Abstract
THIS volume, which is one of a series, entitled “Builders of Greater Britain,” and edited by Mr. H. F. Wilson, does not call for much comment in a journal devoted to science. The author of the biography naturally deals mainly with Sir Stamford Raffles as an administrator in the Straits Settlements and the Malay Archipelago, and only incidentally, and that very briefly, refers to him as a zoologist. Raffles was, as everybody knows, one of the founders, and the first president, of the Zoological Society of London; and his bust adorns the lion house of that society. Mr. Egerton, in narrating this fact, is chiefly impressed by “how much innocent pleasure this distinguished child-lover has given to countless thousands of children” by his successful efforts in this direction. He mentions, however, the collections which he took care to make, and which were largely reported upon by Dr. Horsfield. In those days much that was brought back from the East in the way of zoological specimens was quite new to science, and the animals had to have names given to them; it is not such a great compliment as Mr. Egerton seems to think to name a species Gymnura rafflesii, after Sir Stamford. This compliment is usually paid to the capturer of a new form, and it is ridiculous to say that “Raffles' reputation in the scientific world is attested by the fact that the great French naturalist, M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, described a new variety of animal under the specific name ‘Rafflesii.’”
Sir Stamford Raffles: England in the Far East.
By H. E. Egerton Pp. xx + 290. (London: Unwin, 1900.)
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Sir Stamford Raffles: England in the Far East . Nature 62, 548 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/062548b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/062548b0