to him was awarded the prize by the judges. He had already acquired the esteem of a great many students who had followed his private courses. He had scarce- ly any reputation as an anatomist; but as soon as he saw that he was surrounded with so many means of instruction, he has- tened to improve himself by taking advantage of the opportu- nity presented to him. Besides, he had already indicated in the thesis that he presented for the above mentioned situation, in the most luminous manner, what ought to be the conduct of the superintending adjunct towards the pupils in the pur- suit of anatomical knowledge. It was therefore expected, that faithful to the principles that he himself had laid down, he would not fail to put them in practice; and it is well known that he did not belie the hopes, that his zeal and precocious talents had led the profession to expect. Among the interesting facts collected by him, in the dissect- ing rooms of the medical school, and which he presented to the society of the professors, among whom he was very soon received, we will only mention the principal ones. Such was the observation of a foetus born with a frontal and very volu- minous hernia of the brain, being the consequence of hydro- cephalus. This preparation was rendered particularly curious by the extraordinary existence of two bones situated between the frontal bones and not far from their articulation with the ossa nasi. Soon after, he gave the description of a foetus, of which the umbilical cord very much dilated at its base, contained a part of the abdominal organs, and the heart of which adhered to the palate. He published, conjointly with M. Bonnie, a case of labour per ano, of a child the conception of which was ex- tra-uterine. In a memoir on necrosis, he maintained and de- 6 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. veloped the opinion of some authors who think there is in reality no regeneration of bone. He also made public his re- flections on the formation of the callus; he demonstrated to- gether with Bonn and Bichat that the ossification of the perios- teum was only momentary, and served as a sheath to the two fractured extremities during the time they are cemented with phosphate of lime. It had been supposed for a long time, that the curvature of the aorta produced the lateral curvature of the dorsal region of the vertebral column. Bichat had already shaken the general belief of this supposition, by supposing that it might be caused by the often repeated contractions of the muscles of the right arm; this however was only a supposition, but Beclard demonstrated it to be a positive fact by numerous researches upon this subject. We must not omit to mention, the physiological experiments he performed in order to prove that the foetus has respiratory movements while in the uterus, by which it introduces the waters of the amnion into the bron- chise. He was, however, unable to demonstrate that this liquid has a chemical action on the blood which enters the lungs. It was also at this time that he made, with the assistance of Le Gallois, a series of curious experiments calculated to determine the action of the cesophagus in vomiting. In 1813, Beclard defended before the faculty of Paris his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine; it contains seve- ral propositions, which treat: 1st, of the distinction to be esta- blished between the lamellated and adipose tissues; 2d, of the projection and depression of bones, which he conceives to be induced by the primitive formation of the cellular web of the bone, and not to the traction of the tendinous attachment of the muscles. Some of his labours already cited, are again pre- sented in this Thesis, which concludes with a learned inter- pretation and with practical observations on the method of per- forming the lateral operation proposed by Celsus. His talents as a surgeon had been already justly appreciated; and in 1814, at the time of the first invasion of France by the allies, he was appointed by government to give his professional aid to the wounded soldiers brought to the ambulance established at the Hospital Saint-Louis. His Memoir on Acephalus appeared in LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 7 1815. He also communicated at this time, several facts of pathological anatomy, that he had observed in the dissecting rooms of the Practical School. A competition then arose for the place of second surgeon of the Hotel-Dieu, and Beclard, for the first time, was unsuc- cessful in this kind of contention: Mr. Marjolin was his op- ponent. As the two candidates, however, had contended for the victory, with equal merit and talents, Beclard was appoint- ed surgeon to the Hospital of La Pitie. He had already ac- quired a considerable skill in the art of Pare and of T. L. Petit, under a master who loved him tenderly, and with whom he was afterwards united by the most affectionate ties of friend- ship. Dubois had taught him operative surgery, at the school of Perfectionnement , and it is not astonishing, that Beclard should have soon developed a talent truly surgical, to which, however, his natural dexterity, and his daily habit of dissec- tion, had already predisposed him. In 1816, he became a member of the Philomatic Society, and he gave, for the first time, a course on General Anatomy. In 1817, appeared his researches on the wounds of arteries. The experiments of Jones, in England, were scarcely known, when our anatomist thought it