1797-1876

French physician who pioneered the field of blood pathology and wrote the first textbook on internal medicine. Andral studied the blood of both animals and humans, and was the first to describe the proportions of the constituents of normal blood. He noted that disease affects the blood and that bodily functions were interdependent. This insight fueled his vigorous opposition to bloodletting, a practice performed by most physicians during his day. Andral earned his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1821 and was appointed professor of medicine in 1828, eventually becoming head of the pathology department.