Flourens was the first to identify the region of the brain that controls respiration and the first to correctly identify the motor functions of the cerebellum. To make these discoveries required careful attention to experimental methods. Flourens expressed the importance of research methods clearly and elegantly:In experimental research everything depends upon the method; for it is the method that produces the results. A new method to precise results; a vague method has always led only to confused results. (Flourens, 1842/1987, p. 15)