Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches
Bland, Thomas (England-United States
1809-1885)
malacology
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Mollusc specialist Thomas Bland is little remembered today, though in his time he was a well-known and respected member of the scientific community. As one of his obituaries stated, "His work was not confined to description of species, but comprised valuable contributions to their anatomy, classification, geographical distribution, and the philosophy of their development. No American student has shown a more philosophic grasp of the subject; and his discussion of the geographical distribution of the land-shells of the West Indies . . . gave him a wide reputation" (Science, Vol. 6, p. 440). |
Life Chronology
--born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, on 4 October
1809.
--educated at the Charterhouse School, London;
on finishing, studies for the law and then practices in London
--1836: made a fellow of the Royal Geological
Society
--1842-1850: moves to Barbados and then to Jamaica;
studies West Indies fauna, especially mollusks
--1849: meets C. B. Adams, with whom he later
collaborates
--1850: briefly returns to England
--1850: superintendent of a gold mine in Marmato,
New Granada (Colombia)
--1852: moves to New York City
--1855: meets W. G. Binney, with whom he later
collaborates
--1862: publishes "On
the Geographical Distribution of the Genera and Species of Land Shells
of the West India Islands" in the Lyceum of Natural History of
New York
--1869: publishes "Land
and Fresh Water Shells of North America, Part I" in Smithsonian
Miscellaneous Collections, with W. G. Binney
--dies at Brooklyn, New York, on 20 August 1885.
For Additional Information, See:
--Dictionary of American Biography, Vol.
2 (1929).
--Science,
Vol. 6(145) (1885): 440.
--American
Journal of Science, Ser. 3, Vol. 30 (1885): 407-408.
--Proceedings
of the Biological Society of Washington, Vol. 4 (1888): 127-129.
--Transactions
of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 5 (1886): 278-280.
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Copyright 2005 by Charles H. Smith. All rights
reserved.
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/BLAN1809.htm
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