John Muirhead Macfarlane

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Sarracenia psittacina - Macfarlane illustration
Darlingtonia californica - Macfarlane illustration

John Muirhead Macfarlane

botanist
.

Life

He was born in Kirkcaldy in Fife on 28 September 1855. He was educated locally, then studied sciences at the University of Edinburgh, first graduating with a BSc,[1] followed by a degree of Doctor of Science in 1883.[2]

He occupied several different academic positions at the

Royal Dick Veterinary College. In 1885 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Alexander Dickson, Robert Gray, Alexander Buchan and Andrew Peebles Aitken.[3] During this period he lived at 3 Bellevue Terrace on the eastern fringe of the New Town.[4] In 1892, he was elected an International Honorary Member of the American Philosophical Society.[5]

In 1893 he travelled to the United States to assume a professorial chair at the University of Pennsylvania. He held this position until retirement in 1920. During his time at the University of Pennsylvania he encouraged botanists such as Edith May Farr.[6] He played a leading role in organising and diversifying the botanical garden of the University of Pennsylvania.

On retiral he returned to Britain and died in Lancaster in northern England on 16 September 1943. John Muirhead Macfarlane died in Lancaster, New Hampshire USA. He is buried in the Durant Road Cemetery in Durant, New Hampshire.

Publications

Macfarlane is best known for his first book, The causes and course of organic evolution. A study in bioenergics (1918). He also wrote many other works including The evolution and distribution of flowering plants (

Asclepiadaceae
) (1933), The evolution and distribution of fishes (1923), Fishes the source of petroleum (1923), and The quantity and sources of our petroleum supplies (1931).

Macfarlane revised the tropical pitcher plant family in his 1908 monograph, "Nepenthaceae".

The standard author abbreviation Macfarl. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[7]

References

  1. ^ "JOHN MUIRHEAD MACFARLANE September 28, 1855—September 16, 1943 | Science". science.sciencemag.org. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018.
  2. hdl:1842/24085
    .
  3. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  4. ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1885-6
  5. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  6. OCLC 659564120
    .
  7. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Macfarl.

External links

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