Celebrated French physiologist, who became Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, accepted the Professorship of Natural History at the College of France, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and was given the legion d'honneur. His studies of the brain brought him great eminence in neurophysiology, demonstrating that specific functions are controlled by specific sections of the brain. In his work on the central nervous system he performed vivisection experiments on pigeons, dogs and rabbits using extirpation and ablation techniques. He was considered a pioneer of the modern theory of brain function, and rejected Gall's theory of phrenology which he considered a pseudo science. He also opposed Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.