George Newport FRS (4 February 1803,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

– 7 April 1854, London) was a prominent English entomologist. He is especially noted for his studies utilizing the

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...

and his skills in dissection.

Biography

He was the first of four children of William Newport (1777-1843), a local

wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkwr ...

, and Sarah Gillham. He was educated at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

and at the College of Surgeons. He was President of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

(1843–1844) and also a member of the Ray Society. Newport was awarded with the Royal Medal 1836 and with the

Royal Society Bakerian Medal The Bakerian Medal is one of the premier medals of the Royal Society that recognizes exceptional and outstanding science. It comes with a medal award and a prize lecture. The medalist is required to give a lecture on any topic related to physical ...

1841. He is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

, London.

Works

He was one of the most skilled anatomists of his time, and his researches on the structure of insects and other arthropods are notable. His publications include: * ''On the Respiration of Insects'' (1836) * “Insecta,” in Todd's ''Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology'' (1839) (128 pages) * ''On the Use of Antennæ of Insects'' (1840) * ''List of Specimens of Myriopoda in the British Museum'' (1844) * ''Monograph of the Class Myriopoda, Order Chilopoda'' (1845) * ''On the Impregnation of the Ovum in the Amphibia'' (1851) Newport wrote on the structure, relations, and development of the nervous and circulatory systems, and on the existence of a complete circulation of the blood in vessels, in

Myriapoda Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian ...

and macrourous Arachnida in the ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'' First series. 1843: 243-302; see p. 270. He published researches on th
impregnation of the ovum
in the

Amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbor ...

; and on the early stages of development of the embryo. ''Phil. Trans. R. Soc'' 144, 229-244. (1854) Newport wrote on the Organs of Reproduction, and the Development of the Myriopoda in ''Phil. Trans. R. Soc''. And he wrote on the Nervous System of the ''

Sphinx ligustri ''Sphinx ligustri'', the privet hawk moth, is a moth found in most of the Palearctic realm. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Description It has a wingspan (generally deflexed ...

'', Linn., (Part II) During the Latter Stages of its Pupa and its

Imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the imaginal stage, the stage in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the f ...

State, and on the Means by Which its Development is Affected ''Phil. Trans. R. Soc''.

References

* English entomologists Myriapodologists 1803 births 1854 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Medal winners People from Canterbury 19th-century British zoologists Alumni of the University of London Presidents of the Royal Entomological Society {{UK-entomologist-stub