SKETCH OF CLAUDE BERNARD. 743 



ably he had been encouraged sufficiently to lead him to seek for fame 

 as a playwright. Upon his arrival at Paris, he formed the acquaintance 

 of Prof. Saint-Marc Girardin, who induced him to give up his purely 

 literary aspirations, and to enter upon the study of medicine. In 1839 

 he became an interne in the Paris hospitals, where his remarkable tal- 

 ents were soon recognized. Very early in his career he published a 

 large and superbly illustrated work upon " Operative Surgery," in con- 

 nection with M. Huette. This work was translated into many foreign 

 languages, and met with great success ; but his distinguished reputa- 

 tion as a physiologist, which dates from about 1848, afterward became 

 so extended that his writings upon surgery have almost been forgotten. 



In 1843 he discovered the nerve which gives the sense of taste to 

 the anterior portion of the tongue. 



In 1844 he made important advances in the knowledge of digestion 

 by the stomach, following the discovery of the properties of the gastric 

 juice in 1833, by Dr. Beaumont, an American physician. 



In 1848 he discovered the production of sugar by the liver, which 

 had not before been even suspected. At about the same time he dis- 

 covered the digestion of fats by the pancreas, a fact of great physio- 

 logical importance. 



In 1844 he discovered the nerve which presides exclusively over the 

 voice. 



In 1847 he fully described, for the first time, the digestive proper- 

 ties of the secretions of the different salivary glands. 



About 1853 he devised an accurate method of estimating the gases 

 of the blood, and he did more than any of his predecessors to advance 

 our positive knowledge of the process of interchange of gases in respira- 

 tion. 



His researches in the physiology of the nervous system were most 

 extensive. He did more than any one before to illustrate the mechan- 

 ism of secretion and excretion, and the influence of the nervous system 

 over the action of glands. He was the first to fully and accurately 

 describe the properties of the woorara poison, which is now so largely 

 used in physiological research. It would be impossible, within the 

 limits of this sketch, to give a comprehensive and intelligent account 

 of Bernard's original investigations. Within the last twenty-three 

 years he has published fifteen volumes upon subjects connected with 

 physiology, embodying the results of his original work. He constantly 

 and powerfully advocated the experimental method, and his dexterity 

 in vivisection was truly marvelous. While he was at the zenith of his 

 fame, nearly all physicians who visited Paris attended his lectures or 

 witnessed the experiments in his laboratory. To all he was uniformly 

 courteous and communicative ; and the success of the demonstrations 

 with which his lectures were profusely illustrated created the greatest 

 enthusiasm. Between the years 1859 and 1865 he published very 

 little, being in feeble health. During this time his thoughts must have 



