Heinrich Agathon Bernstein
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Agathon Bernstein (22 September 1828 – 19 April 1865) was a German
naturalist
, zoologist and explorer from Breslau (Wrocław).
, Poland
, and died on 19 April 1865 at Senapan, Papua New Guinea
. His father, Professor Georg Heinrich Bernstein, taught Theology
and Oriental Languages at Breslau University. By 1840 Heinrich had started at the Gymnasium in Wrocław (Maria-Magdalena), but after two years he departed with his parents and a teacher for a year-long in Italy
. When returned to Wrocław he studied for three and a half years at the Saksian state school at Pforta
, and proceeded to St. Elisabeth’s Gymnasium in Breslau and finish his education in 1849. In October 1849 he began studying medicine at the University at Wrocław, and became a doctor
there on 16 November 1853 with his thesis De anatomia corvorum pars prima osteologia. Johann Ludwig Christian Carl Gravenhorst, whom he met at the university, was largely responsible for drawing out Bernstein’s interest in natural history. From 1852 Bernstein travelled extensively, visiting Poland, Austria
, Hungary
and France
. Then in early 1854 he departed to the Netherlands, and never returned to Germany again.
(director of the museum at Leiden), and soon enough he was ready to fulfil his dream to go to the tropics. To get to Indonesia he volunteered for the Dutch Army as medical specialist, and gained his passage as the ship’s doctor, departing on 18 June 1854. But his contract bound him to return soon afterwards. Once back in Leiden he took the exam for physician (16 April 1855), and in doing so gained some exclusive rights to work in the overseas possessions of the Netherlands.
. Here he immediately became the first physician of the Health Establishment at Gadok near Buitenzorg (Jakarta
), and remained in post until 31 October 1860. Directly after arriving in Indonesia, Bernstein began collecting (either alone or with local guides) and on 8 October 1856 the first consignment of skins arrived at Leiden (some 300 birds). Bernstein also started publishing articles in Journal für Ornithologie. His articles there between 1859–1861 on the nests and eggs of Javanese birds so impressed Hermann Schlegel
, director of the museum at Leiden, that he invited Bernstein to work for the museum to collect zoological items. Bernstein was duly appointed in March 1859 as official collector for the Dutch government, and in this new role he began to collect a wide range of both flora (now in the herbaria of Wrocław) and fauna. In November 1860 he got permission from the Governor-General Jan Jacob Rochussen
granted to travel to New Guinea, the first researcher in this region after the departure from Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn
and the death of Carl Anton Ludwig Maria Schwaner in 1851. On 7 November Bernstein departed for the Moluccas, arriving a month later at Ternate
(Halmahera
), where he collected birds for eight days and set up “home”.
, who was also collecting at that time in the area. The rivalry was strong but gentlemanly. On 6 February 1861 Wallace wrote in a letter from Dili
(Timor
):
The Dutch have just sent out a collector for the Leyden Museum to the Moluccas. He is now at Ternate, and goes to spend two years in Gilolo and Batchian, and then to N. Guinea. He will, of course (having four hunters constantly employed, and not being obliged to make his collecting pay expenses), do much more than I have been able to do; but I think I have got the cream of it all. His name is Bernstein; he has resided long in Java, as doctor at a Sanatorium, and tells me he has already sent large collections to Leyden, including the nests and eggs of more than a hundred species of birds! Are these yet arranged and exhibited? They must form a most interesting collection.
At various times Bernstein is mentioned in Wallace’s Malay Archipelago
(for example in the chapter on Gilolo—now Halmahera—in Volume II and in chapter 38 about the birds of paradise), but as far as is known the two never met.
Trip 1: 22 December 1860–end March 1861
Trip 2: 25 June 1861–10 October 1861
Trip 3: October 1861–February 1862
Trip 4: 1–26 April 1862
Trip 5: mid-July–26 September 1862
Trip 6: 7 November 1862–18 July 1863
Trip 7: September–November 1863
Trip 8: January 1864–end April 1864
Trip 9: 18 October 1864–19 April 1865
Berstein died on Batanta at 19 April 1865 of a liver abscess, and was buried either on Batanta or Ternate.
