The French anatomist, pathologist, and physiologist Marie Francois Xavier Bichat (1771-1802) was the founder of general anatomy and animal histology. Bichat's experimental work had great influence and was quoted for a long time as a model of experimental exactitude and penetrating insight. In this context it is interesting to note that Bichat refused all his life to make use of the most advanced experimental tool for anatomy, namely, the microscope. His feverish activity weakened him, and in 1802, after a fall from the Hotel-Dieu's staircase, he contracted a fever and died on July 22, only 31 years old. This brilliant man had an enormous impact on French science not only through his experimental work and new version of vitalistic philosophy, but also through his writing of basic textbooks and establishing of research institutions.