William Charles Osman Hill

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William Charles Osman Hill
Yerkes National Primate Research Center
  • University of Turin
    • Author abbrev. (zoology)Hill

    William Charles Osman Hill

    FRSE FZS FLS FRAI (13 July 1901 – 25 January 1975) was a British anatomist, primatologist, and a leading authority on primate anatomy during the 20th century. He is best known for his nearly completed eight-volume series, Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy, which covered all living and extinct primates known at the time in full detail and contained illustrations created by his wife, Yvonne. Schooled at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham and University of Birmingham, he went on to publish 248 works and accumulated a vast collection of primate specimens that are now stored at the Royal College of Surgeons of England
    .

    Early life and education

    William Charles Osman Hill was born on 13 July 1901[1] the son of James Osman Hill and his wife, Fanny Martin.[2]

    He was educated first at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham,[1][3] and later obtained his degrees from the University of Birmingham.[1] During medical school, also at the University of Birmingham, he won three junior student prizes and the Ingleby Scholarship in Midwifery.[1][4] He obtained his primary medical degrees in 1924,[1][3][4] and the same year took on the role of lecturer in zoology.[1] Osman Hill earned his MD with honours in 1925.[1][3][4] He earned his Ch. B while in medical school.[5]

    Career

    Upon graduation, Osman Hill continued his role as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham under an apprenticeship until 1930, but teaching

    eclectus parrots (Eclectus roratus), star tortoises (genus Geochelone), leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis), Galápagos tortoises (Chelonoidis nigra), and ruddy mongooses (Herpestes smithii).[6] Osman Hill held this position in Ceylon for 14 years, returning to the UK after being appointed as Reader in Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh in 1945.[1][3][4] Upon his departure from Ceylon, his menagerie was divided between the London Zoo and the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka.[6]

    Five years later in 1950, he became

    Yerkes National Primate Research Center (YNPRC) in Atlanta[1][3] after being turned down for the position of director.[8]

    The Royal Society of Edinburgh honoured him as a fellow in 1955 and for his contributions to science awarded him both its gold medal and the Macdougal-Brisbane Prize. Upon his retiring from YNPRC in 1969,[4] the Royal College of Surgeons of England made him a Hunterian Trustee. Following retirement, Osman Hill divided his time between his home at Folkestone and his continued work at the University of Turin. His relentless work in anatomy ended only during the final stages of his terminal illness, after he had had three years of increased illness as well as diabetes.[1]

    Publications

    During his career, Osman Hill wrote 248 publications, all academic journal articles or chapters in books based primarily upon his own observations.[1][3] His first paper, which discussed the comparative anatomy of the pancreas, was published in 1926. In all, his works, which continued being published until the year of his death, focused on the anatomy and behaviour of humans, primates, and other mammals.[1]

    Osman Hill is best known for writing

    palaeontology.[1] The books were illustrated with both photographs and drawings, most of which were made by his wife, Yvonne. The series was known for its breadth and depth, however it was never completed. Projected as a nine-volume set, Osman Hill died in 1975, leaving his magnum opus unfinished.[1][3] With five sections of the final volume written, including material on the taxonomy and most of the anatomy of langurs, it was hoped that his widow would be able to follow through with plans to prepare and publish them.[1][9] However, she died one year later.[4]

    This monographic series often received praise for its encyclopaedic content, but was also criticised for occasional omissions, errors, and lack of specificity.[10]

    Selected publications

    The eight volumes for which Osman Hill is best remembered were[4][11]

    The following is a list of other selected publications written by Osman Hill between 1926 and 1974.[11]

    Legacy

    Today we think that structure cannot be divorced from function; anatomists have become physiologists, physiologists biochemists, and biochemists physicists; anatomy probes the sub-molecular. However, our modern world was soundly built on the foundations laid by men such as Osman Hill, and men such as he still fill an important role.

