Achille louis foville's atlas of brain anatomy and the defoville syndrome

Achille Louis Foville's atlas of brain anatomy (1844) is one of the most artistic and detailed works on neuroanatomy in the medical literature. The outstanding drawings by the 2 artists, Emile Beau and Frederic-Michel Bion, highlight all the philosophy, ability, and sensibility of A.L. Foville in carefully dissecting the superficial and deep structures of the brain and spinal cord. Several plates show true brain fiber dissections of high artistic and academic value. As a result of an early misrecognition in the medical literature, "inferior Foville syndrome" has been wrongly attributed to Achille Louis Foville rather than his son, Achille Louis Francois Foville (1832-1887), also called Defoville. Therefore, we suggest that Defoville, who actually described the pontine syndrome for the first time in the neurological literature, deserves to be credited for this syndrome and that the syndrome should be called the Defoville syndrome. Through analyzing the political and scientific events in France in the 19th century, we highlight the invaluable contributions of A.L. Foville and his son to the history of neuroanatomy and neurology.