Nicol (or Nicholas) Alexander Dalzell

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". ...

FLS (21 April 1817 – 18 December 1877) was a Scottish botanist. He was one of the first people to form the link between forest denudation and the impact of rainfall upon the wider countryside.

Life

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, his early education was at the High School in Edinburgh. Dalzell studied divinity (rather than botany) at university, under Rev

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland (1843—1900), Free Church of Scotl ...

, and received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

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 ...

in 1837. He served as the assistant commissioner of customs, salt and opium in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1841. In 1862 he became conservator of forests in Bombay and superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in the Bombay Presidency. He published ''The Bombay Flora'' (1861), and other works on Indian botany, and retired in 1870. In 1862 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 proposer being

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the Edinburgh University, University of Edinburgh and also becomin ...

. He lost his savings in the collapse of the Bank of Hindostan, China, and Japan. He retired in 1870 due to the ongoing effects of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and returned to Scotland. He died at home in Williamfield House, Portobello,

on 18 December 1877, leaving a widow (Emily Harriet Duthy) and six children, including Pulteney William Dalzell.

Legacy

A number of plant species are named for him, such as the grass, ''Ischaemum dalzelli''. Also a genus of flowering plants, ''

Dalzellia ''Dalzellia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Podostemaceae. Its native range is India and Sri Lanka, Indo-China (Thailand and Laos), and southeastern China. Its genus name is in honour of Nicol Alexander Dalzell (1817– ...

'' from China, was also named after him, in 1852.

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