Pierre François Olive Rayer (8 March 1793 – 10 September 1867) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who was a native of Saint Sylvain. He made important contributions in the fields of pathological

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

physiology 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 ...

, comparative

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

Biography

He studied medicine at

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and at the

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...

. He became an interne of medicine in 1813, and in 1818 earned his medical doctorate. Later on, he became a physician at

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

(1825), and at the

Hôpital de la Charité Hôpital de la Charité (, "Charity Hospital") was a hospital in Paris founded in the 17th century and closed in 1935. History In 1606, Marie de Médicis invited the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to come to France. The Abbot of Sain ...

(1832), and was also a consultant-physician to

King Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

. In 1862 he attained the chair of comparative anatomy and was named dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Paris.Pierre-François-Olive Rayer
@ Who Named It In 1837 Rayer discovered that the fatal equine disease known as

glanders Glanders is a contagious zoonotic infectious disease that occurs primarily in horses, mules, and donkeys. It can be contracted by other animals, such as dogs, cats, pigs, goats, and humans. It is caused by infection with the bacterium ''Burkhol ...

was contagious to other species, including humans. Between 1837 and 1841 he published a three-volume book on diseases of the

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

titled ''Traité des maladies des reins''. In 1850 Rayer published a paper that provided the first description of the

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

bacillus (''Inoculation du sang de rate'', 1850). In this work he documented studies that he performed with physician

Casimir Davaine Casimir-Joseph Davaine (19 March 1812 – 14 October 1882) was a French physician known for his work in the field of microbiology. He was a native of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, department of Nord. In 1850, Davaine along with French pathologist Pierre ...

(1812-1882) in regards to ''

Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ...

''.Pierre François Olive Rayer (1850) “Inoculation du sang de rate”, ''Comptes rendus des séances et mémoires de la Société de biologie'', vol. 2, pages 141-144. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1855. Rayer was 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 ...

and the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...

, and co-founder of the

Société de biologie The Société de biologie is a learned society founded in Paris in 1848. The society was conceived during the French Revolution of 1848. The members of the society held regular meetings and published the proceedings in a new scientific journal. The ...

, of which he was also president. He maintained friendships with several influential people in France, that included naturalist

Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (16 December 1805 – 10 November 1861) was a French zoologist and an authority on deviation from normal structure. In 1854 he coined the term ''éthologie'' (ethology). Biography He was born in Paris, the son ...

, novelist

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

and philosopher

Émile Littré Émile Maximilien Paul Littré (; 1 February 18012 June 1881) was a French lexicographer, freemason and philosopher, best known for his ''Dictionnaire de la langue française'', commonly called . Biography Littré was born in Paris. His father, ...

Eponyms associated with Pierre Rayer

* Rayer's disease: A disorder characterized by chronic

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

splenomegaly Splenomegaly is an enlargement of the spleen. The spleen usually lies in the left upper quadrant (LUQ) of the human abdomen. Splenomegaly is one of the four cardinal signs of ''hypersplenism'' which include: some reduction in number of circulating ...

, and

hepatomegaly Hepatomegaly is the condition of having an enlarged liver. It is a non-specific medical sign having many causes, which can broadly be broken down into infection, hepatic tumours, or metabolic disorder. Often, hepatomegaly will present as an abdomi ...

. * Rayer's nodules: A

xanthoma A xanthoma (pl. xanthomas or xanthomata) (condition: xanthomatosis) is a deposition of yellowish cholesterol-rich material that can appear anywhere in the body in various disease states. They are cutaneous manifestations of lipidosis in which lip ...

; yellowish nodules on the skin (often on the eyelids).

References

External links

Images from ''Traité théorique et pratique des maladies de la peau''
From The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayer, Pierre 1793 births 1867 deaths People from Calvados (department) French dermatologists French pathologists University of Paris faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur

Biography

Eponyms associated with Pierre Rayer

See also

References

External links