    R. N. Fiennes, Journal of Medical Primatology[4]

    Osman Hill is remembered as a "distinguished anatomist", "eminent primatologist", and the foremost authority on primate anatomy of his time.[1][3] However, he did not consider himself a primatologist, but instead related best to old-school anatomists and naturalists, who studied the entire biological world and considered their own observations and recordings as sufficient. To these ends, he used his curiosity and broad knowledge of natural history.[4]

    Osman Hill was remembered for his skill at dissection, and was noted for his ability to make quick, but accurate sketches of the anatomical features his scalpel revealed.[4] He is also remembered for his work as a "painstaking investigator",[1] physician, and anthropologist.[12] In his honour, two species have been named after him: Osman Hill's mangabey (Lophocebus osmani ) and the Colombo wolf snake (Lycodon osmanhilli ).[13] The Primate Society of Great Britain named their Osman Hill Medal award after him.[12][14] The award is given every two years for distinguished contributions to primatology.[15]

    He is responsible for describing one

    grey slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus), the highland slender loris (L. l. grandis) in 1932[21][22] and the dry zone slender loris (L. l. nordicus) in 1933.[23][24]

    His extensive collection of biological primate specimens, which included tissues and skeletons, is preserved at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.[1][12][14]

    Personal life

    The loss of a friend is always saddening, but when this friend was also a teacher of science and life our appreciation, for the knowledge with which we were enriched by him, enhances our sorrow beyond words.

    B. Chiarelli, Obituary in Journal of Human Evolution[9]

    Osman Hill married his wife, Yvonne Stranger, a barrister, in 1947.

    MP, was not only his devoted wife, but also a collaborator and illustrator of his works.[1][4] The couple preferred a small, close-knit circle of friends, and the dinners they hosted for their friends included the best wines and exotic dishes, such as python stew. Yvonne died close to a year after her husband.[4]

    Osman Hill was described in a memorial published in the International Journal of Primatology (1981) as being "short and rotund, with twinkling blue eyes, a quiet manner, and a strong sense of humor." He was particularly remembered for his eagerness to help young researchers.[3] In the Journal of Medical Primatology he was described as an "entertaining companion with a quick and ready wit."[4] In another memorial, published in the Journal of Anatomy in 1975, he was described as friendly and tolerant, as well as "a merry man, vigorous, of humane culture, having the humour and good sense natural to those bred in the Provinces: a good Englishman." He was known to value simple citizenship and academics, and held small regard for people who "aspired to monarchy."[1] At Yerkes in Atlanta, some staff members viewed him as "the archetypical English scholar-gentleman who viewed those from the 'colonies' as a step below the British."[8]

    In the British Who's Who, Osman Hill named field ornithology, botany, photography, and travel as his recreations.[4] Other casual interests included drugstore ice cream, good eating, old buildings, and gardening with his wife.[1]

    References

    1. ^
      PMID 1104549
      .
    2. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
      (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
    3. ^
      S2CID 27323953
      .
    4. ^
      S2CID 41906772
      .
    5. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1975.tb00230.x
      .
    6. ^
      ISBN 978-0-8493-2100-9
      .
    7. ISBN 978-0-684-80192-6
      .
    8. ^
      ISBN 978-0-8387-5593-8
      .
    9. ^
      doi:10.1016/0047-2484(75)90065-2
      .
    10. PMC 1271036
      .
    11. ^
      S2CID 43131172
      .
    12. ^
      ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9
      .
    13. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
      . ("Osman Hill", p. 197).
    14. ^
      ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9
      .
    15. ^ "PSGB Awards". Primate Society of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
    16. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T136895A115586802.en
      . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
    17. ^ Osman Hill, William Charles (1942). "The highland macaque of Ceylon". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 43: 402–406.
    18. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T39800A17985750.en
      . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
    19. ^ Osman Hill, William Charles (1942). "The slender loris of the Horton Plains, Ceylon, Loris tardigradus nycticeboides subsp. nov". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 43: 73–78.
    20. ^ Nekaris, A. (2008). "Loris tardigradus ssp. nycticeboides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
    21. ^ Osman Hill, William Charles; Phillips, W. W. A. (1932). "A new race of slender loris from the highlands of Ceylon". Ceylon Journal of Science (Spolia Zeylanica). XVII (2): 109–122.
    22. ^ Nekaris, A.; Singh, M.; Kumar Chhangani, A. (2008). "Loris lydekkerianus ssp. grandis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
    23. ^ Osman Hill, William Charles (1933). "A monograph on the genus Loris with an account of the external, cranial and dental characters of the genus; a revision of the known forms; and the description of a new form from Northern Ceylon". Ceylon Journal of Science (Spolia Zeylanica). 18 (1): 89–132.
    24. ^ Nekaris, A.; Singh, M.; Kumar Chhangani, A. (2008). "Loris lydekkerianus ssp. nordicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2011.

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