Physiological Researches on Life and Death. Translated from the French by F. Gold...with Notes by F. Magendie. the Notes translated by George Hayward

Boston: Published by Richardson and Lord. J.H.A. Frost, Printer, 1827. pp. viii, [9]-334. 1 vols. 8vo. Full contemporary sheep, worn, cover slightly sprung, foxed, front free-endpaper missing, else a very good tight copy. Signed Baj. L. Swan 1`836. pp. viii, [9]-334. 1 vols. 8vo. One of Bichat's most influential works wherein he examines what happens in violent, accidental and sudden death. See Garrison-Morton 597: "When Volta questioned the validity of experiments claiming to show responsiveness of an ex vivo heart, devoid of blood flow and nervous connections, Bichat obtained permission to experiment on the freshly killed bodies of those guillotined during the French Revolution. His trials on both laboratory animals and human cadavers led him to conclude that cardiac excitation by electricity would occur only when the organ was simulated by direct contact.