CHAPTER IV. 



GLYCOGENIC FUNCTION OF THE LIVER— VASOMOTOR 

 NERVES— CLAUDE BERNARD. 



"For a man to be an investigator of the first order two gifts are perequisite 

 it is not merely necessary to possess a well-ordered and what we may term a 

 philosophic imagination, to possess a mind that is capable of balancing phenomena, 

 seeing their relationship and deducing problems that have to be solved and the way 

 in which to solve them; there must be something more, namely, a mechanical 

 ability, a love for technique, and a capacity to construct and manipulate the ap- 

 propriate Instruments. This is particularly necessary in connection with physio- 

 logical resarch." — ^Adaml 



The real life of every notable character lies in the story of his 

 achievement, rather than in how he passed his days. Human interest, 

 however, loves to dwell on the details of how he moved among his 

 fellowmen and the vicissitudes that befel him on his path through 

 life. Often in the lives of our greatest men these details which con- 

 stitute the human touches have not been recorded. Not everji John- 

 son has his Boswell, and we must content ourselves with the frag- 

 mentary data that have been preserved. Such has been the fate of 

 Claude Bernard, the first centenary of whose birth is now the sub- 

 ject of commemoration. 



Early Life and Education — Let me give a brief summary of his 

 life. He was bom on July 12th, 1813, of humble parentage ; his father 

 owned a small farm at St. Julien, near Lyons, France. The vintage of 

 the little estate which was situated in the wine district of France, pro- 

 vided the family revenue. The property eventually came into the 

 hands of the son, who spent his summers there within view, on clear 

 days, of the white summits of the Alps. Bernard received his early 

 education at his native village and afterwards at Lyons. His educa- 

 tion was, however, cut short by necessity, which turned him to prac- 

 tical pharmacy as a means of earning a living. The young man pos- 

 sessed that "fine frenzy'* which makes "the lunatic, the lover and the 

 poet" of "imagination all compact,*' and was on the point of giving up 

 the calling which had engaged his attention for two years, for litera- 

 ture. His literary aspirations drew him towards the dramatic art, and 

 it is hard to predict what the future physiologist might have given te 

 the world had not the divine flame been smothered by a more prosaic 

 career of investigator. He was the author of a comedy, "The Rose of 

 the Rhone," which had met with a certain amount of success. But des- 

 tiny had reserved Bernard for another and very different calling. 

 He submitted his work to the great French critic, St. Marc Girardin, 

 who, while recognizing its merit, advised the young aspirant to lit- 

 erary fame to pursue a more lucrative calling, to engage in some 

 pursuit in which he could earn his bread and to court the Muses only 

 in his leisure moments. "You have studied pharmacy," said the 

 critic, "study medicine; you will thereby much more surely gain a 

 livelihood." Bernard followed this advice with heart and soul, de- 



