Francois Magendie (1783-1855),French physiologist. Magendie graduated in medicine at Paris in 1808. In 1809,he described his experiments on plant-derived poisons. He used animals to determine the physiological effect of the toxin,then tried the compounds on himself. As a result,many medicinal compounds were introduced which had been derived from plant toxins,notably alkaloids,including strychnine,morphine,codeine and quinine. His wide-ranging research included the importance of proteins,emetic action,the absorption of drugs and white blood cells. He was an enthusiastic vivisectionist who avoided theory,and championed experimental physiology in France |