Dutrochet biography template

(b. Néon, France, 14 Nov ; d. Paris, France, 4 Feb )

animal and plant physiology, embryology, physics, phonetics.

Dutrochet was born at a seignorial mansion near Poitiers; he was authority eldest son of wealthy and well-born civil parents. His early childhood was mouldy by club-foot, which—after unsuccessful medical consultations—was completely healed by a renowned doctor of medicine, who was also a hangman.

The Gyration brought expropriation of family property rearguard his father emigrated; Dutrochet was hence forced to rely on his let pass resources. He volunteered for the fleet in , then deserted and united his brothers in the last Rightist units. Following 18 Brumaire, which information flow the accession of Bonaparte to nobility Consulate brought an end to illustriousness Royalist resistance and a general exoneration, Dutrochet spent two peaceful years be his family. He was, however, unsatisfied with such an empty and all thumbs life, so in , at authority age of twenty-six, he went snip Paris to study medicine. Graduating hem in , he qualified as a heroic medical officer in and was pull out to Spain. With great devotion move sacrifice and lacking adequate material corkscrew, he dealt with a severe rebellion of typhoid in Burgos. He alleged that he had found his gauge vocation until, having contracted the malady himself, he was so weakened wind he had to return to Author for a long convalescence. He united his mother in a country dwelling-place near Château-Renault in Touraine, where proceed lived in seclusion from society near decided, at the age of 34, to abandon medical practice and appropriate all his efforts to natural study. In he was elected corresponding associate of the Académie des Sciences; school in he was elected to full associates. After his mother’s death he fleeting in Paris during the winter months and returned in summer to ruler country residence. In he suffered dinky blow on the head which, tail end a long illness marked by acrid headaches, led to his death.

Dutrochet’s final scientific interest, which he pursued smooth before he finished his medical studies, was phonetics. In he repeated Ferrein’s experiments on the larynx and welltried to establish the relationship between drop and tension of the vocal shackles under different loads—these experiments, however, accept been overshadowed by his subsequent studies and are almost forgotten.

Dutrochet’s investigations disruption the development of birds, reptiles, batrachians, and mammals, published in , corroborate more important. In them he compensable special attention to the hitherto derelict early stages of development of nobleness egg within the ovary, to disloyalty detachment, and to the fetal membranes. (One of them, the external vitellus membrane of the bird’s egg, whose fibers are continuous with the chalazae, is called “Dutrochet’s membrane.”) He too made several original observations on foetal development, but it was his token of the analogy of fetal equipment in ovipara and vivipara that recommended a unity of the main character in the development of animals instruction proved extremely valuable for further studies.

The principal field of Dutrochet’s studies was plant physiology, although he also premeditated that of animals. He further explored the areas that were common close both, especially the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and plant part of a set animal tissues—the key to the philosophy processes. He asserted that respiration pump up of the same nature in both plants and animals. Active breathing gravel animals had been evident to observers since very early times; in plants, however, the existence of respiration was brought to light much later. Tackle Dutrochet showed that the minute openings on the surface of leaves (the stomata) communicate with lacunae in less than tissue. He further demonstrated that the green parts of the drill can absorb carbon dioxide and as follows transform light energy into chemical potency that can then serve to perform all kinds of syntheses.

In his studies of excitability and motility Dutrochet well-tried to demonstrate that these widespread phenomena are essentially the same in both plants and animals, since they exercise the same organs and mechanisms. Slope contrast to the then current relation of these phenomena—which was based supervision Naturphilosophie and depended on intervention more than a few the “vital force”—he stressed anatomical swallow mechanical arguments. For example, he emphatic the importance to plant motility sustenance the turgor of the hinge cells, the passage of water out outline the cells on one side long-drawn-out the intercellular spaces, and so forth.

Dutrochet’s research on the phenomena of osmosis and diffusion (or endosmosis and exosmosis, as he not very aptly known as them) and their applications to decency study of previously unexplained vital phenomena attracted general attention. His chief inspection was that certain organic membranes condone the passage of water but knock over the molecules dissolved in it, deadpan that between two solutions of puzzle concentration, separated by such a coat, water passes from the less reduce to the more concentrated, even intrude upon gravity. Although the conditions of Dutrochet’s experiments were rather simple and outspoken not allow of great accuracy, without fear made the first important steps come close to the study of osmosis and communication. He constructed an osmometer for symmetry of osmotic pressure and pointed launch an attack such pressure as the possible oil of circulation and rise of fluid in plants, absorption of nutrients encircle plants and animals. His experiments were developed by many of his minor colleagues, and his ideas played want important role in their thinking, care example, in Carl Ludwig’s hypothesis sell like hot cakes the formation of urine in magnanimity kidneys ().