proper to give them a trial, and the result of his labours confirmed the conclusions drawn by the English experimenter. This memoir is to be found among those of the Sociele d’ Emulation, of which he was a mem- ber. In 1818, he published with Mr. J. Cloquet, a transla- tion of Lawrence’s treatise on hernia. It was also during the same year, that the faculty of medi- cine, of Paris, received him as one of its members. This memorable event in the life of Beclard, in adding new lustre to his reputation, inspired him with the noble ambition of rendering himself equal in talent to the celebrated professors of that faculty, old in glory and experience. Thus, did we see him redouble his efforts, in order to fulfil with dignity and talent, the chair which had been entrusted to him. The eager- ness with which the students attended his learned courses on Anatomy, was the best pledge of the propriety of the selec- tion the faculty had made, of this remarkable man. 3 8 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. He aided in the formation of a scientific selection then known under the name of the Nouveau Journal de Medecine, of which, Les archives, generates de Medecine, are now a con- tinuation. In 1819 , he published four memoirs on Osteosis ,* of which disease, he described the progress with the greatest precision and perspicuity. He cooperated in the publication of the Dictionary of technical terms of Medicine, Surgery, Pharmacy, &c. and was one of the principal colaborators of the Nouveau Dictionnaire de Medecine. In 1820 , he was appointed president of the board of Juries of the department, and member of the council of health of the department of the Seine. When a royal ordinance had created the Academy of Medicine, (December 20th, 1820 ,) public opinion pointed out Bedard, and he was unanimously elected to fulfil the functions of secretary for life of that learned body, functions that he exercised, until ministerial favour dis- posed of his office otherwise. In 1821 , he published a volume of additions to the general Anatomy of Bichat, and the following year gave to Mr. Des- cot, the result of his experience and researches on the local affections of the nerves, which the latter recorded in his the- sis. In 1823 , he published his Elements of General JLnato- my , whence students may long draw the most impor- tant lessons which have hitherto been given on the organi- zation of the human body. — At this time Beclard was in- cluded in the general disgrace of the old faculty of medicine, and when the reorganization of the new school was about to take place, he came very near being excluded, but his great reputation and his talents got the better of every kind of in- trigue and opposition which arose against him, and the chair on which he had shed a new lustre, was restored to him. This rapid recapitulation of the labours most remarkable in the life of Beclard, brings us to a gloomy epoch ; but before entering on this painful part of the task we have prescribed to ourselves, let us return to the particulars of the life of a master so dear to us and one who honoured us, with so benevolent * Beclard has given this name to the branch of anatomy which treats of the developement of bone. LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 9 a friendship. Let us therefore consider B6clard, as an anato- mist, as a surgeon, as a professor, and as a private man. Anatomy had been the first object of the studies of Beclard. His retentive memory enabled him to recollect most faithfully the minutest descriptions ; his skill enabled him to perform the most difficult dissections; and his great judgment placed him far above a great number of pupils, whose whole ability consists in discovering a muscle, or in following up the mi- nute ramifications of an artery. Endowed with the three- fold gift of dissecting well, of seeing well, and of remember- ing exactly the relations and disposition of parts, he had in himself, all the requisite qualifications to make a good ana- tomist. When he arrived in Paris, anatomy and physiology, already greatly improved by the researches and labours of Haller, Bordeu, and Bichat, beautifully adorned with all the brilliancy of their genius, powerfully enticed a great many students, both by the attraction of the new discoveries, and with the hope of the many useful applications they would be able to make of them, in the practice of medicine and surgery; consequently, this science was cultivated with an indefatigable ardor, which was kept up and increased by the example and encouragement of such men as Portal, Chaussier, and Dum§- ril. At this timePinel had already established important dis- tinctions in the curative art founded on Anatomy ; and the school, of which he was the leader, followed with enthusiasm the impulse given by this philosophical physician. It was at this time also, that the indispensable and inseparable know- ledge of the organization, and that of maladies were intimately united; and in order to render it still more necessary, while Messrs. Richerand and Dupuytren were instructing the me- dical profession with the healthy action of our organs, Messrs. Bayle and Laennec were pointing out the different modes of alterations they were susceptible of experiencing. It was very natural that B6clard should eagerly embrace the prevailing opinions of his age, the more so because he was capable of foreseeing all the good that the science might derive from it. He never confined himself