GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY 81 



Notwithstanding the overshadowing figure of M tiller 

 and his tremendous general influence, Bernard's 

 scientific contributions to physiology are of a higher 

 order. A careful reading of Bernard's investigations 

 and lectures are serving to advance him into the 

 foremost rank. Although his great skill as an exper- 

 imenter and his exposition of experimental phys- 

 iology in his Introduction entitle him to eminence, he 

 will be longest remembered for several epoch-making 

 discoveries. 



Of these discoveries only two will be mentioned. 

 First the discovery of the occurrence of glycogen in 

 the liver one of the first and most complete studies 

 of internal secretions. That the liver forms animal 

 starch (glycogen) as well as bile was a brilliant con- 

 clusion which was demonstrated by well thought-out 

 experiments. Bernard was notable for the way in 

 which he directed his experiments towards definite 

 ends. He was no blind experimenter who reached 

 into the unknown by tentative gropings, but first he 

 made a crucial mental analysis of his problem, and 

 then devised experiments for its investigation. 



His discovery of vaso-motor nerves both dilators 

 and constrictors was another piece of experimenta- 

 tion of broad application in physiology. 



