Georges Coutagne

Georges Coutagne is a Biologiste, Naturaliste, Botaniste, malacologist, Engineer and Agronome French. He was born with Lyon the September 20th 1854 and died in Saint Genis Laval (the Rhone) the August 18th 1928. It will be interested in the great questions of fundamental biology which it will approach through several disciplines naturalists: vine growing, botany, sericiculture and malacology. These questions relate to the evolution, the genetics, the concept of species, the polymorphism and the heredity of the acquired features.

Fast biography

Born from a father doctor, Denis Coutagne (1799 - 1871), he is the younger brother of the famous doctor Henry Coutagne (1846 - 1895), collaborator of Alexandre Lacassagne (1843 - 1924).

After studies with the Polytechnic school (1874 - 1876), he was engineer of the Powders and Salpêtres initially with Vonges (Coast-with Or) then with Saint-Chamas (Rhone delta).

He as well studied the Natural science as of his youth within the Company physiophile of Lyon in 1871 of which he was a very active member, devoting himself to the Géologie, the Archéologie, botany as with the Malacologie in the surroundings of Lyon.

In 1886, it settles in Provence, with Defend, close to Rousset (Rhone delta) and becomes operating wine, while undertaking its wine research parallel to those of his/her friend Georges Couderc (1850 - 1928) and on the same research topics: American understocks, hybrids, the Phylloxéra, the vines calcifuges… It creates a true sericultural station and works during 10 years on the hybridization and the selection of the worms to silk in order to improve quality and the productivity out of silk of the cocoons and which was to lead to a constant exceptional thesis in 1902. In close relation with the Laboratory of the Condition of Silks in Lyon, it writes important reports in its bulletin. He devotes himself fully to malacology of Provence, collecting abundantly in the neighborhoods of Saint-Chamas, the Holy-Victoire, Nimes… and describing his first new species.

In 1898, it returns to Lyon and launches out in the industry of the Hydro-electric power then in full rise and manages factories of electrochemistry in Pierre-Bénite (the Rhone) and Moûtiers (Savoy). It creates for that a company, Lyons Volta. Later, it will create a factory of explosive in Saint-Fons (the Rhone) that it retransforme after the 1st World war in Lyons Company of the Benzoic Products (SLPB) for the manufacture of derived benzoic products. During 14 years, he will study Molluscs of Tarentaise of which he will publish an exemplary report.

In 1909, it integrates the Academy of Lyon and in 1925, it chairs the Company linnéenne of Lyon.

In 1917, it buys a property in Saint-Genis-Laval (the Rhone) and launches out in the Horticulture, while studying the acclimatization of the tropical plants and the hybridization in particular of the Lupin S.

In 1924, it buys a new field with Grimaud in the VAr, located on acid ground enabling him to establish comparisons with its field of Defend located on calcareous ground. With Georges Couderc, they tried in 1924 to create a company of perfumery (Vivax) starting from plants with perfume cultivated in Grimaud.

Malacology

Initially influenced by the botanist Alexis Jordan, father of the jordanism and by the wave of the “New School” carried out by Jules Rene Bourguignat and especially the Lyonese Arnould Locard, Georges Coutagne takes this route by publishing new species. However, it rather quickly includes/understands the abuses the “New School” which voluntarily describe innumerable species on the basis of some discriminating nature by drawing aside any compromising intermediate form. Thus, Georges Coutagne includes/understands the species in a broader meaning by including intrinsic variability like the reflection of a polymorphism sometimes very important, but not justifying therefore the multiplication of creations of species. Its Recherches on the polymorphism of Molluscs of France constitutes the major work of Georges Coutagne. It synonymise its clean taxes, it shows how much it is absurd ad infinitum to multiply the species on the basis of criterion as not very discriminating as of the variations of colors, color, reasons, more or less globulous or flattened “modes”. It puts an end to the era of the “New School” of which many followers primarily moved by the attraction to see their name joined with new easily described species. Georges Coutagne showing an extreme intellectual honesty goes until challenging his own species and proposing amendments with the Code of Nomenclature and to remove the famous one and sacro-holy rule of priority. It is on this basis that Louis Germain will write his Fauna of France of terrestrial and fluviatile Molluscs.

Genetics

Georges Coutagne was one of the first geneticists néolamarckiens to reintroduce the Mendélisme in France. He tries out the laws of Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) with the Worms with silk, observing in his turn the disjunction of the characters allélomorphes. Persuaded of the heredity of the acquired features, the purpose of its thesis on the heredity of the Vers to silk supervised by Alfred Giard was to answer this question. From 1900 to 1904, Alfred Giard, itself néolamarckien, made on its behalf seven presentations to the Academy of Science on these problems of heredity, of Hybridisme and on its theory of the Mnémon S, preceding in a certain manner the concept of Gène S. It is distinguished from the majority from its contemporaries néolamarckiens, holding for the influence of the medium a absolute role and recognizing the role of the genetics in the transmission of the innate characters.

Sericiculture

While it continues its genetic research on the transmission of the acquired features, Georges Coutagne, as an engineer-agronomist, is interested in the silk productivity of the cocoons and the means of improving it; while manually selecting the best silk producers, he arrives to very significant results which he submits to the Commission silks of the Company of agriculture of Lyon. He hoped for an increase in the silk yield of more than 100% by the manual selection repeated years after years within his sericultural station with Rousset (Rhone delta).