therefore to the dry and sterile study of descriptive anatomy; he always con- 10 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. sidered it in its relations with Medicine and Surgery. He consecrated the whole of his time to the study of the relations of the parts with each other, to the varieties of forms and di- rections that circumstances may cause them to experience; and not being able to find, in the immense number of facts which he daily observed, means sufficiently vast to multiply his learning, he was seen thirsting for more knowledge, to extend beyond conception the limits of his erudition. Full of admiration for the German school of medicine, to which we owe so many valuable discoveries in the science of orga- nization, he early familiarized himself with the labours of Meckel, Oken, Tiedemann, &c. — He also profited by the dis- coveries of the celebrated men of Great Britain and Italy ; and it was not until he was possessor of an immense mass of facts gathered, so to say, from every quarter of the civilized world, that he minutely and carefully scrutinized, aided by his vast experience, every fact, every opinion, and every theory. Some men, envious of his glory, accused him of being a mere compiler, a man of erudition, but denied that he pos- sessed even the smallest particle of genius. Let us not forget, therefore, that in following this course, and in fulfilling so difficult a task, Beclard needed to possess a correct and rapid intellect, an uncommon eclectic mind, and a very superior power of reasoning. The parallel that some persons have tried to establish, between Bichat and Beclard, can not really exist. If these two men have between them some resem- blance as to their early and rapidly acquired glory, and unex- pected and premature end, they essentially differ as to the manner in which they cultivated that science they have equally improved. Rich with his own native genius, carried along by the desire of constructing the medical edifice on a new plan, Bichat hastened to arrange the materials for which he was almost entirely indebted to his own researches. Beclard, on the contrary, formed in his mind the vast project of collecting all the scattered facts belonging to the science, in order to ci'eate with them a code of doctrines authorized by the most celebrated names, and supported by the result of LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 11 the meditations of the most learned men. Beclard preferred the merit of making truth shine, it mattered not from what quarter it proceeded, to the dazzling glory of being an inven- tor. He was unaffectedly the greatest admirer of Bichat, and if he has often been obliged to controvert his opinions, it was because the interest and the advancement of the science de- manded it. The same distinction which has been made between Bos- suet and Massillon, might be established between Bichat and B6clard. The Bishop of Meaux was one day preaching to an illustrious auditory ; Massillon, who was listening to him, said, “This is very well, I admire him; but, if I were in his place, I should preach otherwise.” Such was the con- duct of Beclard with respect to Bichat. Cooler and less en- thusiastic, he came after him, as it were, to correct the errors which had passed unnoticed by the inventive genius of that great man. Let us therefore cease to establish between them a comparison which does not permit us to judge of either, ac- cording to his respective merit. They are only to be consid- ered singly, and then their individual merit will cause us to admire them the more. It is in consequence of this plan of reform and improve- ment, that Beclard first published a new edition of Bichat’s General Anatomy, with a volume of additions, and in the same spirit of improvement, he afterwards brought to light his Elements of General Anatomy, a work remarkable for its clearness, the great number of truths it contains, the ex- tensive plan on which it was written, and the immense erudi- tion therein displayed. This work has been compared to the Manual of General, Descriptive and Pathological Anatomy of Meckel. It is very true that the French anatomist has been sometimes benefited by this great collection of facts more or less interesting; but how much the imitator has surpassed his original ; with what art he has avoided those German ideas, those hypothetical explanations, and those often far fetched analogies with which the General Anatomy of Meckel is in- terspersed. On the other hand, the work of Beclard is com- pared to that of Bichat, the enchanting style of which is con- 12 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. tinually praised ; but we must not forget that Bichat wrote at a time when it was necessary to entice the reader by the charm of diction, while Beclard wrote for sober men, whom science alone can seduce, without theartifice of meretriciousornaments. Beclard carries in himself the distinctive marks of his age. Bichat has written, as is said, the romance of the science, but Beclard has striven to fix its laws, and to draw up its code. Thus, the General Anatomy of Beclard possesses its peculiar mefit, and may be considered as one of the most glorious titles of the author to immortality. To conclude, this learned man has especially studied and improved anatomy, in its re- lations with medicine and surgery, and by strengthening the foundation of this science with an unlimited erudition, has really founded a school, the principles