Francois Magendie
French physiologist Francois Magendie (1783 - 1855) made pioneering efforts in the medical fields of physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and nutrition. More interested in facts than theory, his experiments led to such innovations as the introduction of various drugs into medical practice and the Bell - Magendie Law regarding the functioning of spinal nerves. Among his other contributions were his early description of cerebrospinal fluid and a delineation of a foramen (small opening) in the brain that later came to bear his name.
Early Life
Magendie was born the eldest of two sons to Antoine Magendie and Marie Nicole de Perey on October 6, 1783, in Bordeaux, France. His father was a surgeon who was a devotee of Utopian philosopher Jean - Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778), even naming his youngest son after him. Magendie's father was also an ardent proponent of the imminent French Revolution (1789 - 1799). The Magendie boys were reared in accordance with Rousseau's teachings in that their individual independence was prized more highly than the benefits of outside instruction. This was, unsurprisingly, both a help and a hindrance to them, as it fostered an ability to think for themselves, while restricting their access to a basic education.
With the revolution in full force in 1791, the Magendie family relocated to Paris so that Antoine Magendie could immerse himself in politics more completely. Magendie's mother died the following year, depriving her sons further of the minimal intellectual guidance and stimulation they had known. At the age of ten, Magendie, who had not yet learned to read or write, finally took matters into his own hands and insisted on going to school for the first time. There, he combined his innate intelligence with his unorthodox upbringing and excelled.
As the revolution was winding down, Magendie was apprenticed to surgeon Baron Alexis de Boyer (1757 - 1833) at the Hotel - Dieu. Just 16 years old, he was allowed to indulge his interest in anatomy by participating in dissections. It was a practical training that was well - suited to the young man's temperament, and helped nurture in him an affinity for facts over theory. In 1803, Magendie passed the entrance examination for medical school and began traditional medical training. He received his M.D. in Paris on March 24, 1808.
Personality Problems
Shortly after obtaining his degree, Magendie began to ruffle feathers in the medical community. His first published article was a severe critique of Marie Francois Xavier Bichat's (1771 - 1802) basic premises, and appeared in the Bulletin of Medical Science. Bichat was one of the icons of French physicians.
Magendie's abrupt style was to serve him ill throughout his career. Often seen as vain, rude, and contemptuous among his fellows, his personality often hindered his advancement and sometimes cost him positions. For example, all his surgical skill later displayed during his brief time at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris could not override the conflicts with the professors of anatomy (Francois Chaussier) and surgery (Guillaume Dupuytren) that caused him to resign his post as anatomy demonstrator after only two years. For all the hostility he engendered, however, Magendie's innovative work and electrifying insights could not be denied by even his harshest detractors.
Physiology, Pharmacology, and the Lymphatic Myth
Physiology was defined by the Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia as a, "study of the physical and chemical processes that take place in living organisms during the performance of life functions. It is concerned with such basic activities as reproduction, growth, metabolism, excitation, and contraction as they are carried out within the fine structure, the cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems of the body." During his medical education, Magendie transferred his primary allegiance from anatomy to physiology, especially with regard to the central nervous system, cerebrospinal fluid, and the spinal nerves, and he went on to be considered one of the forefathers of experimental physiology. Despite all this, Magendie's first important study had a significant impact on the field of modern pharmacology instead.
In 1809, just a year out of medical school, Magendie presented the finding of his first experimental study, conducted with botanist and physician Alire Raffeneau - Delille (1778 - 1850). They ran a series of experiments to discover the consequences of various plant - derived drugs on the body. This was important to pharmacology in that it was the first time a comparison was made of the analogous effects produced by drugs of different botanical origins. It was Magendie's contention that the action of a natural drug was dependent on its chemical substance, and that that active ingredient must be attainable in its pure state. (He was later proven correct with the isolation, for instance, of strychnine in 1819 and his own detection of emetine, from ipeac, in 1817). But these remarkable insights were not all the experiments revealed. They also debunked the prevailing view that absorption took place solely through the lymphatic system. By introducing a poison into an animal's system through either a blood vessel or quill, Magendie was able to demonstrate that absorption was instead achieved through the bloodstream and the skin. Beyond its invaluable educational value, such research eventually led to the introduction of several new drugs, including morphine, codeine, and quinine.
Teacher and Physician
In 1811, Magendie took the short - lived position of anatomy demonstrator at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris mentioned above. He also taught anatomy, physiology, and surgery there. When he resigned in 1813, Magendie opened his own medical practice and taught physiology privately. For quite some time, perhaps partly because of his outsider status in the medical community, he was unable to find an official post on a hospital staff. This limited his ability to conduct clinical studies and observe treatments, among other professional inconveniences. In 1818, Magendie was appointed to the Central Bureau of Parisian Hospitals, but it was not until 1826 that he was at last given a formal hospital assignment, at the Salpetriere. He was then named director of the women's ward at his alma mater, the Hotel - Dieu, in 1830. Finally, on April 4, 1831, Magendie found his niche as the chair of medicine at the College of France. It was there he established the first medical school laboratory, and would later come to know the talented protégé, Claude Bernard (1813 - 1878), who was destined to, in some respects, eclipse him.
