Ralph H. Major ^jr 



pose of practising in this metropolis, is not only welcomed by the lovers of 

 science, but may, with the strictest propriety, be included in the present series." 

 Dr. Francis relates that he sought Brown-Sequard's views on smoking to which 

 the doctor replied, "I never smoke, and have seen the most evident proofs of 

 the injurious effects of tobacco on the nervous system." When asked what 

 specialty in medicine interested him most, Brown-Sequard answered, "I am 

 chiefly consulted for nervous affections, both functional and organic, but I 

 am not a specialist; and have studied, and continue to study every branch of 

 medicine." 



Dr. Francis continues: "Dr. Brown-Sequard's general health has been very 

 good, being exempt from many of the affections that flesh is heir to. But a 

 desire to investigate the contents of his own stomach, under different circum- 

 stances, by means of which he could examine the gastric juice, or partially 

 digested food, has brought on a rare affection, which is sometimes seen in man, 

 namely, a persistent merycism, or rumination, when one is forced to chew a 

 second time what has been swallowed. This has existed since 1844, in conse- 

 quence of his having often performed on himself experiments, consisting in 

 swallowing sponges, to which were attached threads; by drawing upon which 

 the sponges were withdrawn from the stomach, containing gastric juice and 

 liquid or liquified food, which he wished to study." 



Brown-Sequard, however, did not "settle in New York." In 1867, he re- 

 turned to Paris and the next year became Professor of Experimental Pathology 

 in the School of Medicine. Claude Bernard was one of the first to welcome him 

 and made a point of attending his opening lecture. Brown-Sequard did not 

 remain long in Paris as Professor of Experimental Pathology. In 1873 he was 

 again in New York. Finally, however, in 1878, following the death of Claude 

 Bernard, he was named as his successor. He returned to Paris in 1878 and this 

 time he apparently ceased his wanderings once and for all. He remained in 

 Paris until his death in 1894. 



These years which Brown-Sequard spent in Paris were marked by his usual 

 experimental activity, as reflected in the numerous articles which continued 

 to flow from his pen. He presently devoted most of his time to the functions 

 of the endocrine glands, a subject which had interested him for many years. 

 As far back as 1869, in a series of lectures of the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, 

 he advanced the idea, to quote his own words, "that the glands have internal 

 secretions and furnish to the blood useful if not essential principles." These 

 investigations of Brown-Sequard presently focused upon him the attention of 

 the medical and lay world, causing him to be an object of veneration to some 

 and an object of derision to others. In an article published in 1891, he empha- 

 sized the proof that had been advanced to support his statement in 1869 that 

 the internal secretions of the various glands played an important role in physi- 

 ology. He reviewed the work which proved that the thyroid, adrenals, and 

 l^ancreas all produced internal secretions necessary for health, pointing out 

 that removal of the adrenals caused death, removal of the thyroid j)roduced 



