7 
of Edinburgh, Session 1878-79. 
his life to the pursuit of physiology, and at the age of 40 he was 
appointed to a chair of physiology, specially created for him by the 
Faculty of Sciences of Paris. 
The services which he rendered to physiology and medicine are 
so eminently distinguished, that his name must he ranked with 
those of Harvey and Haller, of Bichat and Muller, of Magendie and 
Gharles Bell. Bichat and Magendie were his countrymen, and it 
was by the brilliant teaching and example of Magendie that he was 
inspired, and induced to offer his genius and his labour to the 
cause of physiological science. 
The great influence of Magendie’s teaching over the young mind 
of Bernard was due to the circumstance, that as a teacher of an 
experimental science he did not content himself with the delivery 
of mere didactic discourses, but sought, as far as lay in his power, 
to experimentally demonstrate the truth of what he stated, and the 
several steps by which that truth had been ascertained. The 
truths of physiological science thus received a living power which 
no mere words could give, and the evolution of Bernard as a 
physiologist was one of its results. 
One of his great discoveries had reference to the liver, an organ 
whose function — although it is imperfectly comprehended even now 
— was greatly elucidated by his researches. Previous to his time, 
it was supposed that the secretion of bile was the only function of 
this organ ; Bernard, however, made the remarkable discovery that 
the liver also produces glycogen — a starch-like substance which is 
converted into grape-sugar as it passes from the liver into the blood. 
This discovery greatly advanced our conceptions of the nature of 
the chemical processes that take place in the animal organism, for 
it was previously supposed that starch and sugar are produced by 
the tissues of plants only. 
With regard to the sugar- forming function of the liver, Bernard 
also discovered that by injuring a certain part of the medulla oblon- 
gata of a rabbit, the sugar-forming function of the liver is greatly 
exaggerated. The excess of sugar poured into the blood is excreted 
by the kidneys, and thus the disease known as diabetes is artifi- 
cially induced. Probably no discovery ever produced a more 
startling effect on the medical world ; for this simple experiment on 
a rabbit afforded the first rational explanation of a disease that is 
