Bichat

BICHAT, Marie-François-Xavier (1771-1802), famous French anatomist; he studied surgery in Lyon and Paris under the guidance of Petit and Desault and worked throughout his short life at the Parisian hospital Hotel Dieu. From surgery, Bichat early turned to the study of anatomy, discovered the synovial membranes, and wrote "Traité des membranes" (Paris, 1800). The main work of Bichat is "Anatomie générale, appliquée à la physiologie et à la médecine" (Paris, 1801), in which he described in detail all the tissues of the human body (numbering 21), however, without using the microscope. Bichat is often considered the founder of modern histology (see), although this is not quite correct: he rather completes the old, non-microscopic histology of Aristotle and Galen. Bichat preached vitalism (see), but of a very special kind (Montpellier school); he distinguished in tissues two kinds of properties: 1) depending on their structure, 2) vital; the latter are variable in their manifestations and cannot be quantified; these include sensitivity and contractility. The properties of tissues completely determine the vital properties of the organs composed of them; in the study of the properties and life of individual tissues lies the key to understanding the life of the entire organism. Further, Bichat establishes a sharp distinction between the organs of plant and animal life: the former work automatically, without rest or interruption, the latter are voluntary and are interrupted by sleep. This doctrine is developed by him in "Recherches physiologiques sur la vie et la mort" (Paris, 1800, translation by Bibikov, St. Petersburg, 1865) and finds an echo in the modern doctrine of the autonomic nervous system. Bichat's last work was "Anatomie descriptive" (1801-1803).