Jean Pecquet (9 May 1622,

Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newh ...

– 26 February 1674) was a French scientist. He studied the expansion of air, wrote on

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, and is also known for investigating the

thoracic duct In human anatomy, the thoracic duct is the larger of the two lymph ducts of the lymphatic system. It is also known as the ''left lymphatic duct'', ''alimentary duct'', ''chyliferous duct'', and ''Van Hoorne's canal''. The other duct is the right ...

. Furthermore, he studied the nature of vision.

Life

Jean Pecquet studied medicine at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, where he investigated the important discovery (in 1622, by Gaspare Aselli) of the course of the lacteal vessels, including the receptaculum chyli (or reservoir of Pecquet, as it is sometimes called) and the termination of the principal lacteal vessel, the thoracic duct, into the left subclavian vein. He dissected the eye and measured its dimensions. Contrary to

Edme Mariotte Edme Mariotte (; ; c. 162012 May 1684) was a French physicist and priest ( abbé). He is particularly well known for formulating Boyle's law independently of Robert Boyle. Mariotte is also credited with designing the first Newton's cradle. Biogr ...

, he maintained that the retina, not the choroid, was the principal organ of vision.

Selected written works

* ''Experimenta Nova Anatomica'' (Paris, 1651; English translation, as ''New Anatomical Experiments'', 1653) * ''De Circulatione Sanguinis et Chyli Motu'' (1653) * ''De Thoracicis Lacteis'' (1653) * ''Nouvelle découverte touchant la veüe'' (Paris, 1668) (With Frederic Leonard)

Terms

* Pecquet, cistern of, reservoir of — The receptaculum chyli.

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References

* Lewis, Sarah Janvier. Jean Pecquet (1622–1674) and the Thoracic duct. PhD thesis. Yale Univ. 2003. * Pecquet, Jean. New anatomical experiments. LONDON; t.w. Octavian, 1653.

External links

*
Medicine pageNorthwestern University
1622 births 1674 deaths People from Dieppe, Seine-Maritime French anatomists Members of the French Academy of Sciences French science writers French male non-fiction writers Prisoners of the Bastille {{France-scientist-stub