Giard, Alfred Mathieu

Born Aug. 8, 1846, in Valenciennes; died Aug. 8, 1908, in Orsay. French biologist; member of the French Academy of Sciences (1900). Professor in the department of natural sciences in Lille (from 1873), the Higher Normal School in Paris (from 1887), and the Sorbonne (from 1888).

Giard’s main work dealt with the anatomy and embryology of marine invertebrates. He discovered and described the phenomena of parasitic castration, the changes caused by dehydration (anhydrobiosis), and the differences during ontogeny in relation to the environment. Some of Giard’s research was concerned with symbiosis, parasitism, and ethology. He was one of the first advocates of the theory of evolution in France. He headed the school of French evolutionists based on mechanistic Lamarckianism. In 1874 he founded the marine zoological station in Wimereux on the Pas-de-Calais coast.