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Félix-Archimède Pouchet (26 August 1800 – 6 December 1872) was a French naturalist and a leading proponent of
spontaneous generation Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from non-living matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas, could ...
of life from non-living materials, and as such an opponent of
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...
's
germ theory The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These small organisms, which are too small to be seen without magnification, ...
. He was the father of Georges Pouchet (1833–1894), a professor of
comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
. From 1828 he was director of the Rouen Jardin des Plantes. Later, in 1838, he became professor at the School of Medicine at the
University of Rouen The University of Rouen Normandy (''Université de Rouen Normandie'') is a French university, in the Academy of Rouen. History and demographics Located not in Rouen, but in the suburb of Mont-Saint-Aignan (a "township" in the Normandy region), t ...
. His major scientific work ''Hétérogénie'' was published in 1859. He also wrote a layperson's encyclopedia ''The Universe'', published in 1870, which gives an overview of the sciences, but in which Pouchet ridicules
Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...
's theories (calling them panspermism) and
atomic theory Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The definition of the word "atom" has changed over the years in response to scientific discoveries. Initially, it referred to a hypothetical concept of ...
. In 1847, Pouchet effectively launched the study of the physiology of
cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...
. In 1848, he was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
.


Early career

Pouchet was born in
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, France, on August 26, 1800. His father was a respected manufacturer in Rouen. In 1827, Pouchet received his M.D. in Paris, and later became the director of the Rouen Museum of Natural History. He also held a chair at one of the local medical preparatory colleges in Rouen in the field of zoology, and in 1843, he received the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. In 1830, botanists A.Rich. ex DC. published '' Pouchetia'', a genus of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s from Africa, belonging to the family
Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...
. It was named in Felix's honour. Pouchet had extensive experience in the field of traditional biology before the debate, where his main interest was animal generation. In the 1840s, he published two scientific articles. Both publications seemed to contradict his eventual support of spontaneous generation. In these publications, he believed that in the animal kingdom, generation happened through eggs that existed before fertilization. He also demonstrated reservations in spontaneous generation by supporting the beliefs of Christian Ehrenberg. Ehrenberg believed that
infusoria Infusoria is a word used to describe various freshwater microorganisms, including ciliates, copepods, Euglena, euglenoids, planktonic crustaceans, protozoa, unicellular algae and small invertebrates. Some authors (e.g., Otto Bütschli, Bütschli) ...
had complex organ systems while other protozoologists, like Fèlix Dujardin, believed that infusoria were simple organisms that could appear spontaneously. Pouchet did not seem very interested in spontaneous generation during this time, and instead studied ovule production and menstruation.


Debate with Pasteur

Pouchet was 60 years old while Louis Pasteur was 37 years old when the heart of the debate about spontaneous generation began. Their opinions on generation originated from two competing theories. Pouchet believed in heterogenesis, which assumed that new living organisms came from inanimate objects, such as air. The parents of these new organisms were not the same species as the new organism. Pasteur supported the germ theory that said microorganisms arose from germs and those microorganisms came from parents of the same species. He supported the idea that germs were mostly everywhere, including things like air and those germs explained the appearance of microorganisms on different inanimate things. It is unclear why Pouchet shifted his interest to spontaneous generation, but in December 1858, Pouchet presented results to the
French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
of two experiments he conducted that he claimed supported the notion of spontaneous generation. He said that his results were the opposite of Theodore Schwann’s results that demonstrated spontaneous generation did not exist. Schwann observed that after heating oxygen in a vessel, which was thought to be important for spontaneous generation, no microorganisms grew. He said that this was a result of the germs in the oxygen or air being destroyed by the heat. Pouchet claimed that when he did Schwann's experiment, microorganisms did grow, and thus germs in the air did not produce microorganisms. His experiments did not receive a positive reaction from the academy. Most of them thought his experiments were conducted poorly and that he did not effectively control for the intrusion of germs. The debate between the two men was not very public or intense at first. Pouchet received a letter from Pasteur in February 1859 that said that Pasteur respected his belief in spontaneous generation but did not agree with his evidence. Pasteur held the same belief of the academy and thought that Pouchet's experiments did not support spontaneous generation because his experiments were contaminated with germs. Pouchet took the criticism from the academy and tried to revise his experiments. However, this time, Pasteur took a stronger and more specific stance about his new experiments. He critiqued the fact that Pouchet again did not control for germs and that his flasks were contaminated by the dust in the mercury that was in his lab. Despite the criticism, Pouchet published his famous book ''Hétérogénie ou traité de la génération spontanée'' in 1859, which publicized his support of spontaneous generation. He claimed that his views of spontaneous generation were not like that of the older views of spontaneous generation that were labeled as atheistic, but were rather in agreement with the orthodox scientific and religious beliefs of the time. Pouchet claimed that it was the eggs of adult organisms that were spontaneously generated, not the adult organisms themselves. On January 30, 1860, the French Academy of Sciences declared that it would give out a prize for detailed and precise experiments that expanded on the subject of spontaneous generation. Pasteur decided to partake in this competition to combat Pouchet's support of spontaneous generation. He designed an experiment to deny the notion of spontaneous generation. He thought that if spontaneous generation were true in which air itself could cause generation, then all sterile swan neck flasks that were later exposed to air would generate microorganisms. If the germ theory were true, then he believed some of the sterile swan neck flasks would generate microorganisms when exposed to air and some would not because germs are distributed unevenly in air. Pasteur's results supported the germ theory and he showed them to the French Academy of Sciences. Pouchet rejected Pasteur's results because he thought that the atmosphere did not have enough germs to support these results; therefore, the microorganisms that were generated in his vessels were still not from germs. The French Academy of Sciences viewed Pasteur's experiments and observations as sophisticated and viewed Pouchet's experiments as ambiguous and unrefined. Along with this and due to the religious climate of this time, Pasteur had an advantage because his view that only life produces life was aligned with the views of the church. Pouchet eventually dropped out of the competition in November 1862 and Pasteur was awarded for his studies on spontaneous generation.


History of science in the Middle Ages

Pouchet also wrote a history of science during the Middle Ages, which he titled ''Histoire des sciences naturelles au moyen age, ou Albert le Grand et son epoque considere comme point de depart de I'ecole experimentale''. As the subtitle makes clear, the work centres on Albertus Magnus, the 13th-century Dominican friar who was famous for his work on botany and astrology. In the work, Pouchet divides the history of Western science into three epochs: Greek, Roman and Christian. This was part of a general rewriting of Western intellectual history to mythologise it as a single inevitable progress towards the modern age.Lynn Thorndike, ''A History of Magic and Experimental Science'', Vol. 2, pp. 518ff. Pouchet also wrote a work titled ''L'univers: les infiniment grands et les infiniment petits'', which detailed the richness of the earth's life forms within the context of the divine universe as a whole.


References


"Felix Archimede Pouchet"
''Britannica'' article * Obituary in:


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouchet, Felix-Archimede 1800 births 1872 deaths 19th-century French botanists French physiologists Germ theory denialists Recipients of the Legion of Honour Scientists from Rouen