Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 20055236
Parassitologia 2008 Dec;50(3-4):267-78
The development of entomology and medical entomology in France is discussed in the context of the prevalence of Lamarckian ideas concerning heredity and evolution. Lamarckian ideas have greatly influenced research carried out at the Institut Pasteur by Emile Roubaud and more generally in Felix Mesnil’s laboratory, as well as research in general entomology at the Museum national d’histoire naturelle. By contrast, it did not influence research and teaching at the Faculté de médecine of Paris or that of physicians more generally including those in overseas Instituts Pasteur, which clearly kept away from theoretical discussion concerning the origin of variations and adaptation in insects of medical interest.