Edward Blyth
1810-1873
S
Early Life
S Born in London in 1810
S Father died shortly after, leaving Edward to take care of family
S Never attended a formal university
S Studied chemistry under Mr. Keating
S Pharmacist, author, and editor
S Never made substantial amount of money
S 1841- Curator at Asiatic Society of Bengal
S Father of Indian ornithology
Ornithology
S Study of birds
S Concentrated research in India while working for the
museum
S Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1837-1840)
S Species of birds in India and Europe
S Field Naturalist (1840)
S Genus Ovis (sheep species)
S Catalogue of the Birds of the Asiatic Society (1849)
Blyth vs. Darwin
S Lived during same time period, though Blyth did not
necessarily believe in evolution
S Darwin stole ideas from Blyth?
S 1835 and 1837- Blyth expands on ideas presented by Charles
Lyell concerning natural and sexual selection in The Magazine
of Natural History
S While on the Beagle, Darwin had access to The Magazine of
Natural History
S 1837- Darwin began first notebook concerning species
S Blyth’s last notebook mysteriously belongs to Darwin without
being published
Blyth vs. Darwin
(cont’d)
S Darwin stole ideas from Blyth? (cont’d)
S Similar word choice between Blyth’s papers and Darwin’s
Origin of Species
S
“inosculate”
S Blyth’s views of natural selection
S Did not believe in the idea of a common ancestor
S Man is a creation of God and different from all other animals
Magazine of Natural History
(1835)
S Four varieties of animals:
S Simple variations
S Acquired variations
S Breeds
S True variety
S Racial color is a fixed trait
S Changes in traits are made by “Providence”
S Left his ideas open for interpretation
Later Years
S Returned back to London to recover from illness
S Fell into debt
S Attempted to help write a book, Birds of India, but suffered from a
mental breakdown
S Led to becoming an alcoholic
S Convicted of assault
S Died from heart disease in 1873
S Never truly recognized for the inspiration he gave Darwin
S Still seen as huge contributor to ornithology
Major Works
S Magazine of Natural History (1835 and 1837)
S Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1837-1840)
S Field Naturalist (1840)
S Animal Kingdom (edited section on Mammalia, Birds and
Reptiles in 1840)
S Catalogue of the Birds of the Asiatic Society (1849)
S Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma (1875)
Summary
S Father of Indian ornithology
S Spent years studying birds in India as the curator of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal
S Wrote about ideas that were possibly stolen by Darwin
S Theorized about variations of animals
S Inspiration for “survival of the fittest” theory
S Sadly forgotten and never truly advanced himself during his
lifetime
References
http://www.thedarwinpapers.com/oldsite/Number2/Dar
win2Html.htm
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/biogeog/BLYT1835.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Blyth
Eiseley, Loren. Darwin and the Mysterious Mr. X. New
York: E.P. Dutton, 1979.