Nestor Louis François Gréhant (2 April 1838 in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

– 26 March 1910) was a French

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

. In 1864 he received his medical doctorate in Paris, where he later earned a doctorate in natural sciences (1870). He served as a préparateur to Claude Bernard at the faculty of sciences in Paris, and subsequently became director of the laboratory of general physiology at the École pratique des Hautes Études. In Paris, he also served as a professor of physiology at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle. In 1905 he became a member of the

Académie de médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

.Gréhant Nestor
CLub de l'Histoire de l'Anesthésie et de la Réanimation (CHAR) He is best remembered for his studies of blood and blood circulation (measurement of

cardiac output In cardiac physiology, cardiac output (CO), also known as heart output and often denoted by the symbols Q, \dot Q, or \dot Q_ , edited by Catherine E. Williamson, Phillip Bennett is the volumetric flow rate of the heart's pumping output: t ...

in animals) and respiration. He also made contributions in his research of the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes th ...

, of muscle activity,

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...

, anaesthesia and experimental hygiene. He developed a number of devices that he used in research, including a ''grisoumètre'' ( firedamp detector) that was still in use in

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

up until 1950.

Selected works

* ''Recherches physiques sur la respiration de l'homme'', 1864 – Physical research on respiration in humans. * ''Manuel de physique médicale'', 1869 – Manual of medical physiology. * ''Absorption de l'oxyde de carbone par l'organisme vivant'', 1879 – Absorption of

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

by the living organism. * ''Recherches sur la respiration et sur la fermentation de la levure de grains'' (with

Charles-Eugène Quinquaud Charles-Eugène Quinquaud (26 December 1841, Lafat – 9 January 1894, Paris) was a French internist and dermatologist. He studied medicine in Limoges and Paris, receiving his doctorate in 1873. While working as a hospital interne, he was in ...

) – Research on respiration and fermentation of grains of

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

. * ''Les poisons de l'air, l'acide carbonique et l'oxyde de carbone'', 1890 – Poisons of the air,

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

and carbon monoxide. * ''Les gaz du sang'', 1894 –

Blood gases An arterial blood gas (ABG) test, or arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA) measures the amounts of arterial gases, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. An ABG test requires that a small volume of blood be drawn from the radial artery with a syringe an ...

. * ''Sur l'emploi du grisoumètre dans les recherches physiologiques'', 1894 – On the use of a methanometer in physiological research. * ''Oxyde de carbone, alcool éthylique et grisou'', 1903 – Carbon monoxide, ethyl alcohol and

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

. * ''Hygiène expérimentale: l'oxyde de carbone'', 1903 – Experimental hygiene; carbon monoxide. * ''Mesure de l'activité physiologique des reins par le dosage de l'urée dans le sang et dans l'urine'', 1904 – Measurement of the physiological activity of the kidneys by the determination of

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

in the blood and urine. * ''Rapport sur l'ankylostomiase, le grisou, l'oxyde de carbone'', 1909 – Report on

hookworm Hookworms are intestinal, blood-feeding, parasitic roundworms that cause types of infection known as helminthiases. Hookworm infection is found in many parts of the world, and is common in areas with poor access to adequate water, sanitation, an ...

, mine gases, carbon monoxide.IDREF.fr
bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grehant, Nestor 1838 births 1910 deaths People from Laon Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études French physiologists Hygienists