Alfred Newton
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and ornithologist
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
.
Newton was Professor of Comparative Anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907. In 1900 he was awarded the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and the Gold Medal
Linnean Medal
The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year...
of the Linnaean Society.
Life
Alfred Newton was the fifth son of William Newton of Elveden HallElveden Hall
Elveden Hall is a large privately owned house overlooking the large Elveden Estate in Elveden, Suffolk, England. It is located centrally to the village and is close to the A11 and the Parish Church....
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, sometime MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for the County of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. The family wealth was founded on sugar plantations in the Caribbean
Sugar plantations in the Caribbean
The sugar cane plant was the main crop produced on the numerous plantations throughout the Caribbean through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, as almost every island was covered with sugar plantations and mills for refining the cane for its sweet properties. The main source of labor was African...
, where Alfred's grandfather Samuel Newton had a sugarcane plantation in St Kitts, and a property in St Croix (both in the West Indies). With the abolition of slavery the golden days of sugar were over, and William sold up and returned to England, purchasing the property of Elveden, near Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
from the Earl of Albermarle. Elveden was a house and estate with a history. The house was built in 1770 by Admiral Augustus Keppel (Lord Keppel) on land where James II had hunted game. After the comparatively humble Newtons left, the estate was owned by Prince Duleep Singh
Duleep Singh
This article is about Maharaja Dalip Singh. For other uses, see Dalip SinghMaharaja Dalip Singh, GCSI , commonly called Duleep Singh and later in life nicknamed the Black Prince of Perthshire, was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire...
, the Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
ruler of the Punjab and the last Maharajah of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, and then the Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
family (Earl of Iveagh
Earl of Iveagh
Earl of Iveagh is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the businessman and philanthropist Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. He was the third son of Sir Benjamin Guinness, 1st Baronet, of Ashford, and the great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, the founder of the...
).
In 1828 the Newton family, complete with children and servants, made a lengthy trip to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. On the way back Alfred was born on 11 June 1829 at Les Délices
Les Délices
Les Délices, or "The Delights", was a Geneva home of Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher. Voltaire moved to Les Délices in January 1755, having purchased a life interest in the estate. Being a foreigner, he could not buy the house directly.-External links:*...
, a chateau near Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
that had once been owned by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
. Alfred had a lively childhood, but suffered an accident when about five or six, which left him somewhat lame in one leg. He went to school in 1844 to Mr Walker's school at Stetchworth
Stetchworth
Stetchworth is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England, to the south of the horse-racing centre of Newmarket and around east of Cambridge.-History:...
near Newmarket, and was keeping birds in cages and looking after various other animals from quite a young age.
As with Charles Darwin, a youth spent shooting game birds – black
Black Grouse
The Black Grouse or Blackgame is a large bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal...
or red grouse
Red grouse
The Red Grouse is a medium sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Grouse but is sometimes considered to be a separate species Lagopus scoticus...
, common pheasant
Common Pheasant
The Common Pheasant , is a bird in the pheasant family . It is native to Georgia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe , it is simply known as the "pheasant"...
, partridge
Partridge
Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...
– led to a more general interest. Unlike Darwin, however, Newton's interest stayed with birds, some of which were rare even in those days. They included the Great Bustard
Great Bustard
The Great Bustard is in the bustard family, the only member of the genus Otis. It breeds in southern and central Europe, where it is the largest species of bird, and across temperate Asia...
(Otis tarda), Montagu's Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
The Montagu's Harrier is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu.-Plumage:...
(Circus pygargus), raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
s, buzzard
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
s (Buteo sp.), redpoll
Redpoll
The Redpolls are a group of small passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae which have characteristic red markings on their heads. They were formerly placed into the genus Acanthis together with the linnets and the twite, but their closest relatives are actually the crossbills, that are...
s, wryneck
Wryneck
The wrynecks are a small but distinctive group of small Old World woodpeckers.Like the true woodpeckers, wrynecks have large heads, long tongues which they use to extract their insect prey and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backwards...
s (Jynx), which are small woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
s that specialise in ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s. "The vast warrens of the 'Breck', the woods and water-meadows of the valley of the Little Ouse, and the neighbouring Fenland
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
made an ideal training-ground for a naturalist". This enthusiasm he shared with his younger brother Edward: the two carried out bird observation when they were together and corresponded whenever they were apart.
In 1846 he went to a tutor in Biggleswade
Biggleswade
Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London .-Geography:Located about 40...
for a few months, and in 1848 Newton entered Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
as a pensioner
Pensioner
In common parlance, a pensioner is a person who has retired, and now collects a pension. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom and Australia where someone of pensionable age may also be referred to as an 'old age pensioner', or OAP. In the United States, the term retiree is more...
or commoner
Commoner
In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...
. In Cambridge jargon, this meant a student who paid for both his education and his lodgings. Newton graduated BA in 1853. He spent the rest of his life at Magdalene, and never married. A fall later in life, when he was on a trip to Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
, further crippled him, and he then walked with the aid of two sticks, instead of one, as formerly. "From a three-legged, he has become a four-legged man" commented a friend.
