From Physiology to Classification: Comparative Anatomy and Vicq d'Azyr's Plan of Reform for Life Sciences and Medicine (1774–1794)

Abstract

ArgumentHere I analyze the anatomical thought of the French physician and naturalist Félix Vicq d'Azyr (1748–1794) in order to bring to light its importance in the development of comparative anatomy at the end of the eighteenth century. I argue that his work and career can be understood as an ambitious program for a radical reform of all biomedical sciences and a reorganization of this whole field around comparative anatomy, on the conceptual as well as the institutional level. In particular, he recommended a close connection between anatomical and physiological studies, and a generalization of the comparative approach towards organs and functions in man and animals. This conception led him not only to reform the scope, the methods, the style of description, and the vocabulary in anatomy, but also to construct a new classification of living beings and to pursue a quest for laws of organization. This strategy was successful, since Vicq d'Azyr was able to promote his thought as well as his institutional position efficiently. The Revolution and his untimely death prevented him from achieving his program, but his attempt would serve as an example for younger scientists like Cuvier.

El impacto de la reforma Cabanis en la formación histórica de la universidad argentina y en la educación superior en salud

“…En 1790, el cirujano Félix Vicq-d'Azyr presentó a la Asamblea Nacional un nuevo plan de organización de la medicina en Francia (19) . La principal marca de esta propuesta era la unificación definitiva entre Medicina y Cirugía, separadas desde la Edad Media, para lo cual los hospitales deberían tener salles d'autopsie y todas las muertes serían confirmadas por anatomistas acreditados.…”

“…De esta forma, establecía, por un lado, una conexión práctica entre clínica, patología y anatomía y, por otro, la importancia de la anatomía comparada en la historia natural. Desgraciadamente, Vicq-d'Azyr no sobrevivió al período del Terror para completar su contribución a la reforma de la medicina (19) .…”

“…Así, en vez de la relación maestro-aprendiz, propia de la formación clínica prácticamente artesanal que era propiciada por el acompañamiento de médicos particulares en visitas domiciliarias, la reforma Cabanis tornaría obligatoria la instrucción profesional en hospitales, con la invención del internado (internat des hôpitaux) que, después evolucionó hacia el concepto moderno de residencia médica. Con la unificación entre Medicina y Cirugía, se recomendó la implantación de teatros quirúrgicos, además de las salles d'autopsie preconizadas por Vicq-d'Azyr(19) .…”

The Order of the Prophets: Series in Early French Social Science and Socialism

“…9 Yet in Saint-Simon's seminal Mémoire sur la science de l'homme (1813), considerable praise was lavished on Vicq d'Azyr and his animal series. 10 Although the essay's immediate goal was to raise the status of physiology and create a science of mankind, the ultimate aim was political. A society could enjoy peace only when its system of thought was organized around a single guiding idea.…”

Reconstructing serial homology with a special emphasis on the nature of limbs in vertebrates and with references to Cruveilhier, Wyman, Belogolowy, and Balinsky

“…Also used is the shorter English publication on the same topic by Schmitt (2017). Stéphane Schmitt is a specialist in the history of French comparative anatomy and had a special paper about the research program of Vicq d'Azyr (Schmitt, 2009). However, neither Schmitt, nor Siomava et al (2020) attempted to come into details of Vicq d'Azyr's views on the kind of similarity between the fore and hind limbs.…”