Casimir Joseph Daven ( French: Kasimir-Joseph Davaine ; March 19, 1812 , Saint-Aman-les-O — October 14, 1882 , Garsh ) - French physiologist and biologist .
| Casimir Joseph Daven | |
|---|---|
| fr. Kasimir-Joseph Davaine | |
| Date of Birth | March 19, 1812 |
| Place of Birth | Saint-Aman-les-O |
| Date of death | October 14, 1882 (70 years old) |
| Place of death | Garsh |
| A country | France |
| Scientific field | physiology , biology , medicine |
| Alma mater | |
| Known as | discoverer of anthrax |
| Awards and prizes | |
Biography
He was born the sixth child (there were nine children in the family). He studied at schools in Saint-Aman , Tournai and Lille . In 1830 - 1835 he studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris, then interned with Pierre Rayet at the Charite clinic . After passing the exam for the title of doctor in 1837, he worked for some time in Provence, then returned to Paris.
In 1848 he was one of the founders of the Society of Biology. In 1858 he was awarded the cross of the Legion of Honor . In 1868 he was elected a member of the Paris Medical Academy . He was a court physician of the French emperor, was invited to consult with the emperor, but did not serve as a life doctor. He was one of the most famous doctors of his time; among his patients are Marie Duplessis (Margarita Gauthier's prototype in "The Lady with the Camellias" ), Claude Bernard , Pierre Raye , Rothschilds , Aikhtali .
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 he served as a military doctor. He spent the last years of his life in Garsh near Paris, where he grew roses.
Scientific activity
Daven's research concerned bacteriology , parasitology , plant physiology , zoology , general biology and teratology . By works on anthrax, he laid the foundations of medical and veterinary bacteriology.
Daven's studies were awarded the prizes of the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1852, 1854, 1856, 1860 and 1879.
Anthrax bacteriology
In June and July 1850, Daven accompanied his former professor Rayer on a study trip to the Beauce region near Chartres , where they transferred anthrax with blood from sick sheep to healthy ones. Under the microscope, Ryer observed the same changes in red blood cells of artificially infected animals as in the original patients. In addition, he observed small threadlike bodies in the blood, which were twice as long as red blood cells [1] . This was the first observation of the anthrax causative agent Bacillus anthracis, but Ryer had not yet associated “small, filamentous bodies” with the disease.
In 1863, in his experiments [2], Daven showed that the blood of sick anthrax animals was not contagious until a stick-shaped body appeared in it; for them, he proposed the name "bacteria." In addition, he showed that blood from decomposed anthrax animals caused a different disease than anthrax, so he distinguished septicemia from anthrax. The dried blood of anthrax animals remained contagious for eleven months and caused the disease with subsequent wetting and inoculation. In his experiments, birds and frogs were immune to anthrax.
In 1864, Daven examined the carbuncle of anthrax in humans (pustula maligna, a localized form of anthrax) and discovered under the microscope the same bacteria as in the blood of sick animals.
Daven’s results were criticized by E.-L. Lepla and P.-F. Zhelyar from the Val de Graz hospital , who could not imagine that bacteria were capable of causing the disease and considered rod-shaped bodies to be side effects. Daven was able to show that in the experiments cited by Lepla and Zhelyar, a completely different disease was transmitted - septicemia.
In 1865, Daven’s work on anthrax was awarded the Academy of Sciences Prize.
In 1868, Daven resolved his last doubts and confirmed that bacteria were the causative agents of the disease. He showed the bacterial nature of certain plant diseases, as well as the loss of infection by bacteria after heating to 52 ° C [3] .
In the same year, he determined the incubation period of anthrax (from 26 to 53 hours) [4] .
In 1873, he showed that the blood of anthrax animals lost their infectivity if it was kept for five minutes at 55 ° C. However, when dried, the blood remained contagious, even if it was heated after drying to 100 ° C. In addition, he investigated the bactericidal effect of various chemicals.
However, Daven was mistaken in determining the transmission mechanism of anthrax; he was unable to isolate the bacilli and cultivate them in vitro. The spore phase of the causative agent of anthrax was subsequently described by Robert Koch . Louis Pasteur was known for Daven's merits.
Notes
- ↑ Rayer M. Inoculation du sang de rate // Comptes rendus des séances et mémoires de la Société de Biologie. - 1850. - Vol. 2. - P. 141–144.
- ↑ Davaine C. Recherches sur les infusoires du sang dans la maladie connue sous le nom de sang de rate // Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. - 1863. - Vol. 57. - P. 220, 351, 386.
- ↑ Davaine C. Sur la nature des maladies charbonneuses // Archives générales de Médecine. - 1868. - Vol. 11. - P. 144–148.
- ↑ Davaine C. Expériences relatives à la durée de l'incubation des maladies charbonneuses et à la quantité de virus nécessaire à la transmission de la maladie // Bulletin de l'Académie impériale de Médecine. - 1868. - Vol. 33. - P. 816–821.
Literature
- Herzenstein G.M. Daven, Casimir-Joseph // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Tépodoridèas J. Casimir Davaine (1812-1882): A Precursor Of Pasteur (Eng.) // Med. Hist. - 1966. - Vol. 10, no. 2 . - P. 155–165.
- Neumann LG Biographies vétérinaires avec 42 portraits dessinés par l'auteur / éd. Asselin et Houzeau. - Paris, 1896. - P. 81–83. (fr.)