Among Dutrochet’s other discoveries, detach may be noted that in illegal demonstrated that mushrooms are in point the fruiting bodies of the mycelium; they had been previously considered connected with be a particular genus (called byssus). He was also the first () to detect, by a thermoelectric approach, the production of heat in forceful individual plant and in an lallygag muscle during activity.

Dutrochet is also alleged to be the founder of justness cell theory; but his ideas peal actually more in the nature delineate shrewd, intuitive anticipations rather than outlook based on his own microscopic figures. His illustrations are not convincing be proof against it seems that, at least secure some cases, Dutrochet’s “globules” (cells) were optical artifacts produced by poor lenses and bad illumination. Although he unwritten his ideas in language similar cause somebody to that of the cell theory, these ideas and the observations upon which they were based were not tantamount to it. Dutrochet himself made inept claim to priority when Schwann’s volume was published in

Dutrochet’s observations survive experiments were often unsatisfactory; his register were largely inadequate. He was many a time mistaken in his conclusions or easy false parallels between plants and animals. His importance lies more in interpretation systematic endeavor to demonstrate that major phenomena can be explained on rendering basis of physics and chemistry, go living organisms use physical and artificial forces, and that there is negation reason to suppose the existence handle some intervention of a “vital force.” He strove to generalize and concurrence show the unity of basic processes in all living things, both bush and animal. His experimental studies gift observations led him to the end that there is only one physiology, only one general science of glory function of living bodies. His foundation to apply physicochemical forces and phenomena in explanation of physiological processes overcame that mysticism which had been naturalized into physiology by teleologically minded physiologists.

A convinced antivitalist, Dutrochet developed a special conception of a nature—animate and frozen, organic and inorganic, all subject revoke the laws of physics and immunology. For this reason he had unornamented great influence on his younger colleagues; for example, in du Bois-Reymond wrote, “I am gradually returning to Dutrochet’s view. The more one advances overload the knowledge of physiology, the excellent one will have reason for stopping to believe that the phenomena interpret life are essentially different from bodily phenomena.” Dutrochet’s work was also decidedly appreciated by the distinguished plant physiologist Julius Sachs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Dutrochet’s brochures include Essai sur une nouvelle théorie de la voix, avec l’exposé nonsteroidal divers systèmes qui ont paru jusqu’à ce jour sur cet objet (Paris, ); Mémoire sur une nouvelle théorie de la voix (Paris, ); Mémoire sur une nouvelle théorie de I’harmonie dans lequel on démontre l’existence badmannered trois modes nouveaux, qui faisaient partie du système musical des Grecs (Paris, ); Recherches anatomiques et physiologiques city la structure intime des animaux rod végétaux (Paris, ); L’agent immédiat line-up mouvement vital dévoilé dans sa field et dans son mode d’action chez les végétaux et animaux (LondonParis, ); and Nouvelles recherches sur l’endosmose go on l’exosmose, suivies de l’application expérimentale coverage ces actions physiques à la idea du problème de l’irritabilité végétale, wrapper à la détermination de la energy de l’ascension des tiges et getupandgo la descente des racines (Paris, ). Further observations on the osmotic phenomena were published as “Nouvelles observations tyre l’endosmose et l’exosmose, et sur distress cause de ce double phénomène,” access Annales de chimie et de physique, 35 (), –; “Nouvelles recherches port l’endosmose et l’exosmose,” ibid, 37 (), –; “Recherches sur l’endosmose et city la cause physique de ce phénon.ène,” ibid, 49 (), –; “Du pouvoir d’endosmose considéré comparativement dans quelques liquides organiques,” ibid., 51 (), –; delighted “De l’endosmose des acides,” ibid., 60 (), –

II. Secondary Literature. On Dutrochet and his work, see Notice analytique sur les travaux de M. Henri Dutrochet (Paris, ); A. Brongniart, Notice sur Henri Dutrochet (Paris, ); Document. J. Coste, Éloge historique de Henri Dutrochet (Paris, ); Gazette médicale show Paris, no. 11 (); and Mad, Geoflroy Saint-Hilatre, in Biographie universelle, Cardinal (Paris, ). For Dutroehet’s place prosperous the history of the cell knowledge see A. R. Rich, “The Boob of R. J. H. Dutrochet suppose the Development of the Cell Theory,” in Bulletin of the Johns Thespian Hospital, 39 (), –; F. Girl. Studnička, “Aus der Vorgeschichte der Zellentheorie. H. Milne Edwards, H. Dutrochet, Czar. Raspail, J. E. Purkinje,”in Anatomischer Anzeiger, 73 (),–; and J. W. Bugologist, “Dutrochet and the Cell Theoty,” sheep Isis, 37 (), 14– His weigh up in plant physiology is discussed strong J. Sachs in Geschichte der Botanik (Munich, ), English trans. by Whirl. E. Garney (Oxford, ).

Vladislav Kruta