Thomas William Bridge (5 November 1848 – 29/30 June 1909) was a British

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

who studied fish, and was particularly known for his research on the

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...

Siluridae Siluridae is the nominate family (biology), family of catfishes in the order (biology), order Siluriformes. About 105 living species of silurids are placed in 12 or 14 genera. Although silurids occur across much of Europe and Asia, they are most ...

. After working in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

(1869–79), he held professorships at the

Royal College of Science for Ireland The Royal College of Science for Ireland (RCScI) was an institute for higher education in Dublin which existed from 1867 to 1926, specialising in physical sciences and applied science. It was originally based on St. Stephen's Green, moving in 1 ...

(1879–80) and

Mason College Mason Science College was a university college in Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham. Founded in 1875 by industrialist and philanthropist Sir Josiah Mason, the college was incorporated into the Univer ...

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(1880–1909). He was an elected fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(1903).

Biography

Bridge was born on 5 November 1848 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, to Lucy (''née'' Crosbee) and Thomas Bridge, who made footwear. He attended Moseley School and then trained in science at the

Birmingham and Midland Institute The Birmingham and Midland Institute (popularly known as the Midland Institute) (), is an institution concerned with the promotion of education and learning in Birmingham, England. It is now based on Margaret Street in Birmingham city centr ...

. He moved to

at the end of 1869, where he initially worked at the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Zoology Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

directly for

John Willis Clark John Willis Clark (1833 – 1910), sometimes J. W. Clark, was an English academic and antiquarian. Academic career Clark was born into a Cambridge University academic family, and was a nephew of Prof. Robert Willis (engineer), Robert Willis. Edu ...

, the museum's superintendent. In 1871, despite his lack of Cambridge degree, Bridge was appointed a university demonstrator in comparative anatomy (a teaching position), while continuing his work for Clark; the courses that Clark and Bridge organised were the first practical teaching of zoology at the university. Bridge read

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

(1871–75), with a scholarship at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He remained in Cambridge as a demonstrator after gaining his degree, apart from a brief stint at the Zoological Station in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1876. He was professor of zoology at the

(1879–80) in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. In 1880, he returned to Birmingham to become one of the first four professors of the newly founded

(the others being William A. Tilden, Micaiah John Muller Hill and

John Henry Poynting John Henry Poynting Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (9 September 185230 March 1914) was an English physicist. He was the first professor of physics at Mason Science College from 1880 to 1900, and then the successor institution, the University ...

). Bridge held the chair in biology (1880–82) and was later the Mason Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy (1882–1909), retaining the title when the college was subsumed into the

in 1900. He was active in the new institution's administration, for example, chairing the academic board. He was awarded an Sc.D. by Cambridge (1896) and an M.Sc. by Birmingham (1901), and was elected a fellow of the

in 1903. He served as president of the Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society (1894). Bridge never married, and died on 29 or 30 June 1909 at

Selly Park Selly Park is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb of Selly Park is located between the Bristol Road ( A38) and the Pershore Road ( A441). Toponymy Selly Park is named after the parkland that was origin ...

, Birmingham.

Research and writing

His research was on the

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and

osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practiced by osteologists . A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, archaeology and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone mo ...

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s, predominantly fish. He was particularly known for his research on the

and its relationship with the auditory organ. With A. C. Haddon, he investigated a hundred species of Siluroid fish, and concluded that the air bladder was used to perceive changes in

hydrostatic pressure Hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and "the pressure in a fluid or exerted by a fluid on an immersed body". The word "hydrostatics" is sometimes used to refer specifically to water and o ...

rather than being involved in hearing, as had been proposed by

Ernst Heinrich Weber Ernst Heinrich Weber (; ; 24 June 1795 – 26 January 1878) was a German physician who is considered one of the founders of experimental psychology. Ernst Weber was born into an academic background, with his father serving as a professor at t ...

(who had first described the interconnected structures in 1820). Bridge also published on the osteology of

ganoid fish A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...

and on vertebrate abdominal pores. He contributed a comprehensive article on the fishes to volume 7 of ''The Cambridge Natural History'' (1904), which Sidney Harmer describes in his Royal Society obituary as a "most valuable summary of a very difficult subject". Bridge also published on other vertebrates including the

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipela ...

Selected publications

*T. W. Bridge (1896). The Mesial Fins of Ganoids and Teleosts. ''

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering zoology published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Linnean Society. The editor-in-chief is Maarten Christenhusz (Linnean Society) ...

'' 25 (165): 530–602 *T. W. Bridge, A. C. Haddon (1893). III. Contributions to the anatomy of fishes.—II. The air-bladder and weberian ossicles in the siluroid fishes. '' Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences'' 184: 65–333 *T. W. Bridge, A. C. Haddon (1889). Contributions to the Anatomy of Fishes. I. The Airbladder and Weberian Ossicles in the Siluridae. ''

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

'' 46: 309–28 *T. W. Bridge (1878). On the osteology of ''Polydon folium''. ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

'' 169: 683–733

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge, T. W. 1848 births 1909 deaths Scientists from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Birmingham Fellows of the Royal Society English zoologists