Bernstein is also commemorated in the Lowland Ringtail Possum
Pseudochirulus canescens bernsteini and a insect Red Lacewing
Cethosia cydippe bernsteini.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
, zoologist and explorer from Breslau (Wrocław).
Early years
Heinrich Agathon Bernstein was born on 22 September 1828 in Wrocław, Lower SilesiaLower Silesia
Lower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and died on 19 April 1865 at Senapan, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. His father, Professor Georg Heinrich Bernstein, taught Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and Oriental Languages at Breslau University. By 1840 Heinrich had started at the Gymnasium in Wrocław (Maria-Magdalena), but after two years he departed with his parents and a teacher for a year-long in 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...
. When returned to Wrocław he studied for three and a half years at the Saksian state school at Pforta
Pforta
Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a former Cistercian monastery, Pforta Abbey , near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is now a celebrated German public boarding school, called Landesschule Pforta...
, and proceeded to St. Elisabeth’s Gymnasium in Breslau and finish his education in 1849. In October 1849 he began studying medicine at the University at Wrocław, and became a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
there on 16 November 1853 with his thesis De anatomia corvorum pars prima osteologia. Johann Ludwig Christian Carl Gravenhorst, whom he met at the university, was largely responsible for drawing out Bernstein’s interest in natural history. From 1852 Bernstein travelled extensively, visiting Poland, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Then in early 1854 he departed to the Netherlands, and never returned to Germany again.
Time in the Netherlands and departure to Indonesia
Arriving in the Netherlands, Bernstein visited the large natural history collections at Leiden. Here he met Coenraad Jacob TemminckCoenraad Jacob Temminck
Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist.Temminck was the first director of the National Natural History Museum at Leiden from 1820 until his death. His Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systematique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe was the standard work on European birds...
(director of the museum at Leiden), and soon enough he was ready to fulfil his dream to go to the tropics. To get to Indonesia he volunteered for the Dutch Army as medical specialist, and gained his passage as the ship’s doctor, departing on 18 June 1854. But his contract bound him to return soon afterwards. Once back in Leiden he took the exam for physician (16 April 1855), and in doing so gained some exclusive rights to work in the overseas possessions of the Netherlands.
Time in Indonesia before his expeditions
On 10 September 1855 Bernstein arrived again in JavaJava
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
. Here he immediately became the first physician of the Health Establishment at Gadok near Buitenzorg (Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
), and remained in post until 31 October 1860. Directly after arriving in Indonesia, Bernstein began collecting (either alone or with local guides) and on 8 October 1856 the first consignment of skins arrived at Leiden (some 300 birds). Bernstein also started publishing articles in Journal für Ornithologie. His articles there between 1859–1861 on the nests and eggs of Javanese birds so impressed Hermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel
Hermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history...
, director of the museum at Leiden, that he invited Bernstein to work for the museum to collect zoological items. Bernstein was duly appointed in March 1859 as official collector for the Dutch government, and in this new role he began to collect a wide range of both flora (now in the herbaria of Wrocław) and fauna. In November 1860 he got permission from the Governor-General Jan Jacob Rochussen
Jan Jacob Rochussen
Jan Jacob Rochussen was a Dutch politician. He served as Finance Minister from 1840 to 1843 and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1845 to 1851. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 18 March 1858 to 23 February 1860. He was also a Dutch colonial minister....
granted to travel to New Guinea, the first researcher in this region after the departure from Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn
Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn
Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn , was a German botanist. His father, Friedrich Junghuhn was a barber and a surgeon. His mother was Christine Marie Schiele. Junghuhn studied medicine in Halle and in Berlin from 1827 to 1831, meanwhile publishing a seminal paper on mushrooms in Limnaea...
and the death of Carl Anton Ludwig Maria Schwaner in 1851. On 7 November Bernstein departed for the Moluccas, arriving a month later at Ternate
Ternate
Ternate is an island in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It is located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera, the center of the powerful former Sultanate of Ternate....
(Halmahera
Halmahera
Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia.Halmahera has a land area of 17,780 km² and a population in 1995 of 162,728...
), where he collected birds for eight days and set up “home”.
