Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling

Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling ( born December 31, 1818 in Wilkenhof, Livonia, now Lithuania, † December 6, 1871 in Nevada City, United States) was a German - Russian doctor and naturalist. Later he joined the U.S. citizenship.

Life

His parents were Johann Heinrich Tiling and Margaret, nee Pearson of Balmadis. He went to school in Riga and studied from 1838 to 1844 medicine at Dorpat, where he received his doctorate in 1844. Tiling was a doctor of the Russian North American Co. in Ajan, Siberia from 1845 to 1851. From 1853 to 1854 he was a doctor in Riga, 1854-1863 Doctor in Wenden and from 1863 to 1868 in Sitka, Alaska. Thereafter, he practiced as a physician in San Francisco and Nevada City (USA). He collected and described numerous species of plants in Siberia, Alaska and California from 1840 to 1871 such as the native to North America Gauklerblume ( Mimulus tilingii ).

A trip around the world

Immediately after his graduation he was offered as a doctor for the Russian-American company of the new main port of the Company on the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, Ayan to go. He married right after graduation Anna Elisabeth Fehr man. These accompanied him on the country travel to Siberia. Tiling learned the Russian language only during his journey to his new workplace. The journey apparently took longer than expected and the winter was falling. With difficulty the travelers Ajan reached on 4 December 1844 Tiling started its activity. Ajan had at that time about 100 inhabitants and the medical work claimed only about an hour per day. Tiling was thus able to indulge his observational scientific activity. One example is the temperature tables for Ajan, which emerged from 1847. He measured three times a day the temperature ( 7, 14 and 21 clock ), calculated monthly averages and monthly maximum and minimum temperatures. In addition, the cloud cover, the barometer and the wind direction was documented. Tiling collected intensively plants only in the immediate vicinity Ajans.

Back in Europe

After his return to Europe Tiling practiced initially in Riga. In 1854 he became a doctor at the turn 's district administration, a position which he retained until his departure for America again.

Second trip

From 1863 to 1868 was Tiling Staff doctor in Sitka, Alaska. Presumably there was a job at the Russian-American Compangnie, as previously described in Ajan, or when represented by the Russian governor of Alaska Russian government. Tiling married his second wife Anna Catharina dagger who had come with him to Alaska. The marriage took place in the Lutheran Church of Sitka.

At a later date Tiling went to Nevada City, California, where he also practiced as a doctor. Both collected in Sitka as well as in Nevada City and he shall continue to plants and kept in touch with his friends in St. Petersburg, which published the news about certain plants he in Europe.

Appreciation

Apparently the collection and categorization of plants he was at heart. This passion accompanied him all his life. He sent his various abodes plants, seeds and descriptions back to Europe. Long and Gumprecht, the reviewers of " A journey around the world .... ", praising him for popularizing the beautiful blooming and endemic in Ajan " Weigela Middendorfiana ", a garden perennial. Moreover Going wrote rule: " Dr. tiling it is at all, the culture thanked the introduction of many excellent plants of Siberia. " Long and Gumprechts review go by the way more than a short book review addition and include information on tilings journey that discussed in them original are not included. The extent of 21 pages is remarkable. Although it was published anonymously " A journey around the world," knew and named the reviewers and the author appreciated his presentation very much. At least under the German " experts " authorship seems to have been known. Certainly there have been prior to the review letter contact or a conversation between the author and the expert reviewers. Was particularly intense exchange of tilings with his time director of the botanical garden in St. Petersburg Eduard von rule, with whom he published his Florula ajanensis.

Trained as a medical doctor and is concerned with the study of plants were his concerns about his narrow field beyond. So he made about four years daily meteorological records of the weather in Ajan. This is probably the earliest systematic recording weather in eastern Siberia. Due to the scientifically trained intuition of different parts of the world one day (2010) formed at Tiling most modern development appearing picture of our world. The entrance to his lecture About the inhabitants of the sea, which he held in Riga after his return from Ajan, he looks at the differences in biodiversity in different parts of the sea. The Baltic Sea he keeps from his own experience for one of the species poorest inland seas. This is a scientific truism today. For the extinction of species he mentions in particular the Steller's sea cow as the best known example: " ... - we have yet witnessed the utter destruction of a Seethieres and recently the more on that in a sea, which we would consider to be large enough to his harried residents refuges to be able to offer ... ".

The great biodiversity of marine animals and the large number of individuals in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk near his former home Ajan he described vividly. He combined this knowledge with what is seen on his way back 1851 - 1852 as a ship's doctor of Ajan on Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Sitka, Hawaii, Tahiti, around Cape Horn and through the Atlantic back to Kronstadt and compared it with the situation in the Baltic Sea and came to the following conclusion: " ... Convert plus the flocks of sea lions, fur seals and walruses, which are locally encountered, and you will admit that we in great part thanks to the extinction of these animals in our Baltic Sea, the dead calm, which in the sight of the lake we wont to awaken. We are in a sense remained only the great frame of the giant image, which the Creator has placed us in the sea before our eyes. " He formulated already in 1854 concerns the environmental movement of our day.

Ehrentaxa, descriptions

The plant genus Tilingia Regel & Tiling is named in his honor. In addition, more than 20 species have been named after him; among which are:

• Erigeron tilingii Vorosch.
• Hieracium tilingii Üksip

• Arabis tilingii ( usually ) Berkut.
• Borodinia tilingii ( usually ) Berkut.
• Braya tilingii rule
• Hesperis tilingii Kuntze
• Sisymbrium tilingii E.Fourn.
• Smelowskia tilingii ( usually ) Vorosch.

• Streptopus tilingii ( usually ) Grey

• Oxytropis tilingii Bunge
• Spiesia tilingii Kuntze

Tilings author abbreviation is called according to IPNI over 40 entries to plant descriptions.