PARENT-DUCHATELET, ALEXIS-JEAN-BAPTISTE,
a sanitary reformer, was born in Paris in 1790, and was
educated for the medical profession. After practising for
some time as a doctor in the French capital, he directed
his attention to the subject of public health. Actuated by
pure philanthropy, and undeterred by any considerations of
personal comfort and health, he visited all those places
where noisome effluvia were daily killing their unconscious
victims. Common sewers, tobacco manufactories, pyroli-
gneous acid factories, burying-grounds, and dissecting-rooms,
all came under his scientific inspection, and were described
to the public in a great number of pamphlets. His last
investigation was upon the prostitution of the capital. A
report of it was published in 1836, the year in which he
died.