Richard Pulteney

Richard Pulteney ( born February 17, 1730 in Loughborough, † October 13, 1801 in Blandford, Dorset ) was an English physician and botanist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " desk. "

Life and work

Richard Pulteney was the son of Samuel Pulteney nonconformists. He went to the Grammar School in Loughborough and then took up an apprenticeship as a pharmacist. During his training, he moved with his teacher after Mountsorrel. He then practiced as a surgeon and apothecary in Leicester.

Pulteney studied the flora of Leicestershire and compiled a plant catalog, which was published in 1757 in the Philosophical Transactions. From 1760 he wrote mostly botanical contributions to the Gentleman's Magazine. On November 25, 1762, he was admitted as a member of the Royal Society, in 1764 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a thesis on the cinchona tree bark China officinalis his degree as a doctor of medicine.

In the same year he was introduced to William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath ( 1684-1764 ), who recognized him as relatives and for which he was to work as a doctor, but what his death prevented. Pulteney 1765 took a job as a doctor in Blandford in Dorsetshire, where he remained through his life. He married at about 50 years.

In 1781 he wrote in A general view of the writings of Linnaeus on the life and writings of Carl von Linné. By 1790, published three volumes Historical and biographical sketches of the progress of botany in England ... he made a great contribution to the reappraisal of the botanical history of Great Britain. In 1790 he became a member of the Linnean Society in 1793 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

At the age of 71 years he died in 1801 of pneumonia. His collection of shells and minerals, as well as his herbarium he left the Linnean Society. His herbarium is now in the British Museum.

Ehrentaxon

James Edward Smith named in his honor the genus Pultenaea the plant family Leguminosae ( Fabaceae ).

Writings (selection )

In Philosophical Transactions

  • An Acount of some of the more rare English Plants Observed in Leicestershire. In: Philosophical Transactions. Volume 49, 1757, pp. 803-866 ( doi: 10.1098/rstl.1755.0113 ).
  • A catalog of some of the more rare plants found in the neighborhood of Leicester, Loughborough and in Charley Forest. In: Philosophical Transactions. Volume 49, p 866, 1757
  • In The Case of a Man, Whose Heart Found What Enlarged to a Very Uncommon size. In: Philosophical Transactions. Volume 52, 1761/1762
  • A Letter from Richard Pulteney, M.D. F.R.S. to William Watson, M.D. F.R.S. Concerning the Medicinal Effects of a Poisonous Plant Exhibited Instead of the Water Parsnep. In: Philosophical Transactions. Volume 62, 1772

Original editions

  • Dissertatio medica inauguralis, de Cinchona officinalis linnaei; sive Cortice Peruviano ... Edinburgh, 1764
  • A general view of the writings of Linnaeus. London, 1781
  • Historical and biographical sketches of the progress of botany in England: from its origin to the introduction of the Linnaean System. London, 1790-3 volumes
  • The history and description of a minute epiphyllous lycoperdon growing on the leaves of the Anemone nemorosa. London, 1794
  • Catalogues of the Birds, Shells, and some of the more rare Plants of Dorsetshire. London, 1799
  • Observations on the use of the Ranunculus aquatilis economiocal with introductory remarks on the acrimonious and poisonous quality of some of the English species of genus did. London, 1800

German editions

  • D.Richard Pulteney 's History of botany to the modern times, with besondrer regard to England. For connoisseurs and amateurs. Leipzig, 1798 - Translator: Karl Gottlob Kühn.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society International Plant Names Index Integrated Authority File
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