It is worth noting that Magendie's infamous personality flaws were seldom in evidence around his patients, among whom he had a fast reputation for great sympathy, warmth, and understanding. Despite that excellent bedside manner, however, there is a fair argument that his medical talents were best exhibited in a research environment. For instance, he maintained that neither cholera, nor yellow fever, were contagious diseases, and opposed quarantine. These views became particularly unfortunate after he was appointed chief of the Advisory Committee on Public Hygiene in 1848. He also sometimes performed unnecessary operations on the sick toward some scientific end. This latter inclination was rendered even more problematic when coupled with the doctor's strong opposition to surgical anesthesia, believing it weakened the patient. But most would agree that Magendie's research contributions outweighed his limitations as a practicing physician. Indeed, the innovative physiologist himself grasped the confines in which physicians worked. He was quoted on the Who Named It Website as having said, "I hesitate not to declare, no matter how sorely I shall wound our vanity, that so gross is our ignorance of the real nature of the physiological disorders, called diseases, that it would perhaps be better to do nothing, and resign the complaint we are called upon to treat to the resources of nature, than to act (as) we are frequently compelled to do, without knowing the why and the wherefore of our conduct, and at obvious risk of hastening the end of the patient."
Contributed to the World of Science
Happily, Magendie's scientific research continued to yield impressive results long after his revelations of 1809. In 1813, he demonstrated the largely passive role of the stomach in vomiting and described the mechanism of swallowing as well. After serving on a commission to investigate the nutritional value of assorted food extracts in 1815, he continued to explore the field of nutrition and discovered such facts as mammals' reliance on protein to live and that not all proteins were equally life - sustaining. In 1817, Magendie published the first modern physiology textbook, A Summary of Physiology, in which he replaced theory with his revered facts. In 1821 he founded the Journal of Experimental Physiology, the first publication of its kind. In 1822, Magendie went on to publish the resultant findings of his experiments which he began in 1809 with his introduction of the effects and uses of such alkaloids as morphine, emetine, quinine, and strychnine. Around this same time he released his discoveries building on the 1811 work of Scottish anatomist Sir Charles Bell, in which he distinguished the motor and sensory functions of the spinal nerves, the anterior root being motor and the dorsal root sensory. What Bell had defined from anatomical evidence, Magendie verified in living animals. This was a seminal work in the field of physiology and became known as the Bell - Magendie Law.
Magendie made another important contribution in 1825, when he offered one of the first descriptions of cerebrospinal fluid. Among his other efforts were his groundbreaking observations of anaphylaxis (a kind of allergic reaction) and his description of a tiny opening in the brain (apertura medialis ventriculi quarte) that came to be known as the foramen of Magendie.
Magendie's astonishing body of work drew criticism, however, especially outside of France, for his use of live animals in his experiments. He was sometimes viewed as an extreme vivisectionist and characterized as seeing living organisms as simply complex machines that could be experimented upon without ethical consideration. On a visit to England in 1824, for instance, his public presentations of his experiments on the cranial nerves of living dogs caused a public outcry and a demand for the protection of animals. No matter how distasteful Magendie's methods may have been, however, they are difficult to judge in hindsight. There is nothing arduous, on the other hand, about appreciating the advances his research made possible.
Lasting Impact
As Magendie reached his 60s, he began to spend more and more time on his country estate (acquired through his 1830, and apparently happy, marriage to Henriette Bastienne de Puisaye) in Sannois. He retired from his duties at the Hotel - Dieu, where he started his career at 16, in 1845 and allowed his former student disciple, Bernard, to fill in for him at the College of France beginning in 1847. In his final years, Magendie remained busy conducting physiology experiments on plants. He died on October 7, 1855. Often referred to as the founder of experimental physiology, the fact - loving Magendie's additional outstanding contributions to such disciplines as pharmacology and nutrition rendered his impact on science unassailable.
Books
World of Biology, 2 volumes, Gale Group, 1999.
Online
"Bell - Magendie Law," Who Named It,http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/2383.html (January 9, 2005).
"Development of Experimental Pharmacology," General Anaesthesia, http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/magendie-pharmacology.htm (January 9, 2005).
"Dr. Francois Magendie (1783 - 1855)," BLTC,http://www.general-anaesthesia.com/images/francois-magendie.html (January 9, 2005).
"Dr. Francois Magendie (1783 - 1855)," Department of Neurology, University of Illinois at Chicago,http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcne/founders/page0057.html (January 9, 2005).
"Francois Magendie, Medicine, Biographies," AllRefer,http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/M/Magendie.html (January 9, 2005).
"Francois Magendie (1783 - 1855)," University of Virginia Health System, http://www.med.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/classics/Magendiel.html (January 9, 2005).
"Francois Magendie," Who Named It?, http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor/cfm/2104.html (January 9, 2005).
"Magendie, Francois (1783 - 1855)," Science World,http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Magendie.html (January 9, 2005).
"Physiology," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, http://encarta.msn.com/text - 761577323 - - - 1/Physiology.html (January 9, 2005).
"Sciencefare: September 25, 1986," Memorial University of Newfoundland, http://www.mun.ca/sgs/science/sept2586.html (January 9, 2005).
