Jeanpierre Morat

Vocation

Notable

French physiologist who had a keen interest in the field of surgery, being credited for introducing a process of administering morphine and atropine to a patient prior to the administration of anaesthesia. Among his better known writings was the six volume "Traité de physiologie" (1904), a work that was co-written with a former student of his, Maurice Doyon (1869–1934). He worked in Paris in the laboratory of Claude Bernard (1813–1878), of whom, Morat became a devoted disciple. In Paris, he worked closely with veterinarian Henri Toussaint (1847–1890) and physiologist Albert Dastre (1844–1917). With Toussaint, he collaborated on "Les variations de l’état électrique des muscles" (Variations of the electrical state of muscles), and with Dastre, he undertook extensive research of the sympathetic nervous system. With Dastre, the "Dastre-Morat Law" is derived, a dictum which states that "the vasoconstriction of the capillaries of the body surface is usually accompanied by vasodilation of the internal vessels, especially of the viscera, and vice-versa". He died on 25 July 1920, aged 74, in Saint-Sorlin. Link to Wikipedia biography