William Henry Benson

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William Henry Benson (* 1803 in Dublin , Ireland , † January 27, 1870 in Cheltenham ) was a civil servant in British India . He was particularly interested in malacology . He had a considerable collection of molluscs . In his publications he described many species .

Live and act

Until 1819, Benson attended Haileybury College . He later worked for the British East India Company in Bengal . He arrived in Calcutta on October 30, 1821 . He took several positions a. a. as head of administration or acting judge in Merath , Bareli and other parts of northern India. During his time in India he collected lots of land snails , which he sent to Hugh Cuming in England. When he returned from a trip from Mauritius in April 1847 , he brought some large agate snails ( Achatina fulica ) for a friend. This she later exposed in a garden in Chowringhee, a district of Calcutta. This species is still a plague in parts of India today.

His son-in-law Major Richard Hieram Sankey became the executor of the inheritance. His collection went to the British ornithologist Sylvanus Charles Thorp Hanley . Unfortunately, he removed all the labels. This reduced the value of the Benson collection considerably.

Genera according to Benson

  • Pterocycle (Benson, 1832)
  • Oxygyrus (Benson, 1835)
  • Batillaria (Benson, 1842)
  • Diplommatina (Benson, 1849)
  • Streptaulus (Benson, 1857)
  • Dioryx (Benson, 1859)
  • Clostophis (Benson, 1860)
  • Rhiostoma (Benson, 1860)

Species according to Benson

  • Carinaria cithara (Benson, 1835)
  • Carinaria galea (Benson, 1835)
  • Musculista senhousia (Benson, 1842)
  • Senhousei muscle (Benson, 1842)

literature

  • Walter Auffenberg: Historical malacology: William Benson (1803-1870) , American Conchologist, 2000, p. 24.
  • Fred Naggs: William Benson and the early study of land snails in British India and Ceylon , Archives of Natural History, 1997, pp. 37-88
  • William Henry Benson: Conchological notes, chiefly relating to the land and freshwater shells of the Dpab and the Gangetic Provinces of Hindostan , Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1832, 75-77.
  • William Henry Benson: Descriptive catagogue of a collection of land and freshwater shells chielfy in the Museum of Asiatic Society , Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1836, 75-77.
  • William Henry Benson: Geographical notices and characters of fourteen new species of Cyclostomacea from the East Indies. Annals and Magazine of Natural History , 1851, pages 184-195.
  • William Henry Benson: Notes on the genus Cyclostoma and characters of new species from India, Borneo and Natal , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1852, pages 268-272.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of four Indian species of Cyclophorus Montfort, Followed by notes on the geographical distribution of the genera of the Cyclostomacea with remarks in its affinities and notes on several opercula , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1854, pages 411-418 .
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of Streptaulus a new genus and several species of the Cyclostomacea from Sikkim, the Khasi Hills Ava and Pegu , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1857, pp. 201-211.
  • William Henry Benson: Description of new species of Helix, Streptaxis, Vitrina, collected by W. Theobald, Jun in Burmah, the Khasi Hills and Hindustan , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1859, pages 184-189.
  • William Henry Benson: New Helicidae collected by W. Theobald Esq. Jun in Burmah and the Khasi Hills and characters of a new Burmese Streptaxis described by WH Benson Esq. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1859, pages 387-392.
  • William Henry Benson: Observations on the shell and animal of Hybocyctis, a new genus of Cyclostomidae based on Megalomastoma gravidum and Otopoma blenus with notes on other living shells from India and Burmah , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1859, pp. 90-93.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of new land shells from Burma and the Andamans , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1860, pp. 190-195.
  • William Henry Benson: Notes on Plectopylis, a group a Helicidae distinguished by several internal plicate ephiphragms; with the characters of a new species , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1860, pages 243-247.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of new land shells of the genus Helix, Clausilia, Spiraxis from Andamans, Moulmein, Northern India and Ceylon , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1863, pp. 87-91.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of new land shells from the Andamans island, Burma and Ceylon and of the animal of Sophina , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1863, 318–323.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of new operculate land shells from the Andamans and of Indo Burmese species of Pupa , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1863., pp. 425-429.
  • William Henry Benson: Characters of Coilostele an undescribed genus of Auriculacea and of species of Helix, Pupa and Ancylus from India, West Africa and Ceylon , Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1864, pages 87-91.
  • William Henry Benson: Note on transportation et la naturalization au Bengale de l 'Achatina fulica de Lamarck , Journal de Conchyliologie, 1858, pp. 336–339

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Giant African Land Snail Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich) in Nepal ( Memento from August 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ William Benson and the early study of land snails in British India and Ceylon by Fred Naggs (PDF; 48.3 MB)
  3. ↑ Article in PDF
personal data
SURNAME Benson, William Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British malacologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1870
Place of death Cheltenham