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Edwin Lankester FRS, FRMS, MRCS (23 April 1814 – 30 October 1874) was an English surgeon and naturalist who made a major contribution to the control of
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
in London: he was the first public analyst in England.


Life

Edwin Lankester was born in 1814 in Melton, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, to 'poor but clever parents' according to his son E. Ray Lankester (Lester 1995). His father was a builder. Edwin married Phebe Pope in 1845, daughter of a former mill-owner. She was 19 at the time of marriage, became a botanist and microscopist, published books for children and wrote natural history articles. They had a total of eleven children of whom eight survived – four boys and four girls.
Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...
became a close friend of the family, and visited often.
John Stevens Henslow John Stevens Henslow (6 February 1796 – 16 May 1861) was an English Anglican priest, botanist and geologist. He is best remembered as friend and mentor to Charles Darwin. Early life Henslow was born at Rochester, Kent, the son of a solicit ...
, Darwin's tutor, was also a family friend. A born teacher, he introduced Edwin's son Ray to the delights of fossil collecting. Through his association with East Suffolk and his friendship with Henslow, Lankester became an early and active Honorary Member of the Ipswich Museum, of which his son Ray Lankester was afterwards President (1901–1929). E. B. Ford, the ecological geneticist, said of Edwin: "Lankester was a close personal friend of Darwin's and was so deeply impressed by him that he was determined that one of his sons should become a great biologist, He named all three of his sons suitably: Forbes, Ray and Owen!" (p. 338 in Mayr and Provine). But, alas for this excellent story, Edwin had another son, his second, whom he named Rushton. Rushton emigrated to
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, married, and raised a family, the only one of Edwin's offspring to do so. The lack of productivity in this otherwise capable family was distinctly unusual at that time.


Career

Apprenticed at first to a Mr. Ginney, a surgeon of Woodbridge, in 1832 he became Assistant to Thomas Spurgin of
Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. Th ...
. Spurgin raised £300 to enable Edwin to study medicine and science from 1834–7 at the new
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
. He attended lectures by
John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
(botany) and Robert Edmund Grant (zoology) – to whose post Edwin's eldest son E. Ray Lankester succeeded in 1875. Grant had been one of Darwin's tutors at Edinburgh. Edwin's friends at UCL included William Jenner and
William Benjamin Carpenter William Benjamin Carpenter CB FRS (29 October 1813 – 19 November 1885) was an English physician, invertebrate zoologist, and physiologist. He was instrumental in the early stages of the unified University of London. Life Carpenter was bor ...
. Edwin could not afford a complete degree course, so he qualified as an MRCS and Licentiate of the
Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a me ...
. In 1837 he moved to
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
to become resident medical attendant and science tutor to the Woods family of Campsall Hall, recommended by Lindley. The Woods family were "indifferent to religion and fervent Owenites" as he mentioned in a letter home.
Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist, political philosopher and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, co-operative movement. He strove to ...
actually visited Campsall Hall, and Lankester described the event in his diary. In 1839 Lankester left the Woods and travelled to
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
to take his M.D., which he got in six months. Back in London, he befriended
Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainland ...
and Arthur Henfrey, the botanist. He practised medicine and wrote articles on botany, medicine and surgery for the
Penny Cyclopaedia ''The Penny Cyclopædia'' published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume encyclopedia edited by George Long (scholar), George Long and published by Charles Knight (publisher), Charles Knight alongside the ''Penn ...
. He contributed to the Biographical Dictionary, and wrote for other journals. As time went by, he became ever more fully absorbed in natural history. In 1841 his study of sulphur bacteria (then the 'glairine of sulphurous waters') was noteworthy, as was his microscopic examination of
drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
. His book the ''Aquavivarium'' (1856) had a great vogue. He co-founded the important '' Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'' (QJMS) in 1853, and co-edited it with George Busk, and later with his son Ray. ''Half-hours with the microscope'' (1857) was a best-seller, reprinted until 1918. In 1845, botanist Lindl. named a genus of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s from Tropical Africa, (belonging to the family
Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...
) as '' Lankesteria'' in his honour. In 1850 he was appointed professor of natural sciences at the newly founded
New College London New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College, St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4  ...
. He held this position until 1872. Edwin Lankester was President of the
British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chief ...
for 25 years, and the founder of the Biological Section of the BA. He was present at the infamous Wilberforce-Huxley encounter in 1860. He was the first Secretary of the
Ray Society The Ray Society is a scientific text publication society that publishes works devoted principally to British flora and fauna. As of 2019, it had published 181 volumes. Its publications are predominantly academic works of interest to naturalists, zo ...
, with his wife as Assistant Secretary. In 1845 he was President of the
Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the Society gained it ...
, and that same year he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. Twenty years later he became the first President of the Quekett Microscopical Club. In addition, Lankester also served as coroner for Central Middlesex, succeeding the first medically qualified coroner to take up the position, Dr
Thomas Wakley Thomas Wakley (11 July 179516 May 1862) was an English surgeon. He gained fame as a social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism. He was the founding editor of ''The Lancet'', a radical Member of Parliament (MP) ...
, in 1862. Dr. Lankester, like his predecessor, contributed greatly to our knowledge on the social problem of
infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...
in nineteenth century Britain by producing a series of 'statistically detailed Annual Reports' on the phenomenon.Rose, Lionel 1986, Massacre of the Innocents: Infanticide in Great Britain 1800–1939 p. 62.