Career
In 1854 he was elected Traveling Fellow of Magdalene College, and subsequently visited many parts of the world, including LaplandLapland (region)
Lapland is a region in northern Fennoscandia, largely within the Arctic Circle. It streches across Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula . On the North it is bounded by the Barents Sea, on the West by the Norwegian Sea and on the East by the White Sea...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
, the West Indies and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. In 1866 he became the first Professor of Zoology
Professor of Zoology, Cambridge University
The Professorship of Zoology is a professorship at the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1866 it was originally the 'Professorship of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy', but was renamed in 1934.-Professors of Zoology:* Alfred Newton...
and Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge, a position which he retained until his death. He was one of the few British Professors of Zoology in whose appointment Huxley did not have a hand: in fact the procedure was for candidates to canvass for votes! (presumably amongst the MAs of the University). Result of poll: Newton 110; Dr Drosier 82. Newton was one of the first zoologists to accept and champion the views of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, and his early lecture courses as professor were on evolution and zoogeography.
Newton was a leader in founding the British Ornithologists' Union
British Ornithologists' Union
The British Ornithologists' Union aims to encourage the study of birds in Britain, Europe and elsewhere, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation....
in 1858, and its quarterly journal, the Ibis
Ibis (journal)
Ibis, subtitled the International Journal of Avian Science, is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, behaviour, palaeontology, and taxonomy of birds. The editor-in-chief is Paul F. Donald. The journal is published by...
in 1859. He wrote books, including Ootheca Wolleyana (begun in 1864), Zoology (1872), and A Dictionary of Birds (1893-1896). He contributed memoirs to scientific societies, and edited the Ibis (1865-1870), the Zoological Record (1870-1872), and Yarrell's British Birds (1871-1882). His services to ornithology and zoogeography
Zoogeography
Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of animal species.-External links:*: A course outline and collection of Web resources by Dr. Taylor, UBC...
were recognized by the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1900, when it awarded him the Royal Medal
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
.
Newton spent some time studying the vanishing birds of the Mascarene Islands
Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks...
, from where his brother Sir Edward Newton
Edward Newton
Sir Edward Newton KCMG was a British colonial administrator and ornithologist.He was born at Elveden Hall, Suffolk the sixth and youngest son of William Newton, MP. He was the brother of ornithologist Alfred Newton....
sent him specimens. These included the Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
on Mauritius and the Solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
on Rodrigues
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
, both already extinct. In 1872 he was the first person to describe Newton's Parakeet
Newton's Parakeet
The Newton's Parakeet was a parrot that was endemic to the forests of the island of Rodrigues, a dependency of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean...
which also lived on Rodrigues. This bird became extinct in 1875.
Protection of wild-life
Newton was a prominent member of the Society for the Protection of Birds (later, 1903, the RSPB), and carried on a long campaign to influence women against the fashion of adorning their hats with the flight feathers of raptors and other fine birds. His letters to The Times and addresses to the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
meetings on this subject were regularly reprinted as pamphlets by the Society.
One of his most successful works was a series of investigations into the Desirability of establishing a 'Close-time' for the preservation of indigenous animals. These were instigated and published by the British Association between 1872 and 1903, leading towards the present-day legislation concerning the closed season
Closed season
A closed season is a hunting term used to describe the time of the year during which hunting an animal of a given species is contrary to law. Typically, closed seasons are designed to protect a species when they are most vulnerable or, sometimes, to protect them during their breeding season.-...
s for game fish, shell-fish, birds and mammals (Game laws). The basic concept, as is now well known, is to protect animals during their breeding season so as to prevent the stock from being brought close to extinction.
Reception of the Origin of Species
Newton's correspondence gives an intimate view of how he encountered the momentous idea of evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
by means of natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
:
Not many days after my return home there reached me the part of the Journal of the Linnean Society which bears on its cover the date 20th August 1858, and contains the papers by Mr DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and Mr WallaceAlfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, which were communicated to that Society at its special meeting of the first of July preceding... I sat up late that night to read it; and never shall I forget the impression it made upon me. Herein was contained a perfectly simple solution of all the difficulties which had been troubling me for months past... I am free to confess that in my joy I did not then perceive that... dozens of other difficulties lay in the path... but I was convinced a vera causa [true cause] had been found... and I never doubted for one moment, then nor since, that we had one of the grandest discoveries of the age—a discovery all the more grand because it was so simple.
Only four days after the publication of the famous 1858 paper, and one day after he read it, Newton started to apply Darwin and Wallace's idea to various problems in ornithology.
