OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : JUNE 9, 1868. 45 



the Academy of Sciences as the successor of M. Morel Vincte. In 

 1862 he was appointed to fill the newly created chair of Comparative 

 Medicine, and about the same time was chosen Dean of the Medical 

 Faculty of the University of Paris. He was President of the Cen- 

 tral Committee of Public Hygiene, and also of the General Associa- 

 tion of the physicians of France. In 1855 he was elected an Honorary 

 Member of this Academy. Among the various marks of honor which 

 the Emperor conferred upon him was that of Commander, and, when 

 he resigned the place of Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, that of 

 Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. In connection with Bernard, 

 Robin, Lebert, and one of our own associates, C. E. Brown-Sequard, 

 he was one of the founders of the Society of Biology, — - a society 

 which has probably contributed of late years more than any other to 

 a just and comprehensive study of life in all its manifestations. He 

 was the animating spirit of this Society, and was most properly made 

 its perpetual President. 



But it is not the honors with which he was crowned, or the respon- 

 sible posts which he filled, or the elevated social position to which he 

 attained, that entitle M. Rayer to our especial regard. His best 

 monument is to be found in his published works. Soon after his 

 graduation he published a brief Summary of Pathological Anatomy. 

 This was followed in a short time by memoirs on a variety of medical 

 subjects, such as a note on the Coryza of Nursing Infants ; a monograph 

 on Delirium Tremens ; a History of the Epidemic of Miliary Sweat, 

 which prevailed in the Departments of Oise, and of the Seine and 

 Oise, in 1821 ; and a number of smaller treatises. In 1835 he put 

 forth a more elaborate work than any of the above memoirs. It was 

 entitled " A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Diseases of the 

 Skin, founded on Original Anatomical and Pathological Researches." 

 This was in two volumes, and was accompanied with an atlas of 

 colored plates. The value of the work was attested by the appearance, 

 in a short time, of a second edition, which was enlarged to three 

 volumes, with a corresponding addition to the atlas of illustrations. 

 At the time of its appearance, this work was a most important addi- 

 tion to Dermatology, and prepared the way for the minute and careful 

 studies of later observers. 



The function and diseases of the kidneys early attracted the atten- 

 tion of M. Rayer. The result of his studies in this direction appeared 

 in what was the capital work of his life, and which he called, " A 



