Valentin Magnan

He is remembered for expanding the concept of degeneration that was first introduced into psychiatry by Bénédict Augustin Morel (1809–1873).

Magnan's theory of degeneration was a form of "evolutionary biology" that was based on an hereditary precept.

[2] In 1892 with psychiatrist Paul Sérieux (1864–1947), he published a monograph on the latter mental state titled Le délire chronique a évolution systématique.

Magnan believed that the prodigious use of alcohol, particularly absinthe, was a major factor in what he perceived was a decline of French culture.

From his experiments he observed that animals experienced epileptiform convulsions when exposed to concentrated levels of wormwood.