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Jules Lemaire (February 17, 1814, in
Ferrières (
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...
) – on March 8, 1873, in
Les Lilas
Les Lilas () is a commune in the northern-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
History
The commune of Les Lilas (literally "the lilacs") was created on 24 July 1867 by detaching a part of the territory of ...
nowiki/>Seine-Saint-Denis">Seine-Saint-Denis.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Seine-Saint-Denis">nowiki/>Seine-Saint-Denis, was a French medical doctor and pharmacist. He was the first to discover the antiseptic properties of Phenol">carbolic acid
Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it requir ...
(phenol).
Biography
Lemaire, pharmacist and chemist, had been instructed by Dr. Ferdinand Le Beuf, pharmacist in Bayonne, to experiment with a preparation of coal tar, emulsified using an alcoholic tincture of saponin. Lemaire recognized antiseptic properties in this preparation, due to the carbolic acid (phenol) from coal tar, and published the results of this research in 1860 in a book entitled ''Du coaltar saponiné, désinfectant énergique'' (''Saponinated coal tar, an energetic disinfectant'').
Lemaire then experimented with the effects of phenol alongside those of coal tar, and presented the results of all his work in a new book published in 1863: ''De l'acide phénique, de son action sur les végétaux, les animaux, les ferments, les venins, les virus, les miasmes et de ses applications à l'industrie, à l'hygiène, aux sciences anatomiques et à la thérapeutique''. He gave his preference here to phenol, more energetic and easier to handle than coal tar, and recommended phenol in
aqueous solution
An aqueous solution is a solution in which the solvent is water. It is mostly shown in chemical equations by appending (aq) to the relevant chemical formula. For example, a solution of table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), in water would be re ...
at 5%. The work was out of print in a few months and had to be republished in 1865.
A long controversy, which began in 1865, pitted him against Doctor Gilbert Déclat (1827–1896) on the primacy of this finding. The scientific publications of Lemaire on this subject were well before those of Déclat; the primacy of discovery therefore belonged to Lemaire.
Scope of the discovery
The antiseptic properties of phenol discovered by Jules Lemaire were put to good use by the British surgeon
Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...
(1827–1912), pioneer of the antiseptic method in operative surgery, who had the idea of putting all his surgical tools and gowns in carbolic acid, as well as the wounds of the operated, thus reducing the postoperative mortality rate from 40% to 15%. He published his results in six articles in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' in 1867. On September 21, 1867, in the Edinburgh ''Daily Review'',
James Young Simpson
Sir James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet, (7 June 1811 – 6 May 1870) was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He was the first physician to demonstrate the anaesthetic properties of chloroform on humans ...
(using a pseudonym) expressed the idea that Lister's last article was misleading, as it "attribute
the first surgical employment of carbolic acid to Professor Lister". Simpson then mentioned Lemaire's work.
Awards and honours
* Member of the Société des Sciences médicales (Society of Medical Sciences).
* Member of the Société médico-chirurgicale (Medico-Surgical Society).
* Member of the Société d’Émulation pour la science pharmaceutique de Paris (Emulation Society for Pharmaceutical Science in Paris).
* Knight of the
Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Jules
19th-century French physicians
French physicians
1814 births
1873 deaths