Antoine Louis Dugès (19 December 1797 – 1 May 1838) was a French

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

and naturalist born in

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, Ardennes. He was the father of

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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Alfredo Dugès Alfredo Dugès (birth name- Alfred Auguste Delsescautz Dugès); (16 April 1826 – 7 January 1910) was a French-born, Mexican physician and naturalist born in Montpellier. He was the son of zoologist Antoine Louis Dugès (1797-1838). Alfredo Dugè ...

(1826–1910), and a nephew to

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

Marie-Louise Lachapelle (1769–1821). He studied medicine in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

and began work as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

in 1820. In 1825 he received his agrégation, shortly afterwards being appointed professor of obstetrics at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

. In 1826, he published ''Manuel d'obstétrique'', a textbook on obstetrics that was published in several editions. He was also responsible for the publication of his aunt's works on obstetrics. As a zoologist, Dugès conducted

osteological Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, func ...

and myological studies of amphibians. He also performed extensive research of

acarids The Acaridae are a family (biology), family of mites in order Sarcoptiformes. Distribution There are several acarid genera with cosmopolitan distributions, such as ''Acarus', Sancassania'' and ''Tyrophagus''. There are even ''Tyrophagus'' f ...

(mites). In 1838, he published an influential work on comparative physiology, titled ''Traité de physiologie comparée''. He was a member of several learned societies, including the ''

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

'' and the '' Académie des sciences de Paris''. He died in Montpellier on 1 May 1838, at the age of 40.

Eponyms

Antoine Louis Dugès is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, '' Lacerta dugesii''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2014). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Dugès, A.L.", pp. 76-77). The genus of freshwater planarians ''

Dugesia ''Dugesia'' (pronounced, /duˈd͡ʒiʒ(i)ə/) is a genus of dugesiid triclads that contains some common representatives of the class Turbellaria. These common flatworms are found in freshwater habitats of Africa, Eurasia, and Australia. ''Duge ...

'' is named after him.

Selected publications

*''Essai sur la nature de la fièvre'', 1823 *''Manuel d'obstétrique'', 1826 *''Discours sur les causes et le traitement des difformités du rachis'', 1827 *''Recherches sur l'organisation et les mœurs des Planariées'', 1828 *''Mémoire sur la conformité organique dans l'échelle animale'', 1832 *''Recherches sur l'ostéologie et la myologie des batraciens à leurs différens âges'', 1834 *''Recherches sur l'ordre des Acariens en général et la famille des Trombidées en particulier'', 1834 *''Traité de physiologie comparée'', 1838

Source

*''This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the French Wikipedia'', reference listed as
Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences médicales: vol. 64, 1884, p. 642

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duges, Antoine Louis 1797 births 1838 deaths People from Charleville-Mézières French naturalists Members of the French Academy of Sciences French obstetricians University of Montpellier people