Sarracenia psittacina Macfarlane illustration

John Muirhead Macfarlane

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

LLD (28 September 1855,

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

– 16 September 1943,

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

) was a Scottish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Life

He was born in

on 28 September 1855. He was educated locally, then studied sciences at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, first graduating with a BSc, followed by a degree of Doctor of Science in 1883. He occupied several different academic positions at the

and the Royal Dick Veterinary College. In 1885 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Alexander Dickson, Robert Gray, Alexander Buchan and Andrew Peebles Aitken. During this period he lived at 3 Bellevue Terrace on the eastern fringe of the

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

. In 1892, he was elected an International Honorary Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In 1893 he travelled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to assume a professorial chair at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He held this position until retirement in 1920. During his time at the University of Pennsylvania he encouraged botanists such as Edith May Farr. He played a leading role in organising and diversifying the

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

of the University of Pennsylvania. On retiral he returned to Britain and died in

in northern England on 16 September 1943. John Muirhead Macfarlane died in Lancaster, New Hampshire USA. He is buried in the Durant Road Cemetery in Durant, New Hampshire.

Publications

Macfarlane is best known for his first book, ''The causes and course of organic evolution. A study in bioenergics'' (1918). He also wrote many other works including ''The evolution and distribution of flowering plants (

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

Asclepiadaceae The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, it was treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family. They form a group of perennial herbs, twinin ...

)'' (1933), ''The evolution and distribution of fishes'' (1923), ''Fishes the source of petroleum'' (1923), and ''The quantity and sources of our petroleum supplies'' (1931). Macfarlane revised the tropical pitcher plant family in his 1908 monograph, " Nepenthaceae".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarlane, John Muirhead 1855 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Scottish botanists 20th-century Scottish botanists Academics of the University of Edinburgh University of Pennsylvania faculty People from Kirkcaldy Members of the American Philosophical Society