Bichat / [William Sydney Thayer].

  • William Sydney Thayer
Date:
[1903]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Bichat / [William Sydney Thayer]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I BULLETIN 'O OF i THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Baltimore, Maryland, Postoffice. Vol. XIV.—No. 149.] BALTIMORE, AUGUST, 1903. [Price, 15 Cents. CONTENTS. PAGE Bichat. By William Sydney Thayer, M. D.,.197 Some Early Autopsies in the United States. By Walter R. Steiner, M. D., . . . ..201 A Case of Neuro-Fibromatosis (Von Recklinghausen’s Disease) with Paralysis and Muscular Atrophy of Arms and Legs. By H. M. Thomas, M. D.204 The Cure of the more Difficult as well as the Simpler Inguinal Ruptures. By W. S. Halsted, M. D.,.20S PAGE The Pathology of Smallpox. By Wm. Royal Stokes, M. D., . . 214 Method of Instruction in Surgical Pathology. By J. C. Blood- good, M. D., 220 Summaries or Titles of Papers by Members of the Hospital or Medical School Staff Appearing Elsewhere than in the Bulletin, .222 Notes on New Books.224 BICHAT.1 f By William Sydney Thayer, |d. D., Associate Professor of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. It is fitting that in 1902, the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Bichat, we should contemplate for a moment the career of one of the most remarkable men of modern times. Marie Frangois Xavier Bichat was born in Thoirette in the province of Bresse, now Jura, on the 14th of November, 1771. His father was a physician and mayor of Poncin in Bugey. The early life of young Bichat appears to have been unevent¬ ful. It was the wish of the father that his son should follow in his footsteps, and whatever advantages one may gain from being brought up in a medical atmosphere the young man seems to have had. Bichat was brilliant from infancy and history shows that he was a striking exception to the common rule, in that this youthful precocity was in no way delusive. At school in Xantua and at the Seminary of Saint Yreuee in Lyon, he gained prizes and honors, and soon manifested a tendency toward mathematics and the natural sciences, especially physics and natural history. Beginning the study of anatomy at the hospital in Lyon under the direction of 1 Read before the Johns Hopkins Historical Society, December 8, 1902. the celebrated Petit, he made good jirogress despite the fact that he appears at times to have allowed his exuberant energy and spirits to carry him into channels which deviated somewhat from those which ordinarily lead to a career in science. As Levacher' says, he was at this period more fitted to take a rapid bird’s-eye view of all parts of the subject than to devote himself to the profound study of a single branch. But his memory and power of comprehension were remark¬ able, and early in his career he began to apply the accurate methods of thought and investigation which he had learned in mathematics and physics to the study of the structure and functions of man. Returning home to pursue his surgical work with his father, he was soon drawn again to Lyon and to his mathematical studies, without, however, abandoning anatomy. But in 1793, the stormy days of the Revolution closed the doors of all insti¬ tutions of learning at Lyon and drove Bichat forever from the scenes of his bojdiood. After a short sojourn in Bourg he went 2 Levacher de la Feutrie, Eloge de Bichat, Mem. Soc. d’emulat, Par., 1808, v, pp. xxvii-lxiv.