Bernstein’s various expeditions in Indonesia
Analysing the specimens present within the museum at Leiden, Bernstein made no less then nine separate trips from Ternate. Ternate was used as a base for rebuilding boats, writing letters (mostly to Hermann Schlegel) and sending specimens to Leiden. Schlegel was always urging Bernstein to keep ahead of Alfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, who was also collecting at that time in the area. The rivalry was strong but gentlemanly. On 6 February 1861 Wallace wrote in a letter from Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
(Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
):
The Dutch have just sent out a collector for the Leyden Museum to the Moluccas. He is now at Ternate, and goes to spend two years in Gilolo and Batchian, and then to N. Guinea. He will, of course (having four hunters constantly employed, and not being obliged to make his collecting pay expenses), do much more than I have been able to do; but I think I have got the cream of it all. His name is Bernstein; he has resided long in Java, as doctor at a Sanatorium, and tells me he has already sent large collections to Leyden, including the nests and eggs of more than a hundred species of birds! Are these yet arranged and exhibited? They must form a most interesting collection.
At various times Bernstein is mentioned in Wallace’s Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
(for example in the chapter on Gilolo—now Halmahera—in Volume II and in chapter 38 about the birds of paradise), but as far as is known the two never met.
Trip 1: 22 December 1860–end March 1861
Trip 2: 25 June 1861–10 October 1861
Trip 3: October 1861–February 1862
Trip 4: 1–26 April 1862
Trip 5: mid-July–26 September 1862
Trip 6: 7 November 1862–18 July 1863
Trip 7: September–November 1863
Trip 8: January 1864–end April 1864
Trip 9: 18 October 1864–19 April 1865
Berstein died on Batanta at 19 April 1865 of a liver abscess, and was buried either on Batanta or Ternate.
For
- Chinese Crested TernChinese Crested TernThe Chinese Crested Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae, closely related to Sandwich Tern T. sandvicensis and Lesser Crested Tern T. bengalensis...
Sterna bernsteini (Schlegel 1863) - Scarlet-breasted Fruit-doveScarlet-breasted Fruit-doveThe Scarlet-breasted Fruit Dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
Ptilinopus bernsteinii bernsteinii (Schlegel 1863) - Black-billed Coucal Centropus bernsteini bernsteini (Schlegel 1866)
- Sula ScrubfowlSula ScrubfowlThe Sula Megapode or Sula Scrubfowl is a species of bird in the Megapodiidae family.It is found only in Indonesia, where its habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist...
Megapodius bernsteinii (Schlegel 1866) - Red-bellied PittaRed-bellied PittaThe Red-bellied Pitta, Pitta erythrogaster, is a species of bird in the Pittidae family.It is found in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
Pitta erythrogaster bernsteini( Junge 1958) - Bernstein’s Red Lory Eos bornea bernsteini (Rosenberg 1863)
- Bernstein’s Black Lory Chalcopsitta atra bernsteini (Rosenberg 1861)
By
- Long-billed HoneyeaterLong-billed HoneyeaterThe Long-billed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Melilestes.-Distribution and habitat:It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea...
Melilestes megarhynchus vagans (Bernstein 1864) - Paradise CrowParadise CrowThe Paradise-crow also known as the Silky Crow, is a medium-sized crow-like bird of paradise with all-dark, soft and silky plumage. It has a black bill, crimson eyes, and a call reminiscent of a dog's bark...
Lycocorax pyrrhopterus obiensis (Bernstein 1864) - Brown-headed CrowBrown-headed CrowThe Brown-headed Crow is a species of bird in the Corvidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests....
Corvus fuscicapillus megarhynchus (Bernstein 1864)
Bernstein is also commemorated in the Lowland Ringtail Possum
Lowland Ringtail Possum
The Lowland Ringtail Possum is a species of marsupial in the Pseudocheiridae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....
Pseudochirulus canescens bernsteini and a insect Red Lacewing
Red Lacewing
The name Red Lacewing can refer to either of two species of butterfly in the genus Cethosia:*Cethosia biblis*Cethosia cydippe...
Cethosia cydippe bernsteini.