SCIENCE. 
93 
DR. PAUL BROCA. 
Since the lamented death of Claude Bernard no name 
has been added to the necrology of France, which has 
caused more universal regret than that of Dr. Broca. 
Each, devoted to a special department of science, be- 
came illustrious from patient and untiring research 
which led to definite results. Claude Bernard’s investi- 
gations into the glycogenic function of the liver stand a 
monument to his genius and indefatigable industry. 
Although Dr. Broca became famous as a surgeon and 
anatomist it is the work he did in the department of 
anthropology that has made his reputation world-wide. 
He was born in 1824, at Sainte Foy la Grande 
(Gironde), became vice-president of the Academy ot 
Medicine, officer of the Legion of Honor, and a member 
of several learned societies. During the greater portion 
of his life he was Professor of Surgical Pathology to the 
Faculte de M£decine, and surgeon to the hospitals. His 
numerous contributions to science relate chiefly to 
Anthropology, and undoubtedly France owes to Broca, 
more than any other, the advanced position she occupies 
as a promoter of this science. 
In 1861, he made the remarkable discovery that the 
seat of articulate language is situated near the third 
frontal convolution on the left side of the brain. From 
this time he devoted himself to the study of the cerebral 
convolutions and ganglia and thus opened up a field for 
scientific research hitherto almost unknown. His works 
on “ cerebral localizations ” and “ comparative anatomy 
of the cerebral convolutions ” were pioneers in this 
department of science, and are to-day standard authori- 
ties on this subject. To Broca is due the founding of the 
Anthropological Society of Paris, and later of the now 
celebrated Ecole d’ Anthropologie, with its magnificent 
museum, libraries and laboratories, and a complete 
course of lectures by a faculty of professors comprising 
such names as Mortillet, Bertillon, and Topinard. 
Broca himself had charge of the department of com- 
parative anatomy of the primates. 
His sudden death is supposed to have been due to a 
cerebral haemorrhage, induced perhaps, by excess of 
labor and fatigue. Thus in the vigor of life and in 
the midst of his work, has died a scholar, philosopher 
and statesman, whose illustrious example will continue 
to enlighten the path of those who follow his imperish- 
able footprints. 