of which will be long followed. To the valuable qualities that we have just enumerated, Be- clard added those of a skilful operator. He was endowed with a steady presence of mind, with a firmness which never approached harshness, and with a dexterity which was the result of his many dissections. Unforeseen circumstan- ces sometimes obliges the operator to deviate from the general rules of the art. Beclard, on these occasions, knew how to modify a method, or invent a new one to suit the case. His composure never abandoning him, his memory recalled, or his genius often suggested to him, during an operation, every thing requisite to insure its success. He has invented or im- proved the methods of several operations: such are his method for curing the fistula of the duct of steno ; several methods for the partial amputation of the foot, the amputation of the articulation of the metatarsus, the amputation of the articulation of the shoulder and hip joint. He has also modified the man- ner of cutting through the soft parts in amputating limbs, and the method of sawing the tibia in the amputation of the leg. He was the first who removed the parotid gland ;* finally * It is strange we should so often read of European surgeons extracting this gland, while in this country some of the greatest authority in surgery deny the possibility of the operation. On the one hand, we can not sup- pose that these surgeons wish to impose on us, and on the other, to say LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 13 he modified to great advantage the method of Celsus in the lateral operation. His vast erudition was equally extensive in surgery. In his lectures, delivered at the Hospital of La Pitie, he gave unquestionable proofs of an extensive and solid knowledge. Even those who confined themselves to his course of lectures on surgery, and who disdained to attend his operations, ex- hibited on a very modest theatre, could not, at least, deny him the merit of being extremely well versed in Surgical litera- ture. He was always the general admiration of his audience, in seeing with what extraordinary talent he developed and commented on the theories of those men who have written on this branch of the healing art. It is useless to endeavour to avenge here Beclard for the character with which he was re- proached, of being a surgeon only in theory. Let us not mingle with the pleasure we experience in recording the merit and talents of this excellent man, the bitter remembrance of the numerous persecutions and ridiculous cabals, of which he was the object. The reputation of Beclard, as a professor, was spreading more and more every day. He possessed the very rare faculty of presenting methodically, with precision and simplicity, all that his extraordinary memory had retain- ed. He was particularly happy in the selection of his words and in the construction of his phrases. He preferred preci- sion and vivacity of expression to elegance. His language was parsimonious of metaphors ; but he developed his ideas by a gradation of words admirably chosen, so that the last ex- that such great anatomists as Beclard, and a great many other European surgeons, such as Speranza, Lisfranc and others who published, having re- moved the parotid, have been mistaken, and that they have only extracted an enlarged lymphatic gland, is more than we are disposed to assert. That this may have been sometimes the case, I entertain no doubt, for three years ago, Dr. Gibson performed an operation which, as he correctly observed, might have been palmed on a class of students, as being an operation for the removal of the parotid, whilst it was only an enlarged lymphatic gland. But at the same time, if any reliance is to be placed on the word of Beclard, I think we can not deny him the glory of having performed this difficult operation. Trans. 14 LIFE AND WHITINGS OF BECLARD. pression being the most impressive and the most energetic, left in the mind of his audience the image of the object, or the idea deeply impressed. He slowly prepared, and for a longtime matured his lessons ; being perfectly master of the subject on which he was about to lecture, he never was in the least embarrassed before his pupils. He always united the re- sult of his own meditations, to the knowledge he had acquired: he interested and captivated his hearers without having re- course to a vain show of language, by which the deceived multitude is sometimes seduced. In his last course he gave an anatomical and physiological history of the nervous system ; a delicate and truly difficult subject. Nevertheless, his descriptions were so very clear and there w T as in them so much order, that it was impossible not to understand his lectures. He has presented with the •greatest perspicuity the endless opinions advanced on this subject from Praxagoras down to this present time. His lec- tures were now more attractive and more instructive than ever, and as if presageful of his approaching end, he always lectured more than the time allotted to him, and could not withdraw from that chair, which soon a funeral mantle was to shade. If Beclard had his equals in some branches of the healing art, as a lecturer he was surpassed by none ; but on the con- trary he eclipsed most of his cotemporaries. He reminded us of the knowledge and eloquence of Halle, and was at least equal to Cuvier, whom, however, he delighted to imitate, and to the height of whose reputation he, by his vast know- ledge, was