In some famously experiments, he showed that sensory and motor nerve fibers, travelled together in the whole nerve, except near the spine cord, where sensory fibers occupied the dorsal root and motor fibers, the ventral.
He did an experiment where he fed dogs on diets composed of distilled water and one specific food, such as sugar, olive oil or butter. Sometimes he added a little gelatin. The dogs in every case died after about a month.
The work indicated that nitrogenous foods other than gelatin were needed for life. It is interesting that during the sugar diet, the dog developed a severe eye infection which Magendie describe in detail.
François Magendie was born in November 1, 1783, in Bordeaux. As early as 179m stool a teenager, he was apprentice to an imminent surgeon, Alexis Boyer, who later became Napoleon’s personal surgeon.
When he received his medical degree in 188, Magendie was already giving courses in anatomy and physiology, and he also taught surgery.
François Magendie
