13 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF BECLARD. 



tinually praised ; but we must not forget that Bichat wrote at 

 a time when it was necessary to entice the reader by the charm 

 of diction, while Beclard wrote for sober men, whom science 

 alone can seduce, without the artifice of meretriciousornaments. 

 Beclard carries in himself the distinctive marks of his age. 

 Bichat has written, as is said, the romance of the science, but 

 Beclard has striven to fix its laws, and to draw up its code. 

 Thus, the General Anatomy of Beclard possesses its peculiar 

 merit, and may be considered as one of the most glorious 

 titles of the author to immortality. To conclude, this learned 

 man has especially studied and improved anatomy, in its re- 

 lations with medicine and surgery, and by strengthening the 

 foundation of this science with an unlimited erudition, has 

 really founded a school, the principles of which will be long 

 followed. 



To the valuable qualities that we have just enumerated, Be- 

 clard added those of a skilful operator. He was endowed 

 with a steady presence of mind, with a firmness which 

 never approached harshness, and with a dexterity which was 

 the result of his many dissections. Unforeseen circumstan- 

 ces sometimes obliges the operator to deviate from the general 

 rules of the art. Beclard, on these occasions, knew how to 

 modify a method, or invent a new one to suit the case. His 

 composure never abandoning him, his memory recalled, or his 

 genius often suggested to him, during an operation, every 

 thing requisite to insure its success. He has invented or im- 

 proved the methods of several operations: such are his method 

 for curing the fistula of the duct of steno ; several methods 

 for the partial amputation of the foot, the amputation of the 

 articulation of the metatarsus, the amputation of the articulation 

 of the shoulder and hip joint. He has also modified the man- 

 ner of cutting through the soft parts in amputating limbs, 

 and the method of sawing the tibia in the amputation of the 

 leg. He was the first who removed the parotid gland;* finally 



* It is strange we should so often read of European surgeons extracting 

 this gland, while in this country some of the greatest authority in surgery 

 deny the possibility of the operation. On the one hand, we can not sup- 

 pose that these surgeons wish to impose on us, and on the other, to say 



