Francois Magendie (1783-1855). 1864 illustration of the French physiologist Francois Magendie. Magendie is best known for describing the foramen of Magendie (median aperture) in the brain. In 1809, he described his experiments on plant-derived poisons, where he used animals to determine the physiological effect of the toxin, then tried the compounds on himself. As a result, many medicinal compounds were introduced that had been derived from plant toxins, notably alkaloids, including strychnine, morphine, codeine and quinine. His wide-ranging research included the importance of proteins, emetic action, the absorption of drugs and white blood cells. He was an enthusiastic vivisectionist who avoided theory and championed experimental physiology in France.