Jacques Anselme Dorthès, born in

Vauvert Vauvert (; oc, Vauverd) is a commune in the far south of the Gard department in southern France. It was known as ''Posquières'' in the Middle Ages. The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm.

( Gard) on 19 July 1759 and died during the 1794 campaign of the

Army of the Eastern Pyrenees The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees (''Armée des Pyrénées Orientales'') was one of the French Revolutionary armies. It fought against the Kingdom of Spain in Roussillon, the Cerdanya and Catalonia during the War of the Pyrenees. This army and ...

, was a French physician,

entomologist Entomology () is the 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 as arach ...

and naturalist.

Biography

Destined to enter the orders, he abandoned the seminary in 1784 and turned to medicine. He studied 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 ...

where he became a doctor of medicine in 1787. At the same time, he became interested in entomology and botany, particularly with

Antoine Gouan Antoine Gouan (15 November 1733 – 1 September 1821) was a French naturalist who was a native of Montpellier. Gouan was a pioneer of Linnaean taxonomy in France. He began his studies in Toulouse, later returning to Montpellier, where he studied ...

. He participated unsuccessfully in the competition for the medicine professorship of 1789-1790 opened on the death of professors Jean Sabatier and Jean-Charles de Grimaud. He died on active service during the campaign of 1794, when he had gone to serve voluntarily as a military doctor in hospitals.

Works

On December 20, 1787, he read to the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier a memoir containing observations on a new genus of insect. The

protonym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both bota ...

''Dorthesia'', given to a

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than th ...

, was created in its honour following this first description on the leaves of a

euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

(''Euphorbia charachias'') near Nîmes. The species ''Dorthesia characias'' was described by .

John Obadiah Westwood John Obadiah Westwood (22 December 1805 – 2 January 1893) was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first entomologi ...

described the species ''Dorthesia seychellarum'' later called ''Icerya seychellarum''. The name ''Dorthesia'' was changed to ''Dorthezia'' and then to ''Orthezia''. The same year, he joined the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier. He successively published various productions relating to natural history and rural economy: * Observations of a singular phenomenon, caused by a multitude of black ants (''Formica nigra'') gathered in the atmosphere, which they obscure like a cloud; * Research on the pine processionary caterpillar; * Memories on how to protect

chestnut tree The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelate ...

s from caterpillar damage, on the insects that devour young plants, on those that damage wheat and alfalfa; * Memory on the

clematis ''Clematis'' is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' × ''jackmanii'', a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultiva ...

(''

Clematis flammula ''Clematis flammula'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, known by the common name fragrant virgin's bower. This deciduous climbing plant is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, but it is cultivated worldwide ...

'') with which he proposes to form artificial

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

, to multiply and improve the

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including ...

in his regions; * Overview of the Mediterranean

aggradation Aggradation (or alluviation) is the term used in geology for the increase in land elevation, typically in a river system, due to the deposition of sediment. Aggradation occurs in areas in which the supply of sediment is greater than the amount o ...

s in the

Lower Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately 4 ...

. In 1788, he won the prize of the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier by writing the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or a ...

of Pierre Richer de Belleval. He published a number of entomological articles in the “Mémoires de la Société royale d'agriculture de France” of which he was a corresponding member. He was a member of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

and he corresponded with James Edward Smith. He was also a competent geologist. We owe him a dissertation on the rolled pebbles of the Rhône composed with the Baron de Servières and dissertations on other stones around Nîmes including

variolite Variolites are mafic, igneous, and typically volcanic rocks, e.g. tholeiite, basalt or komatiite, that contain centimeter-scale spherical or globular structures, called ''varioles'', in a fine-grained matrix. These structures are lighter colored ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Dorthès on IPNI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorthès, Jacques Anselme 1759 births 1794 deaths 18th-century French physicians French entomologists People from Gard Fellows of the Linnean Society of London University of Montpellier alumni