every day attaining. He failed only in one respect, and that was, his not being able to draw, and in so doing to render even more striking his descriptions ; had Beclard pos- sessed this talent, he would have been the most astonishing professor, that the medical sciences had ever had as their in- terpreter, till the present time. It is not common to meet with the virtues which adorn a private character united to great talents; because ambition, the ordinary source of our misdeeds, often accompanies genius, and by wishing to gratify that, we are exposed to deviate LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 15 from the rules of social morality. This can not be said of Beclard. If he desired to occupy a distinguished rank among his fellow men, it was never at the expense of those who fol- lowed the same career as himself, that he attained it. His success in the numerous competitions he had for various offi- ces, had distinguished him from the multitude, and he main- tained himself in the elevated rank he occupied, by his person- al merit, and his indefatigable labours. He has been'accused of being ambitious ; but his noble emulation was ill inter- preted ; if he desired to become rich, it was the better to relieve a numerous family, of which he was the glo- rious support. Could a man be ambitious, who delivered public lectures for more than two thirds of every day, thus neglecting to seek a practice that his great reputation could not have failed to procure him? Simple and modest in his taste and habits, he delighted to live quietly in the bosom of a family that several kinds of talents contributed to render illustrious. Beclard was naturally melancholy and gloomy. His health, exhausted by long continued studies, demanded the greatest care. Always intensely occupied with abstract ideas, his manner at first was cold, and his conversation very laconic; but if by any means he was enticed away from his favourite meditations, then his mind was perceived to be ornamented with the lore of philosophy and history, and to possess all those charms which a man remarkable for the brilliancy and variety of knowledge can infuse into his conversation. His hi- larity and cheerfulness appeared only at intervals and quickly vanished; an irresistible charm seemed soon to recall him to the habitual sphere of his thoughts. For some time past, he had given a great deal of his leisure to the perusal of works on philosophy and political economy; he had also bestowed much time on the study of languages, so that he was able to make in society a display of another kind of merit very differ- ent from that with which he obtained the applause of the medi- cal profession. Beclard was benevolent without ostentation. A great many students received from him benefits of every kind, and he often left them ignorant whence they proceeded. He more 16 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. than once abandoned to some of his pupils his discoveries and medical opinions which soon created and supported their repu- tation, and who afterwards became an honour to their illus- trious master. He zealously aided them in their studies, and encouraged their labours; he was prodigal of the wealth of his immense erudition, and assisted them with the greatest zeal in the cultivation of a science of whicn he ardently desired to sec the limits extended. It was in the midst of so many useful labours, and when he began to enjoy a reputation, which, though already great, was yet only dawning, that the celebrated professor of whom we have just sketched the life, was seized with a mortal disease. On the 6th of March, 1S25, an erysipelitous inflammation appeared on his face, which soon spread over the integuments of the cranium. From its first appearance a cerebral exalta- tion had manifested itself, and inspired the greatest fears for the life of ihe patient. Notwithstanding all the most atten- tive cares, the malady advanced with a frightful rapidity, and on the 16th of March, Beclard was no more. During the prolonged delirium which terminated his life, his intellect had acquired an astonishing activity. More than once we observed him, while in this state, supposing himself in the presence of a large audience, and developing with a sur- prising energy, ideas which, although incoherent in them- selves, nevertheless disclosed the powerful and elevated mind which gave them birth. They were, in a manner, the last ef- forts of his expiring genius. Finally, after a long and painful agony, he breathed his last in the arms of numerous friends, that were bound down with grief at his bed side. As soon as the news of his death reached the School of Medicine, the pu- pils who for several days previous had been constantly moving about his house, in order to learn the state of his health, these same pupils who not long since saluted with general applause their learned and modest professor, were now deeply afflicted, and bitterly lamented the loss of so valuable a teacher. On the 17th of March, 1825, the day of his burial, two thousand students met at his house, and would not permit other hands than theirs, to carry to their last abode his pre- LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 17 cious remains. They themselves transported the body of Be- dard to the church of Saint Sulpice , which in an instant was filled with Savans, professors, and students. It was with the same eagerness, that the students, desirous of paying a last mark of