Jean Desbouvrie

Jean Desbouvrie (18 February 1843 – 18 August 1905)[1] was a French amateur bird trainer who believed that swallows could be put to use for military communications.

Desbouvrie received international attention in the press for two unrelated reasons: the bird experiments, and also for a proposal he made to the Paris Academy of Medicine.

The Academy published his paper, which declared chronic alcoholism to be a serious public health problem and offered a solution in the form of a claimed cure for hangovers.

[5] Desbouvrie believed that swallows migrated southward because the supply of insects for them to feed upon dwindled in winter;[5] he refused to make public disclosure of what he fed the birds in wintertime, regarding that as a trade secret.

[5] Desbouvrie participated in the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in front of the War Palace located in the Esplanade des Invalides:[7] Four of the little prisoners, the oldest not more than twenty days, were let loose.

[5]In 1889, during the International Farmyard Animal Contest of Bergues, he received a silver-gilt medal and an honorary diploma for his work on war swallows.

[9] An 1892 report in The American Magazine that discussed Desbouvrie's efforts noted the importance of pigeons to that war: "Upon several occasions, indeed, the inhabitants of the beleaguered cities looked upon the successful flights of these birds as their only hope betwixt death and starvation.

[10] A report from The Globe stated that Desbouvrie believed all his birds were too young for full testing and required additional training.

[11] According to the report, which was republished in English in summary form in the Medical Record and the Cincinnati Lancet-clinic, Desbouvrie had attempted a preventive cure for hangovers.

[11][12][13] Desbouvrie asserted that the cure required eating albumen and fat in appropriate proportions one hour before alcohol consumption, and had invented a chocolate which he claimed contained both ingredients in an effective ratio.