Abstract
In many studies of the time progress of the swallowing, which is very rapid and complicated, is divided into three steps. It was François Magendie (1783-1855) who first made the proposal that swallowing was temporally divided into three steps.
Magendie was a pioneer in experimental physiology in France, and studied the physiology of digestion early in his career. Later, his research interests spread to circulation, blood itself, and the nervous system. In 1816, he published his Précis élémentaire de physiology (A Summary of Physiology), the first modern physiology textbook, in which he proposed the three steps of swallowing, as noted above.
Now we can read this work of Magendie translated into Japanese. In reading it, perhaps our greatest interest is the basis for Magendie's division of swallowing into three steps. However, did not base his division on experimental results from anatomy or physiology. In any case, we can not help being surprised by his foresight.