Cholera

The cause of London's
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
outbreaks had been identified by John Sutherland (1808–1891) and Dr
John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology and early germ theory, in part because of hi ...
(1813–1858; author of the famous map of water pumps near Broad Street). The matter was not decided until Lankester formed a committee to look into the latest outbreak. The Committee's report (1854) had sections written by Snow and the Reverend Henry Whitehead, a local
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
. They reached the conclusion that the outbreak was attributable to the use of impure water from the well in Broad Street. In 1866, twelve years after the event, Dr. Lankester wrote "''The Board of Guardians met to consult what ought to be done. Of that meeting, the late Dr. Snow demanded an audience. He was admitted and gave it as his opinion that the pump in Broad Street, and that pump alone, was the cause of all the pestilence. He was not believed: not a member of his own profession, not an individual in the parish believed that Snow was right. But the pump was closed nevertheless and the plague was stayed.''" Lankester later became the first
Medical Officer of Health A medical officer of health, also known as a medical health officer, chief health officer, chief public health officer or district medical officer, is the title commonly used for the senior government official of a health department, usually at a m ...
for the St. James's district, the area where the outbreak occurred. It still took years before the public authorities acted to ensure the purity of water supply; Snow had been dead for over 30 years when the Chief Medical Office of Health at last acknowledged that his work on the transmission of cholera was one of the most significant medical discoveries of the 19th century. Lankester's interest in this (beyond simple humanity) came through his microscopical examination of water, which is still one of the standard tests of drinking water quality today.


Selected publications

* (als
here
at
Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...
)


References


Sources

* English, Mary P. ''Victorian Values: The Life and Times of Dr Edwin Lankester M.D., F.R.S.'' Biopress, Bristol 1990. *Lankester, Edwin. ''The Aquavivarium''. 1856. *Lankester, Edwin. ''Half-hours with the microscope''. 1857. *Lester, Joe ''E. Ray Lankester: the making of modern British biology'' (edited, with additions, by Peter J. Bowler). BSHS Monograph #9. 1995. *Mayr, Ernst and Provine, William B. (eds) ''The evolutionary synthesis''. Harvard 1980; 2nd ed 1998. *Snow, John. ''On the mode of communication of Cholera''. Churchill, London 1855. *Vinten-Johansen, Peter et al. Cholera, chloroform, and the science of medicine: A Life of John Snow. Oxford 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lankester, Edwin English scientists Fellows of the Royal Society People from Woodbridge, Suffolk 1814 births 1874 deaths Alumni of University College London Fellows of the Royal Microscopical Society English coroners Infanticide Child murder in England