David Douglas Cunningham
David Douglas Cunningham
Life and career
Cunningham was born in 1843, in
Scientific contributions
Cunningham made pioneering studies in aerobiology. He made use of the aeroconiscope,
Cunningham published many of his notes in the Scientific Memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India. Including a species of fungi ( A species of Gymnosporangium fungus, G. cunninghamianum was named after him by Major A. Barclay in 1890, who found it in Simla but received illustrations matching them made by Cunningham from Almora in 1874.[12] Cunningham also took a great interest in the mode of action of snake venom. He was interested in the fertilization mechanism in Ficus, the gases released by Ottelia and a range of other topics. He was interested in the philosophy of Kant and Hegel.[3] He could speak Punjabi, knew the scriptures of the Sikhs and in his youth was a wrestler in the Sikh tradition.[10]
Cunningham retired due to ill-health in 1898. He was appointed Honorary Physician to George V.[10] He was unmarried, and died on 31 December 1914 at his home in Torre Mount, Torquay.[10]
Publications
- Cunningham, D.D. 1873. Microscopic examination of air. Govt. of India Publication, Calcutta.
- Some Indian Friends and Acquaintances: A Study of the Ways of Birds and other Animals Frequenting India (John Murray, 1903)
- Plagues and pleasures of life in Bengal (John Murray, 1907).
- Cunningham, D. D. (1879). "On the Occurrence of Conidial Fructification in the Mucorini, illustrated by Choanephora". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 1 (6): 409–422. .
- Cunningham, D.D. (1879). "On Mycoidea parasitica, a new Genus of Parasitic Algae, and the Part which it plays in the Formation of certain Lichens". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 1 (6): 301–316. .
- Cunningham, D.D. (1881). "On the development of certain microscopic organisms occurring in the intestinal canal" (PDF). Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. 82: 234–290.
- Cunningham, D.D. 1884 On the relation of Cholera to Schizomycete organisms Scientific memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India. Part 1.
- Cunningham, D.D. 1884 On the presence of peculiar parasitic organisms in the tissue of a specimen of Delhi Boil. Scientific memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India. Part 1.
References
- ^ S2CID 81404819.
- ^ PMID 9796575.
- ^ PMID 20759388.
- ^ a b Secretary of State for India in Council (1905). The India List and India Office List for 1905. London: Harrison and Sons. p. 474.
- ISBN 9780387302539. Richard Leach Maddox (1816–1902) invented the aeroconiscope in 1870.
- .
- PMC 2300981.
- ^ Finn, Frank (1917). "The Calcutta Zoo in the Nineties". Hamlyn's Menagerie Magazine. 3 (1): 8.
- ^ Anonymous (1890). Fellows of the Society. December 1, 1890. Royal Society. p. 10.
- ^ a b c d [D.P.] (1917). "David Douglas Cunningham". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character. 89 (622): xv–xx.
- ^ India. Medical department Scientific Memoirs by Officers of the Medical and Sanitary Departments of Officers Army of India Vol.3 (1888), p. 32, at Google Books
- ^ Barclay, A. (1890). "On the life history of a Himalayan Gymnosporangium (G. cunninghamianum, nov. sp.)". Scientific Memoirs by Medical Officers of the Army of India. 5: 71–78.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. D.D.Cunn.