Veterinary Past

‘Le jumart’: myth or mystery in animal reproduction?

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Abstract

There was a time when science still had to ‘hatch’. An era during which man often extrapolated existing knowledge to a level beyond reality. That period is not as far behind us as we would like to believe. Breeding of animals has always stimulated man’s fantasy. Out of this, a very interesting myth - or is it a mystery? - was born: the existence of a hybrid between horse and cow, ‘Le Jumart’. On top of the very well-known hybrids between horses and donkeys, the French ‘capitaine des haras’ Francois Alexandre de Garsault (1692-1778) describes the procedure of how to create a hybrid between a cow and a horse in his widespread and well known ‘Nouveau Parfait Maréchal’, first published in 1741. In depth research showed that he was far from being the only one who believed in the existence of such a crossover species. Other well-respected contemporary scientists even dedicate chapters in their textbooks on this animal, such as the French naturalist and medical doctor Jean-Pierre Buchoz (1731-1807) in his ‘Traité Economique et Physique de Gros Menu Bétail’ published in 1778. Even opinion leaders Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) and Lazzarro Spallanzani (1729-99) were convinced that these animals really roamed around in France during the 18th century. Finally, even the founder of the first ‘Ecole Vétérinaire’ in the world, Claude Bourgelat (1712-1779) testified in a letter to Bonnet to have admired the product of a stallion and a cow with his own eyes. Fortunately, the debate could count on important disbelievers as well, with Albrecht von Haller taking the lead by publishing a paper in the ‘Supplément à l’Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et Métiers’ (1777), in which he calls the existence of the Jumart a ‘fable’. It would take another century for André Suchetet (1849-1910) to publish an ‘Extrait des Mémoires de la Société Zoologique de France’ with the title ‘La Fable des Jumarts’ (1889). Extremely interested in hybridization, this 19th century politician and member of several scientific societies, faces the challenge to finally steer the scientific community to a general conclusion on this enigma. This paper describes in a chronological order the rise and fall of one of the most intriguing ‘fabula’ in reproductive medicine and how it took emerging modern science about 200 years to decide on ‘myth’ or ‘mystery’.

How to Cite:

Bols, P. & De porte, H., (2016) “‘Le jumart’: myth or mystery in animal reproduction?”, Vlaams Diergeneeskundig Tijdschrift 85(4), 237-244. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/vdt.v85i4.16334