respect, admiration, and gratitude to their teacher, carried his remains to the burial ground of Pere-La-Chaise. Those who could not have the honour of bearing this precious relicks, followed it in a mournful silence. In this manner it may be said, that he had a more imposing attendance than the ordinary and paid for pompous display, which surrounds the funeral car of the rich and powerful. The Royal Academy and the School of Medicine, appointed a man of known eloquence to celebrate the last honours due to the manes of Beclard. The pupils, on their side, desirous of giving to their master an everlasting pledge of their sorrow, opened immediately a subscription to erect a funeral monu- ment to his memory. The School of Medicine of Paris, and the friends of Beclard, imitated the generous impulse of his younger admirers, and we soon beheld rising over his grave, a monument which will long recall to our minds the talents of Beclard, the universal regret of which he was the object, and the noble admiration of studious youths for the teacher to whose lessons they had listened with so much eagerness; and, who, victim as he was of his ardour for acquirements and zeal for public instruction, died when only 39 years old, and when he was about to reach the zenith of his glory.* Paris, December 15th, 1826. * While the School of Medicine of Paris was deploring’the loss of Beclard, the city of Angers, not less afflicted with so fatal an event, wished also to honour the memory of a man who had done so much for the glory of hi* country, appointed M. David his countryman and friend, and equally cele- brated in his art, to execute in marble the bust of the rival of Bichat. INTRODUCTION. § 1. The object of anatomy is the study of organized bo- dies ; it is the science of organization, and all organized beings are the subject of it. Man, the most complicated of all be- ings, is the principal subject of this science. The special aim of Anatomy, is the knowledge of the human body, of the different parts of which it is composed, and of the relations of these parts with respect to each other. Comparative anatomy, which might have been very well called general anatomy, embraces all organized bodies; it has for its object to seek, by comparison, which parts they possess in common, and in what they differ from each other. Phy- totomy is the general anatomy of vegetables, that of animals is called Zootomy. Anatomy is still called general, when it treats of a class, a genus, or of any group whatsoever of orga- nized beings ; as for instance, that of domestic animals, or veterinary anatomy. Special anatomy has for its object one single species of organized bodies ; such is the anatomy of the Elephant, Horse, Man, &c. In the anatomy of man, the expression general anatomy has another acceptation, which will be mentioned hereafter ; but we must first give a correct idea of organization in gene- ral, and of the bodies which are endowed with it. SECTION I. OF ORGANIZED BODIES. § 2. The endless science, called Natural Philosophy, or physics, the science of nature, treats of bodies which are ex- 20 INTRODUCTION. tended and moveable beings. They may be considered under two different points of view: in a state of quiescence and in that of motion or action. While we consider objects with re- ference to the first of these, we particularly observe their form, either external or internal; it is to this kind of study, some- times termed Morphology, that anatomy belongs. The se- cond, to which is generally affixed the name of physics, treats of their appreciable changes, i. e. of their phenomena or movements, either as masses, or as molicules, and for this rea- son is divided into two principal branches, Mechanics and Chemistry. § 3. Bodies which have common or general properties, vary, however, in many respects. Organization and life con- stitute a very distinctive character which divides them into two very different series; that of inorganic bodies, and that of such as are organized and living. § 4. It would be useless to dwell longer on inorganic bo- dies, which not having a complicated structure, and their par- ticles being entirely independent of each other, can not con- sequently form the subjects of anatomical consideration. It is sufficient to say, that the movements or phenomena of mass- es executed by these bodies, the object of mechanics, are reproduced with a regularity and constancy which permit us not only to observe them, to produce and repeat them in ex- periments, to determine the laws by which they are produced, but to submit them to a mathematical analysis: that the moli- cular phenomena of these same bodies, the object of chemis- try, may be observed, and may be produced or determined at pleasure by experiments; that certain laws, according to which they are produced, may also be deduced from actual observation and experiments; but that these phenomena are yet beyond the reach of calculation, an instrumental science so well adapted to hasten the progress of those to which it can be applied. The science of organization and of life, is nearly confined to the laws of observation. § 5. Anatomy treats only of organized and living beings. Besides the characters which they possess in common with inorganized bodies, they have others which are peculiar to OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 21 themselves, and which modify the former: they have organi- zation and life. They have each of them a special and un- alterable