Botany

He discovers botany through the Lyons flora, publishing his first notes on Gagées and the Orchises. The question of polymorphism already posed by Molluscs arises in its turn for botany. Just like it qualified the malacologic species of Locard of locardies , it named those of the botanist Alexis Jordan who was his Master, of the jordanies while the botanist Johannes Paulus Lotsy will prefer to him the term of Jordanon . It delivered, as it will do it for molluscs, an important study on the polymorphism applied to the plants. But it is especially on the crossing of the plant species, on the acclimatization of the plants that went the majority of its work.

Selective bibliography

1881. Influence of the temperature on the development of the plants. Yearly of the Botanical Company from Lyon , 9 (2): 81-127.
1881. Notes on the malacologic fauna of the central part of the Basin of the Rhone. Yearly from the Company linnéenne of Lyon (N.S.), 28: 1-55.
1882. Note on the use of special geological maps for the study of bendings, skirtings and ruptures which present the laminated grounds. Yearly from the Company linnéenne of Lyon , 29: 1-12.
1883-1884. Summary revision of the Moitessieria kind. Sheet of the Young Naturalists , 13 (155): 129-132, (156): 143-147 (1883); 14 (165): 105-110, pl. 3 (1884).
1886. Description of some Clausilies news of French fauna. Yearly of the malacologic Company from France , 2 (2): 229-236.
1891. Utility of new experimental research on the worms with silk. Bulletin of work of the University of Lyon , May 1891.
1891. On the improvement of the European races of worms with silk. Bulletin of the Laboratory of studies of silk , 5: 1-42.
1892. On the malacologic fauna of the islands of the Roads of Marseilles. Reports of French Association for the advance of Sciences , 20th session (Congress of Marseilles 1891), 2: 546-554.
1892. The new parasite of the mulberry tree, Diaspis pentagona. Report/ratio with the chamber of commerce of Lyon. Bulletin of the Laboratory of studies of silk , 6: 1-44.
1892. Culture of the American vines grafted in the grounds limestones of Provence. Bulletin of the departmental Company of Agriculture of the Rhone delta , March.
1892. Note on Bythinidées of the surroundings of Avignon. Yearly of the Company of Agriculture, Natural history and useful Arts from Lyon , (6) 5: 349-367.
1892-1893. American vines and the grounds limestones. Bulletin of the departmental Company of Agriculture of the Rhone delta , October-November 1892 and February 1893.
1893. First note on the polymorphism of the plants. Yearly of the Botanical Company from Lyon , 18: 163-174.
1893. Improvement of the silk yield of the cocoons by the selection of the reproductive butterflies. Bulletin of the departmental Company of Agriculture of the Rhone delta , October 1893.
1894. Cyclostomes of French fauna. Sheet of the Young Naturalists , (3) 24 (287): 170-172.
1895. Research on the polymorphism of Molluscs of France. Yearly of the Company of Agriculture, Natural history and useful Arts from Lyon , (7) 2: 396-460; 3: 290-452.
1895. New research on the improvement of the European races of worms with silk. Bulletin of the Laboratory of studies of silk , 7: 1-42, 1 pl.
1895. On the crossing of the various races or varieties of worms with silk. Bulletin of the Laboratory of studies of silk , 7: 61-72.
1895. Progress to be realized in sericiculture. Bulletin of the Laboratory of studies of silk , 7: 147-161.
1895. Remarks on the heredity of the acquired features. Bulletin of the Laboratory of silk , 19 p.
1895. Artificial selection in the worms with silk. Newspaper of Agriculture , October 26th, 1895.
1902. Molluscs of Tarentaise. Sheet of the Young Naturalists , (4) 32 (379): 137-149, (380): 157-161.
1902. Experimental research on the heredity of the worms with silk. scientific Bulletin of France and Belgium , 37: 1-193, 9 pl. *1908. Helix melanostoma . Sheet of the Young Naturalists , (4) 38 (450): 126-127.
1922. First note on the lupins. Cultures and observations of 1921,32 p. Lyon, Impr. A. Rey.
1923. Acclimatization. Memories of the Academy of Lyon , 1923.
1923. Second note on the lupins. Cultures and observations of 1922,34 p. Lyon, Impr. A. Rey.
1925. Selection of the fluctuating characters. Review of Botany applied and colonial Agriculture , 5 (45): 331-338.
1925. On the specific characters presented by the internal reinforcement of the shells of the kind Clausilia . semi-monthly Bulletin from the Company linnéenne of Lyon , 4 (6): 45-46, March 20th, 1925.
1926. Third note on the lupins. Cultures and observations of 1923,1924 and 1925,36 p. Lyon, Impr. A. Rey.
1929. Molluscs of Tarentaise. Yearly from the Company linnéenne of Lyon , (N.S.) 74: 7-79. posthumous

References

Russet-red Cl., 1931. Georges Coutagne, engineer and biologist. Speech made with its funeral (August 22nd, 1928). Memories of the Academy of Science, the Humanities and Arts of Lyon , 3rd series, Volume XXe., p. 239-247, 1 pl.
Tournier J., 2001. Arboretum, vol. II, 1016 p.

See too

Internal bonds

Georges Couderc (1850-1928)
German Louis (1878-1942)
Alexis Jordan (1814-1897)
Arnould Locard (1841-1904)

External bonds

Georges Couderc

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