Jules Béhier


Louis-Jules Béhier was a French physician.
In 1837 he received his doctorate at Paris with the dissertation-thesis "Recherches sur quelques points de pathologie". In 1844 he obtained his agrégation and in 1849 became médecin des hôpitaux. In 1864 he attained the chair of internal pathology at the faculty of medicine in Paris. As a professor, he was associated with the Hôpital de la Charité, Hôpital Pitié and the Hôtel-Dieu. In 1866 he became a member of the Académie nationale de médecine.
He is credited with the popularization of the hypodermic syringe in France, a device that had been invented in 1853. He is also known for his pioneer experimentation with the opiate narceine, and for his advocacy of hydrotherapy and alcohol for the treatment of typhoid fever. With dermatologist Alfred Hardy, he is associated with the eponym "Béhier-Hardy symptom", described as the loss of voice as a sign of the early stages of pulmonary gangrene.

Selected works