Sur une nouvelle fonction du foie chez l'homme et les animaux

Bernard, Claude

Published by Bachelier, Paris, 1850

About this Item

Bernard Claude (1813-78). Sur une nouvelle fonction du foie chez l'homme et les animaux. In Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des sciences 31 (1850): 571-74. Whole volume. [4], 956pp. 280 x 228 mm. (uncut and mostly unopened). Original plain wrappers, a little frayed, chip in front wrapper. Edges a bit frayed, first and last leaves a little foxed and toned, but fine otherwise. First Edition, journal issue. The second of two papers in which Bernard disproved two current theories of animal metabolism: first, that animals cannot synthesize sugar; and second, that sugar in the blood only occurs in diabetic or otherwise unhealthy animals. Bernard devised a series of experiments in which healthy animals were fed either starchy or meat diets, or in some cases not fed at all for several days. He found sugar in the blood of all the animals he examined, even in those from which food had been withheld, which led him to the revolutionary conclusion that glycemia is a normal and constant metabolic process independent of food intake, and that blood sugar must thus be produced by a source within the animal body. Upon further experimentation, he identified this source as the liver, demonstrating that it produces sugar and empties it into the blood. This paper, together with Bernard's "De l'origine du sucre dans l'economie animale" (1848), formed the basis of his thesis for the doctorate in science, Nouvelle fonction du foie consideree comme organe producteur de matiere sucree chez l'homme et les animaux (1853). DSB. Grmek 140 (journal articles). See Horblit 11a. Olmsted & Olmsted, Bernard, pp. 63-68. Bookseller Inventory # 2287

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sur une nouvelle fonction du foie chez ...

Publisher: Bachelier, Paris

Publication Date: 1850

Binding: Soft cover

Edition: 1st edition.