Jean Antoine Villemin

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Jean Antoine Villemin

1827-1892

French physician who made landmark contributions to the study of the infectious nature of tuberculosis. Villemin demonstrated that tuberculosis could be transmitted to previously healthy animals by experimental inoculation. In his early experiments he inoculated rabbits with tuberculous material taken from a lethal human case. Initial attempts to repeat Villemin's results were unsuccessful, but later researches vindicated his conclusions.