1622-1674

French physician and anatomist credited with a number of discoveries. Among the aspects of human physiology Pecquet was first to observe are the course of the lacteal vessels, the cistern chyli (sometimes called the reservoir of Pecquet in his honor), and the termination of the thoracic duct at the place where it opens into the left subclavian vein. In 1651, he published a book in which he helped to popularize experiments in air pressure conducted earlier by Gille Personne de Roberval (1602-1675). The book introduced the term "elater" to describe the tendency of air to expand.