Alfred Mathieu Giard (8 August 1846 – 8 August 1908) was a French

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

born in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

Biography

In 1867 he began his studies of

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

at the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, followed by work as ''préparateur de zoologie'' at the laboratory of

Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers Félix Joseph Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers (15 May 1821 – 21 July 1901) was a French biologist, anatomist and zoologist born in Montpezat, Lot-et-Garonne, Montpezat in the department of Lot-et-Garonne. He was a leading authority in the field of mal ...

(1821–1901) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1872 he defended his doctoral thesis with a study on compound

ascidians Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" ...

titled "''Recherches sur les ascidies composées ou synascidies''". From 1873 to 1882, he was ''professeur suppléant'' of natural history at the faculty of sciences in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, and in the meantime, was also affiliated with the

Institut industriel du Nord The Institut industriel du Nord (IDN) was the engineering school and research institute at École Centrale de Lille from 1872 to 1991, within the campus of the Lille University of Science and Technology (France). History École des arts indus ...

. In 1874 he founded a biological station at

Wimereux Wimereux (; vls, Wimeruwe) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Wimereux is a coastal town situated some north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the b ...

in order to familiarize his students to marine and terrestrial organisms. At Lille, he is credited for putting together an excellent school of zoology. In 1887 he became a lecturer at the École Normale Supérieure, and from 1888 until his death, he was a professor at the faculty of sciences in Paris, holding the chair of "evolution of living organisms". Following his death, he was succeeded at the Wimereux station by

Maurice Caullery Maurice Jules Gaston Corneille Caullery (5 September 1868, Bergues – 13 July 1958, Paris) was a French biologist. Biography He was born in Bergues in north France on 5 September 1868. His early education was in Douai. He began as a lectu ...

(1868–1958). Among his numerous students and assistants was

philosopher of science A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Félix Le Dantec (1869-1917). Giard was influenced by the work of

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

, and considered

Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

and

Darwinism Darwinism is a scientific theory, theory of Biology, biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of smal ...

to be complementary theories. From 1904 to 1908 he was president of the

Société de biologie The Société de biologie is a learned society founded in Paris in 1848. The society was conceived during the French Revolution of 1848. The members of the society held regular meetings and published the proceedings in a new scientific journal. The ...

. He died in

Orsay Orsay () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. A fortified location of the Chevreuse valley since the 8th centur ...

on 8 August 1908, his sixty-second birthday.

Research

He was especially interested in the relationship between host and parasite in nature (both plants and animals), and used the term "

parasitic castration Parasitic castration is the strategy, by a parasite, of blocking reproduction by its host, completely or in part, to its own benefit. This is one of six major strategies within parasitism. Evolutionary strategy The parasitic castration strateg ...

" to define sexual characteristic changes in the host as a result of the parasite, even when the sex glands of the host are not directly involved. He is credited for providing a description of ''

Giardia lamblia ''Giardia duodenalis'', also known as ''Giardia intestinalis'' and ''Giardia lamblia'', is a flagellated parasitic microorganism of the genus '' Giardia'' that colonizes the small intestine, causing a diarrheal condition known as giardiasis. ...

'', a gastrointestinal

protozoan Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

that is named after himself and Czech physician Vilem Dusan Lambl (1824–1895). The illness associated with the parasite is sometimes called

giardiasis Giardiasis is a parasitic disease caused by ''Giardia duodenalis'' (also known as ''G. lamblia'' and ''G. intestinalis''). Infected individuals who experience symptoms (about 10% have no symptoms) may have diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight los ...

. In 1877 he was the first scientist to describe the phylum

Orthonectida Orthonectida () is a small phylum of poorly known parasites of marine invertebrates that are among the simplest of multi-cellular organisms. Members of this phylum are known as orthonectids. Biology The adults, which are the sexual stage, are mi ...

(parasites of

Ophiurida The Ophiurida are an order of echinoderms within the class Ophiuroidea. It includes the vast majority of living brittle stars. Characteristics Ophiurida have bursae for respiration and excretion, and dorsal and ventral arm shields are present a ...

). In 1894 he introduced the term "

anhydrobiosis Cryptobiosis or anabiosis is a metabolic state of life entered by an organism in response to adverse environmental conditions such as desiccation, freezing, and oxygen deficiency. In the cryptobiotic state, all measurable metabolic processes sto ...

" (the ability of organisms to survive extreme dehydration). In 1905 Giard coined the word ''poecilogonie'' ( poecilogony) to describe a phenomenon in which similar adults develop from dissimilar

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e in marine invertebrates. Discussion on Poecilogony, Interpolations into Juvenile Stages He is remembered for his extensive research of

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

, particularly Epicaridea (parasitic

isopods Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

) and members of the family Bopyridae. Amongst his very numerous publications are 300 devoted to

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

. He was a figure of importance in applied entomology in France and a member of the

Société entomologique de France The Société entomologique de France, or French Entomological Society, is devoted to the study of insects. The society was founded in 1832 in Paris, France. The society was created by eighteen Parisian entomologists on January 31, 1832. The first ...

References

* Lhoste, J. 1987 ''Les entomologistes français. 1750–1950''. INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), Paris. * Mathieu Guerriaud, « Etudier à l'école de pharmacie de Lille avec Alfred Giard au XIXe siècle», ''Revue d'Histoire de la Pharmacie'', vol. LXIII, no 386, 2015, p. 261-278 (

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...

br>0035-2349lire en ligne
* Peyerimhoff, P. de 1932 ''La Société entomologique de France (1832–1931)''. Soc. Ent. France, Livre du Centenaire, Paris.
''Alfred Mathieu Giard''
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Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giard, Alfred Mathieu People from Valenciennes French zoologists University of Paris faculty University of Lille Nord de France faculty École Normale Supérieure alumni Science teachers 1846 births 1908 deaths French carcinologists French entomologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France Lamarckism Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Members of the Ligue de la patrie française