Thomas Bell (zoologist)
Thomas Bell | |
---|---|
Linnean Society (president) | |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London |
Author abbrev. (zoology) | Bell |
Thomas Hornsey Bell
Career
Bell, like his mother Susan, took a keen interest in natural history which his mother also encouraged in his younger cousin
Bell was at the heart of the scientific establishment and when
As President of the Linnean Society, Bell chaired the meeting on 1 July 1858 at which Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's theories on natural selection were first presented in a joint reading of their papers On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. Bell appears to have been unimpressed, and in his annual presidential report presented in May 1859 wrote that "The year which has passed has not, indeed, been marked by any of those striking discoveries which at once revolutionize, so to speak, the department of science on which they bear".[6][7]
In his seventieth year Bell retired to The Wakes, a house at Selborne, where he took a keen interest in its former resident, the amateur naturalist Gilbert White.[8] In 1877 he published a new edition of White's book The Natural History of Selborne.[8] Bell died at Selborne in 1880.[8]
Personal life
Bell married Jane Sarah, daughter of William Roberts, Esq., at St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe on 3 December 1832.[10] The couple had one child, a daughter, Susan Gosse,[11] born 29 March 1836.[12] Susan pre-deceased her parents on 4 January 1854.[11] Jane died on 29 June 1873.[11]
A few of Bell's works were illustrated by Jane, who signed herself Jane S. Bell.
Legacy
Bell is commemorated in the scientific names of several species and subspecies of reptiles.[13]
- Chrysemys picta belli, a subspecies of turtle
- Gonocephalus bellii, a species of lizard
- Kinixys belliana, a species of tortoise
- Leiolepis belliana, a species of lizard
- Leiosaurus bellii, a species of lizard
- Liolaemus bellii, a species of lizard
- Myuchelys bellii, a species of turtle
- Plestiodon lynxe bellii, a subspecies of lizard
Works
- A Monograph of the Testudinata. 1832–1836. – summarizes all the world's turtles, living and extinct. The forty plates are by Jane S. Bell, James de Carle Sowerby and Edward Lear.
- A History of British Quadrupeds. 1836.
- A History of the British Stalk-eyed Crustacea. Paternoster Row, London: John Van Voorst. 1844–1853.
See also
References
- ^ "Ray and Palæontographical Societies". Midland Naturalist. 1: 71–73. 1878.
- ^ Desmond & Moore 1991, p. 204.
- ^ Desmond & Moore 1991, p. 220.
- ^ The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online: The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle – bibliography by Freeman, R. B. (1977) and links to online texts and images of each of the nineteen numbers.
- ^ Keynes 2000
- ^ Browne 2002, pp. 40–42
- ^ Keynes 2000
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2029. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- .
- ^ "Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries". The Morning Post. No. 19341. 4 December 1832. p. 8.
Married: on the 3rd inst., at St. Mary's, Rotherhithe by the Rev. Thomas Hardwicke, Thomas Bell Esq., of New Broad-street, to Jane Sarah, only daughter of the late William Roberts, Esq., of the former place.
- ^ a b c "Thomas Bell (image of memorial stone)". Find a Grave. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
In memory of Thomas Bell F.R.S. Professor of Zoology in King's College London. For some time Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society and President of the Linnean Society:- of "The Wakes" in this Parish, who died March 13th 1880, aged 87 years. And of Jane Sarah, his Wife, Daughter and sole heir of William Roberts, Esq., of Ruabon, Denbighshire, who died June 29th 1873, aged 75 years. Also of Susan Gosse, their only Child, who died Jan. 4th 1854, aged 17 years.
- ^ "Births, Deaths, Marriages and Obituaries". The Morning Chronicle. No. 20378. 30 March 1836.
Births: The Lady of Thomas Bell, Esq., of New Broad-street, of a daughter.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Bell, T.", p. 22).
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-84413-314-1
- ISBN 0-7126-6837-3
- ISBN 0-7181-3430-3
- Keynes, Richard (ed.) (2000), "Specimen Lists", Charles Darwin's zoology notes & specimen lists from H.M.S. Beagle., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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External links
- A History of the British Stalk-eyed Crustacea, Internet Archive
- A Monograph of the Testudinata, Rare Book Room
- The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne 1877 edition, edited by Bell (at the Biodiversity Heritage Library)
Media related to Thomas Bell (zoologist) at Wikimedia Commons