Jean Pierre Mégnin (16 January 1828 – 31 December 1905) was a French

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. He is best known for his work with

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

s in the field of cynology. He also contributed to the field of

forensic entomology Forensic entomology is a branch of applied entomology that uses insects and other arthropods as a basis for legal evidence. Insects may be found on cadavers or elsewhere around crime scenes in the interest of forensic science. Forensic entom ...

. He led experiments which unveiled the eight distinct waves of insect succession on corpses exposed to air. Similarly, he showed two waves of insect succession on corpses that are buried.

Biography

Jean Pierre Mégnin, born in Herimoncourt, (

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Ecole d'Alfort from 1849 until his graduation in 1853. In 1855, he opted for a military career as an army veterinarian and was mainly assigned to Paris or Vincennes. He retired in 1885, the year during which he founded the newspaper ''l'Éleveur'', at which time he was the director of the paper. Previous to that, he had already been involved in journalism by participating regularly, under the pseudonym of Dr. Joanné, in the writing of the journal ''l'Acclimatation'' created by Émile Deyrolle.

Military career

After training at the Saumur Cavalry School, he was assigned to the 2nd Artillery Regiment in 1855. He then served, successively, in the 19th Artillery Regiment in 1860, the 2nd Mounted Regiment of artillery of the imperial guard in 1864, the 3rd Lancer Regiment in 1869, the 15th Dragoon Regiment in 1871, the 25th Artillery Regiment in 1872, and the 12th Artillery Regiment in 1874, which he remained in until retirement age. He performed the duties of second-class veterinary assistant in 1855, second-class veterinarian from 1860, and first-class veterinarian from 1869. He was also responsible for the district inspection of the military slaughterhouse at Vincennes. During the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870, he was taken prisoner with his unit and he spent several months of captivity in Germany.

Scientific work

Jean Pierre Mégnin was involved in many fields relating to veterinary and human medicine. The international community recognizes his expertise in parasitology, cynology, hippology and forensic entomology. In 1878, he became interested in the stable flies of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. In 1880, he published ''Maladies parasitaires chez l’homme et les animaux domestiques'' (Parasitic Diseases in Man and Domestic Animals) and, in 1906, ''Les Insectes buveurs de sang'' (Blood-Drinking Insects). He demonstrated that through observation of the fauna that are attracted to corpses, it is possible to determine a time of death for a corpse. He published nearly fifteen publications on this subject, including ''Faune des tombeaux'' (Fauna of the Tombs), considered the founding work of forensic entomology, a prelude to ''La Faune des corpses'' (The Fauna of Corpses) (G. Masson, 1894), a precise application of entomology to forensic medicine: forensic entomology. In particular, he puts in place the theory of squads of carrion insects which successively colonize the corpses of mammals. Although erroneous, this technique is the basis of the calculation of the post-mortem interval for the dating of corpses during police investigations.

Awards

Jean Pierre Mégnin was made a Knight of the

Legion of Honor 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

by decree of January 16, 1879. He was also a Knight of Agricultural Merit (1883), an Officer of Agricultural Merit and, in 1877, he was appointed Academy Officer and then Officer of the public instruction.

Works

* ''Maladies de la Peau des Animaux '' (Animal Skin Diseases, 1867–1882). * ''Maladies parasitaires'' (Diseases caused by Parasites, 1880). * ''Faune des Tombeaux'' (Fauna of the Tombs, 1887). The founding work of modern forensic entomology. * ''La faune des cadavres application de l'entomologie à la médecine légale'' Paris: G. Masson, (1894). * 14 papers relating to forensic entomology between 1883 and 1896. These were based on 15 years of medico-legal experience with corpses.

Societies

In 1879 Mégnin was elected President of the

Société Entomologique de France Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy p ...

. He became a member of the French Academy of Medicine in 1893. He chaired the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

in 1885. He was a member of the Société de médecine légale de France and of the Société de biologie. The dog breed name

Beauceron The Beauceron () is a herding dog breed originating from the plains of Central France. The Beauceron is also known as Berger de Beauce (, sheepdog from Beauce) or Bas Rouge (, red-stockings). Description Appearance This breed stands in height ...

was used for the first time by Pierre Megnin in his 1888 book on war dogs; previously known as ''Berger de la Brie'' for long-coated dogs and ''Berger de la Beauce'' for short-coated dogs. Likewise, he introduced the classification of canine breeds according to the lupoid,

molossoid The Molossus (), also known as the Molossian hound and Epirus mastiff, is an extinct dog breed from Ancient Greece. History The Molossus were dogs that were kept by the ancient Greek tribe and kingdom of the Molossians, who inhabited the region ...

, braccoid and graioid types. He described the dog breed standard in many well-documented books.

References

External links

Digital Faune des Cadavres at Gallica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Megnin, Jean Pierre French entomologists Presidents of the Société entomologique de France 1828 births 1905 deaths