Jean-Baptiste Sarlandière

Jean-Baptiste Sarlandière (1787 - July 25, 1838) was a French anatomist and physiologist who was a native of Aix-la-Chapelle. At the age of 16 he began his medical studies at the local hospital in Noirmoutiers. In 1803 he was called to military service, and spent the next 11 years as part of the French Army. He resumed his studies in 1814, and was appointed physician at the military hospital in Paris. He received his medical degree in 1815.

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Sarlandière was a colleague of François Magendie (1783-1855), and the two physicians collaborated on several physiological experiments. Sarlandière is remembered for introducing electroacupuncture to European medicine. This therapeutic technique combined electricity with acupuncture. Unlike Oriental acupuncture, the needle was not the primary agent of treatment, but simply acted as a conductor to apply the electricity subcutaneously. Reportedly he had success with electroacupuncture treating respiratory and rheumatic disorders, as well as some forms of paralysis, and his technique was soon adopted in French hospitals.

Sarlandière is also remembered for his written works. He died in 1838 while he was finishing one of his better works, Traité du système nerveux (Treatise on the Nervous System). Other well-known writings of his are:

Memoires sur l’electropuncture (1825)
Anatomie méthodique, ou Organographie humaine (Systematized anatomy, or human organography); (1830)
Physiologie de l’action musculaire appliquée aux arts d’imitation