Patrick Russell (herpetologist)
Patrick Russell (born February 6, 1727 in Edinburgh , † July 2, 1805 in London ) was a Scottish-British surgeon and herpetologist who was a pioneer in the study of Indian snakes.
He was the son of a well-known Edinburgh attorney, John Russell. His half-brother Alexander Russell (around 1715-1768) was also a doctor and naturalist who wrote a natural history of Aleppo (published 1756) and worked there as a doctor for the Levantic Trading Company. Patrick Russell also studied medicine in Edinburgh, received his doctorate in 1750 and joined his brother in Aleppo. When he returned to England in 1753, he took his position in Aleppo. He reported to his brother about plague epidemics in Aleppo (and about precursors of smallpox vaccination in Arabia) and wrote natural history reports which his brother (a Fellow of the Royal Society) presented to the Royal Society. After his brother's death, he published a new edition of his brother's natural history of Aleppo (1794). In 1771 he returned to England and became a doctor in London. There he made connections with members of the Royal Society and in 1777 became their Fellow. In 1781, at the family's request, he moved to India to support his younger brother Claud, who worked for the East India Company in Madras Province but was ailing. At the same time he began to explore the nature of India (in the area of Madras, the Karnatik ). In 1785 the East India Company offered him the post of botanist and naturalist to the Society for the Carnatics after his predecessor, John Koenig, died. In 1791 he returned to England. His successor in Madras was William Roxburgh .
In India he collected plants (his herbarium included 900 specimens) and dealt with snakes, primarily for the identification of venomous snakes. He also conducted experiments to test antidotes to snake bites. From 1796 he published a monograph on Indian snakes, with self-made drawings. Part of his collection went to the Museum of Madras and a large collection of snake skins went to the Natural History Museum in London.
The chain viper Daboia russelii was named in his honor.
Fonts
- An Account of Indian Serpents Collected on the Coast of Coromandel, London, Volume 1, 1796, Volume 2 in 4 parts 1801, 1802, 1807, 1809, digitized
- with Alexander Russell: A natural history of Aleppo, London: Robinson, 2 volumes 1794, Archives, Volume 1 , Archives, Volume 2
- A treatise of the plague: containing an historical journal, and medical account, of the plague, at Aleppo, in the years 1760, 1761, and 1762, London 1791, Archive
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ray Desmond: Dictionary Of British And Irish Botantists And Horticulturalists. Taylor & Francis, 1994, ISBN 0-85066-843-3 , p. 2605.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Russell, Patrick |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish surgeon and herpetologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 6, 1727 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Edinburgh |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 2, 1805 |
| Place of death | London |