form, ordinarily rounded, which is apparently owing to the fluids they contain. Their internal form or structure, presents, in fact, a mixture of heterogeneous parts, some solid, and some fluid. The solid parts are called organs, which means instruments, because of the action they exercise. Their particles are intertwined, interwoven tissues, their arrange- ment also being called texture; they are areolar, spongy, or form special cavities, which contain the fluids. These parts may be generally extended or elongated, and are endowed with elasticity. When these parts, or organs are multiplied, as is commonly the case, each one has its determinate form, its peculiar texture, and its proper situation. The liquids, or humours, are contained in the solids, and penetrate through every part. All the parts, be they solid, or fluid, are held in a mutual and necessary state of dependence upon each other; and it is from their union, that organized bodies originate. The solids and fluids have an analogous composition; they contain much water, and some particular combinations, or proximate materials, and may be almost entirely resolved into gas. The substances composing them, have nothing peculiar; they are also to be found in the inorganic bodies whence they have been drawn, and the line of demarcation, which distin- guishes organic from inorganic solids, consists less in their nature than disposition. It is erroneously asserted, that the matter of organic solids diflers materially from inert matter; for oxigen, hydrogen, carbon, and in a great many azote, and some earthy substances, are the ultimate elements of them all. It is to this peculiar form, to this structure, common to every living body, this areolar or net-work-like tissue, con- taining liquids in greater or less abundance, and of the same nature as itself, that the appellation of organization has been given. § 6. We understand b) r life, the phenomena peculiar to or- ganized bodies taken as a whole. Life consists essentially in this fact, that all organized bodies during a determined period, 22 INTRODUCTION. are centres penetrated by foreign substances which they appro- priate to themselves, and from which issue others that become foreign to them. In this movement of momentary formation, the matter of the body changes continually, but its form still remains. It is in the liquid state that foreign substances pene- trate organized bodies ; it is also in the state of fluidity that the superfluous molecules are cast off. The liquids and solids are incessantly in motion during organization; the liquids tra- versing the cavities of the solids, while the latter, by their dilatation and contraction, produce the greater part of the movement of the former. They continually change the con- stituent parts of one into the other, part of the moving fluids becoming for a time solids, while some solid parts are con- verted again into liquids, which exchange perfectly agrees with the analogy of their composition. Organized bodies ex- perience changes during the whole course of their existence : and from the moment of their origin they increase their di- mensions and density. This latter kind of mutation contin- ues until the structure of the body being insensibly altered, the vital movement languishes and at last stops, which consti- tutes death; after this, the elements which composed the or- ganized body separate, and form new combinations. Each organized body having not only its external form, but its own peculiar structure, each of these parts contributes by its action to the general result. The appellation of function is given to the action of each organ, or to the combined actions of several having the same end. Nutrition, a function comprising absorption, assimilation and excretion, of which we have just spoken, is not the only phe- nomenon common to organized bodies; generation is another equally as general, and without which species could not exist, death being the necessary consequence of life. Every organ- ized and living body originates from one resembling itself, and each produces its like. In order to accomplish this object, a part of an organized body which had already attained its full size, having received from it the materials for its own growth, separates from it and produces a being in every respect similar to its parent, and presenting the same phenomena. Thispart OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 23 is called germ as long as it forms a portion of the body of the parent. This latter general phenomenon is only a consequence of the former. As long as the germ makes a part of the body of the parent, it is nourished and grows as one of its organs; its separation constitutes a kind of excretion. Most of the organized bodies also reproduce parts of which they may be deprived; they likewise repair to a certain ex- tent the lesions that they experience. The mass of individuals born of the same parents, and of those which resemble them as much as they themselves are like to each other, constitute a species. External circum- stances, such as the atmosphere, food &c., as they are more or less favourable, influence organization and its phenomena: hence results a greater or smaller degree of perfection in the development, and differences of similitude, generally, some- what limited between the individuals of the same species; and this constitutes the varieties. From this also results various individual alterations in organized and living bodies: