98 MEMOIR OF MAGENDIE. 



bodies have not at their disposal the means of sustaining the zeal of inquirers 

 who have established themselves in the right method of procedure ; the young 

 Magendie, for instance, who gives to physiological labors the invariable basis of 

 experiment, would deserve to be encouraged." " Are not your own exhorta- 

 tions the most powerful of encouragements ?" " They are not sufficient," re- 

 plied Laplace; "for those who aspire to reach our academies there should be 

 graduated approaches, which would consist in competitions and prizes." " Yours, 

 then," rejoined the unostentatious benefactor, " be all the honor of the concep- 

 tion : dispose of whatever you think necessary ; I desire for myself nothing more 

 than to have satisfied one of your enlightened wishes." The prize of experi- 

 mental physiology was thereupon established, and on Magendie was conferred 

 the first distinction.* 



His reputation attracted numerous auditors to the courses which he had long 

 before opened. In experimenting before them, he initiated them in his researches, 

 brought into play their sagacious curiosity, inspired them with the pleasure of 

 refutation. Truth was what he sought with all his energy ; to attain it, no surer 

 means, he held, could be found than to borrow nothing from either ancients or 

 moderns. Starting with the principle which he had established for himself, that 

 in science everything was to be reconstructed, he called everything in question, 

 allowing nothing to stand but what was capable of resisting his incessant con- 

 troversy. 



The novelty of this instruction had its charms for the young; but the professor 

 was reproached for the sacrifices to which it condemned him. He held, however, 

 the transient sufferings of the victim a consideration of little moment in view of 

 the high and useful aim, the welfare of his species. As the practitioner, to save 

 a life, hesitates not to provoke a pain, so M. Magendie's persistence in experi- 

 menting on the living animal was no proof of want of sensibility. Let us re- 

 member that he shared with his dog when he had but five sous to live on, and 

 judge whether it is likely that he would be needlessly cruel. 



In 1816 M. Magendie had published an Elementary Compend of Physiology.^ 

 The science which, a century before, was only accessible to a few savants, is, in 

 this work, condensed and definitely circumscribed, so as to present to youth a 

 lucid and practical manual. In 1820 he founded a Journal of Physiology, 

 which, in a duration of ten years, collected the labors of diligent inquirers, pro- 

 moted the progress of the science, and extended the reputation of its editor. 



About this time, impelled by an insatiable curiosity of observing and of 

 knowing all that was being done in analogy with his own researches, he crossed 

 the channel. His presence in London was scarcely known before he was called 

 upon, at the solicitation of the principal physiologists whom the country of 

 Harvey then numbered, to repeat, with a skill which seemed to pertain to 

 prodigy, the experiments by which he was enabled at will to suspend, accele- 

 rate, or reduce the forces of life.l So ardent was the admiration excited that it 



* In 1814, M. Magendie, who had been twice before designated by the conscription, was 

 again summoned. On this occasion the academy interposed ; in view of his prospective ser- 

 vices, it requested his exemption, which was accorded by a special decree. "You owe this 

 favor," Avroto the minister, " to the success which you have achieved in the sciences." 



t The date of the first edition was J 816 ; of the fourth and last, 1836. 



J "I was in the laboratory of Wollaston, engaged in repeating before this illustrious ob- 

 server some of my experiments on the nervous system. He was especially desirous of veri- 

 fying by his own inspection the effects of the section of the filth pair. I opened the 

 cavernous sinus or carotid artery, and a profuse hemorrhage ensued around the brain. The 

 animal was at once seized with convulsive trembling, and fell as if dead. Wollaston con- 

 sidered it to be so, and requested me to repeat the experiment on another. I would prefer to 

 recall this one to life, said I, and, what is more, cause it to run as far as you please. He 

 thoirght that I was jesting. I then cut a certain point of the brain, and the animal darted 

 off like an arrow. Wollaston, of a spirit as judicious as exact, and habituated to reflection, 

 was vividly struck with the certainty and novelty of these results." (Logons sur le systeme 

 nerveux, t. I, p. 198.) 



