Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton (May 29, 1716 – January 1, 1800) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
naturalistNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research that is published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, Natural history is the systematic...
.
Daubenton was born at
MontbardMontbard is a town in eastern France, a sub-prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne region.Montbard is a small industrial town on the river Brenne.-History:...
(Côte d'Or). His father, Jean Daubenton, a
notaryCivil-law notaries are specialized lawyers acting as public officers with jurisdiction over voluntary, i.e., non-contentious, private law. Unlike notary publics, their common-law counterparts, they are able to provide legal advice and prepare instruments with legal effect...
, intended him for the church, and sent him to Paris to study
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
, but he was more interested in
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Jean's death in 1736 set his son free to choose his own career, and in 1741 he graduated in medicine at
ReimsThe city of Rheims , in English and in French, lies in the Champagne-Ardenne region in north-eastern France 129 km east-northeast of Paris....
, and returned to his native town planning to practise as a
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
.
Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton (May 29, 1716 – January 1, 1800) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
naturalistNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research that is published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, Natural history is the systematic...
.
Daubenton was born at
MontbardMontbard is a town in eastern France, a sub-prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne region.Montbard is a small industrial town on the river Brenne.-History:...
(Côte d'Or). His father, Jean Daubenton, a
notaryCivil-law notaries are specialized lawyers acting as public officers with jurisdiction over voluntary, i.e., non-contentious, private law. Unlike notary publics, their common-law counterparts, they are able to provide legal advice and prepare instruments with legal effect...
, intended him for the church, and sent him to Paris to study
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
, but he was more interested in
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Jean's death in 1736 set his son free to choose his own career, and in 1741 he graduated in medicine at
ReimsThe city of Rheims , in English and in French, lies in the Champagne-Ardenne region in north-eastern France 129 km east-northeast of Paris....
, and returned to his native town planning to practise as a
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
. At about this time,
BuffonGeorges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist and encyclopedic author. His collected information influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Georges Cuvier...
, also a native of Montbard, was about to bring out a grand treatise on
natural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research that is published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, Natural history is the systematic...
, and in 1742 he invited Daubenton to assist him by providing the anatomical descriptions for that work. The two men were complete opposites, but worked well in partnership. In 1744, he became a member of the
French Academy of SciencesThe 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 research...
as an adjunct botanist, and a full member in 1795.
In the first section of the natural history Daubenton gave descriptions and details of the dissection of 182 species of
quadrupedQuadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
s, thus procuring for himself a high reputation, and exciting the envy of
RéaumurRené Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur was a French scientist who contributed to many different fields, especially the study of insects....
, who considered himself the expert on natural history in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Jealousy induced Buffon to dispense with the services of Daubenton in the preparation of the subsequent parts of his work, which, as a consequence, lost much in precision and scientific value. Buffon afterwards acknowledged his error, and renewed their association.
Daubenton published many dissertations on natural history in the memoirs of the
Académie françaiseL'Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution, it was...
. Zoological descriptions and dissections, the
comparative anatomyComparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:Two major concepts of comparative anatomy are:...
of recent and
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
animalAnimals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...
s,
vegetableA vegetable is an edible plant or part of a plant. However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Therefore the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables,...
physiologyPhysiology is the science of the functioning of living systems. It is a subcategory of biology...
,
mineralogyMineralogy is an Earth Science focused around the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their...
, experiments in
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
, and the introduction of the merino sheep into France occupied him; and he was a great asset to the cabinet of natural history in Paris, of which in 1744 he was appointed keeper and demonstrator. From 1775 Daubenton lectured on natural history in the college of medicine, and in 1783 on rural economy at the Alfort school. He was also professor of mineralogy at the
Jardin du RoiThe Jardin des Plantes is the main botanical garden in France. It is one of seven departments of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle...
. As a lecturer he was in high repute, and to the last retained his popularity. In December 1799 he was appointed a member of the
senateThe Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and enjoy generally less media coverage.-History:France's first...
, but at the first meeting which he attended he fell from his seat in an apoplectic fit, and after a short illness died at Paris.
He is not to be confused with his cousin
Edmé-Louis DaubentonEdmé-Louis Daubenton was a French naturalist.Edmé-Louis Daubenton's tombstone is in the church of Saint-Pierre in Avon. It was Buffon who engaged this cousin of Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton, Edmé-Louis, to supervise the illustrated edition of his Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière...
, who was also a naturalist.