these al- terations of organization and of its phenomena constitute disease. This series of phenomena is common to all organized bo- dies, and may be summed up in the following manner: The origin is derived from a being similar to itself, the end ter- minates by death, the maintenance of the individual is ob- tained from nutrition, the continuance of the species by gene- ration; in a word, it is the reception of an action of momentary formation, exercised in a body which has received its princi- ple from a parent, and transmits the same to its offspring, that is called life. The two characteristic marks, which essentially distinguish organized and living bodies, and which are common to all and peculiar to them alone, are organization and life. § 7. The form and the action of organized and living bodies, organization and life, are so closely connected, that whenever we observe the one we may be certain of the existence of the other; indeed the one always pre-supposes the other. We never observe life but in organized bodies, and we never ob- serve organization but in living bodies. In fact, in order that 24 INTRODUCTION. life might exist, it was necessary that there should be solids to preserve the form and fluids to keep up motion, in a word, an organization; and in order that the latter should be enabled to exist in the midst of causes, all tending to its destruction, it was requisite that there should be a continual motion and renewal of its parts. Organized bodies are born alive from bodies alike to themselves, i. e. they are viviparous; in all, and during the whole term of their existence, the vital phe- nomena are in exact proportion to the state of organization; and when this latter is altered, either from the mere fact of possessing life, or from accidental circumstances, life lan- guishes and ceases, and organization is destroyed by the che- mical action of its own elements. Among all those who ob- serve the phenomena of nature, no one has ever been able to detect matter in the very act of organizing itself, or life estab- lishing itself, either spontaneously or by external causes, else- where than in bodies, already living and organized. Life, in fact, does not solely consist in a reunion of molecules which were before separated, as occurs in the case of chemical at- traction, nor simply in an expulsion of the elements previous- ly combined, as in that which is produced by the repulsive action of caloric; but in a movement of temporary formation, in which some elements remain united, which would sepa- rate should life cease, and in which the elementary parts are separated, without the action of caloric; now, this vital action exists only in organized bodies. This close and reciprocal connexion of organization and life, is the reason why they have been by turns considered as being the cause or the ef- fect of each other. This, doubtless, is wrong; organization and life are a complex idea, which should no more be divided, (unless abstractedly), than these two things themselves, which are inseparable. Life is organization in action, or, according to the happy expression of Stahl, is the organism. The ob- ject of this work, however, being the examination of orga- nization in a state of rest, life will be merely alluded to.* § S. Organized bodies having a heterogeneous structure, * See Richerand’s Elements of Physiology OF ORGANIZED BODIES. 25 their history is composed of that of their various parts; and and it is properly this study which is the object of anatomy. The physical state of these bodies does not only embrace me- chanical or chemical phenomena, but also those which belong to them in proper, and which are not possessed by inorganic bodies, viz: nutrition and generation, i. e. the organic or vi- tal actions. These particular physical laws assume the name of physiology. Anatomy* then may be defined the knowledge of organized bodies, or the science of organization. According to its ety- mology, this word has another signification: it simply means dissection; but it has been consecrated by custom, and it is preferred to the words morphology, organology, (a discourse on form, organs), that have been proposed as substitutes. Anatomy, in fact, is a science of mere observation, and dis- section is the principal means by which we expose the parts of organized bodies in order to be able to observe them. Physiologyt is the knowledge of the phenomena of orga- nized bodies, or the science of life; it is also sometimes call- ed Zoonomy, (laws of life,) and biology, (discourse on life). Physiology, like anatomy, is a science of observation; but it treats of the phenomena of organized and living bodies. Anatomy and physiology are closely connected; having been taught by observation, that organization and the pheno- mena of life are always in a reciprocal relation, we may infer the condition of the one by the state of the other. § 9. Organized and living bodies, the subjects of anatomy and physiology, are divided into inanimate beings, or vegeta- bles, and animals or animated beings; this division is derived from the well marked difference existing between animals and vegetables of a complicated organization, but is very little so, among those the organization of which is the simplest of all. § 10. The most complicated vegetables are generally form- ed of two distinct parts, separated by a median horizontal line, one descending, and contained in the earth, is the root; while * From Avem/Mu, I dissect, f From