On 8 July 1802, Bichat fell in a faint while descending a set of stairs at the Hôtel-Dieu. He had been spending considerable time examining some macerated skin, "and from which, of course, putrid emanations were being sent forth", during which he probably contracted typhoid fever; "the next day he complained of a violent headache; that night, leeches were applied behind his ears; on the 10th, he took an emetic; on the 15th, he passed into a coma and became convulsive." Bichat died on 22 July, aged 30.