The 1860 British Association Oxford debate
The British Association annual meeting for 1860, held in the University MuseumOxford University Museum of Natural History
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, was the location for one of the most important public debates in 19th century biology. Newton was present and left a record of what happened in a letter to his brother Edward. The famous debate between Huxley and Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his time and place...
took place on Saturday 30 June 1860 and in his letter Newton writes:
In the Nat. Hist. Section we had another hot Darwinian debate... After [lengthy preliminaries] Huxley was called upon by HenslowJohn Stevens HenslowJohn Stevens Henslow was an English clergyman, botanist and geologist. He is best remembered as friend and mentor to his pupil Charles Darwin.- Early life :...
to state his views at greater length, and this brought up the Bp. of Oxford... Referring to what Huxley had said two days before, about after all its not signifying to him whether he was descended from a Gorilla or not, the Bp. chafed him and asked whether he had a preference for the descent being on the father's side or the mother's side? This gave Huxley the opportunity of saying that he would sooner claim kindred with an Ape than with a man like the Bp. who made so ill an use of his wonderful speaking powers to try and burke, by a display of authority, a free discussion on what was, or was not, a matter of truth, and reminded him that on questions of physical science 'authority' had always been bowled out by investigation, as witness astronomy and geology.
He then caught hold of the Bp's assertions and showed how contrary they were to facts, and how he knew nothing about what he had been discoursing on. A lot of people afterwards spoke... The feeling of the audience was very much against the Bp.
The letter, dated 25 July 1860, provides good evidence that the traditional account of the debate is reasonably accurate – indeed, the best kind of evidence we could have in the absence of a verbatim account.
The 1862 British Association Cambridge debate
Newton was also present at the Cambridge meeting of the British Association two years later. Ever since 1857 when Richard OwenRichard Owen
Sir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
presented (to the Linnean Society) his view that man was marked off from all other mammals by possessing features of the brain peculiar to the genus Homo
Homo (genus)
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
, Huxley had been on his trail. The issue had been debated at the British Association in 1860 and 1861 (Manchester). At the 1862 Cambridge meeting Huxley arranged for his friend William Flower
William Henry Flower
Sir William Henry Flower KCB FRCS FRS was an English comparative anatomist and surgeon. Flower became a leading authority on mammals, and especially on the primate brain...
to give a public dissection to show that the same structures were indeed present, not only in apes, but in monkeys also. Flower stood up and said "I happen to have in my pocket a monkey's brain" — and produced the object in question! (report in the Times). In a letter to his brother Newton wrote:
There was a grand kick-up again between Owen and Huxley, the former struggling against facts with a devotion worthy of a better cause. The latter now takes it easy, and laughs over it all, but Flower and RollestonGeorge RollestonGeorge Rolleston MA MD FRCP FRS was an English physician and zoologist. He was the first Linacre Professor of Anatomy and Physiology to be appointed at the University of Oxford, a post he held from 1860 until his death in 1881...
are too savage. No doubt it is very irritating when Owen will not take the slightest notice of all they have done and proved, and Owen does it all in such a happy manner, that he almost carries conviction from those who know how utterly wrong as to facts he is.
See also
- T.H. Huxley
- 1860 Oxford evolution debate1860 Oxford evolution debateThe 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at the Oxford University Museum on 30 June 1860, seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Several prominent British scientists and philosophers participated, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Bishop Samuel...
- Reaction to Darwin's theoryReaction to Darwin's theoryThe immediate reaction to Darwin's theory followed closely on his publication of On the Origin of Species, and Charles Darwin's book sparked off international debate, though the heat of controversy was less than that over earlier works such as Vestiges of Creation...
- William Henry FlowerWilliam Henry FlowerSir William Henry Flower KCB FRCS FRS was an English comparative anatomist and surgeon. Flower became a leading authority on mammals, and especially on the primate brain...
- X ClubX ClubThe X Club was a dining club of nine men who supported the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism in late 19th-century England. Thomas Henry Huxley was the initiator: he called the first meeting for November 3, 1864...
A partial list of Newton's publications
..- Newton A. (1864–1907), Ootheca Wolleyana: 1. An illustrated catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs formed by the late John Wolley 2. Eggs of the native birds of Britain and list of British birds, past and present. The first part was published in 1864; it was not until 1902 that Newton was able to resume the work and the next parts appeared in 1902, 1905 and 1907. The work is illustrated with colour lithographic plates and with black & white illustrations. Artists include Newton, Balcomb, GrönvoldHenrik GrönvoldHenrik Grönvold was a Danish bird illustrator.Grönvold developed an interest in natural history at a young age, and would spend his time drawing the birds and animals around him. After studying drawing in Copenhagen he went on to work as a draughtsman for the Danish artillery from 1880.Grönvold...
, M. Hanhart, J. Jury, and Joseph WolfJoseph WolfJoseph Wolf was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the choice of illustrator for numerous explorers and collectors. He depicted animals accurately in life-like postures and has been considered one of the great pioneers...
. The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica comments: "[This] was an amplification of the numerous articles on birds which he contributed to the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica".... ........ - Newton A. (assisted by Hans Gadow, with contributions from Richard LydekkerRichard LydekkerRichard Lydekker was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.-Biography:...
, Charles S. Roy and Robert Shufeldt) (1893-1896), Dictionary of Birds. Reprinted in one volume (1088 pages) Black, London, 1896. - Newton A. et al. (1896-1903), Bird migration in Great Britain and Ireland. Reports of the Committee... British Association.
External links
- Darwin Correspondence Project: Correspondence between Newton and Charles Darwin