William Henry Flower

Sir William Henry Flower ( born November 30, 1831 in Stratford- upon- Avon, † July 1, 1899 in London) was an English physician.

Life and work

William Henry Flower was the second son of the brewer Edward Fordham Flower (1805-1883) and his wife Celina Greaves ( 1804-1884 ). His brother was Charles Edward Flower ( 1830-1892 ). 1849 Flower was enrolled at University College London for the study of zoology, where he studied physiology at William Sharpey. In the same year he began his medical training at the Hospital of Middlesex. In 1851 he was at the University College examinations for Bachelor of Arts. March 27, 1854 was Flower Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. A month later, on 28 April 1854, he joined the medical department of the British Army during the Crimean War and was assistant surgeon at the 63rd Regiment of Foot. However, because of health problems he already retired on May 1, 1855 from service and returned to England. In May 1857 Flower passed the exams for admission as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

1858 Flower married the youngest daughter of the astronomer and hydrographer William Henry Smyth. From 1858 to 1861 he worked as an assistant surgeon at the Middlesex Hospital and was curator of the Middlesex Hospital Museum. After the death of John Thomas Quekett (1815-1861) he was in September 1861 curator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons (Hunter Museum), a position he held until March 13, 1884. As followers of Thomas Henry Huxley Flower was from 1870 to 1884 Hunter professor of comparative anatomy and physiology. Following the resignation of Richard Owen from the post of Director of the Natural History Museum, he served from June 1884 to July 1889 as the new director of the museum. When from 11 to September 18, 1889 joint meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Newcastle Flower held the position of president.

William Henry Flower was a member of numerous scientific societies. He was a member of the Council of the Zoological Society of London from 1962 to 1869, from 1876 to 1899 and from 5 February 1879 to his death in their president. On 20 March 1862 he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. On 2 June 1864 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, for which he served until 1886, 1868-1870, 1876-1878 and 1884 as a member of the Council. The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland chose him for the period from 1883 to 1885 as its president.

Honors

Flower received in 1882 "for his valuable contributions to the morphology and classification of mammals and Anthropology", the Royal Medal. On June 21, 1887 it was the Bathorden 3rd class (CB) and on 20 August 1892 Bathorden 2nd class ( KCB ) the Order of the Bath conferred.

Works (selection)

Diagrams of the Nerves of the Human Body Exhibiting Their origin, divisions and connections, With Their distribution to the various regions of the cutaneous surface and to all the muscles. Churchill, London, 1861.
An Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia. London 1870, edition of 1885
Fashion in Deformity: As illustrated in the customs of barbarous and civilized races. 1882 online.
The Horse: a Study in Natural History. 1890th online
Introduction to the Study of Mammals, living and extinct. London 1891 -. Starring Richard Lydekker, online
Essays on Museums and other Subjects. London 1898 online

Journal articles

On the posterior lobes of the cerebrum of the Quadrumana. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Volume 152, 1862, pp. 185-201. online
On the Brain of the Javan Loris ( Stenops javenicus ). In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society London. London, 1862, pp. 103-105.
On the Brain of the Siamang. In: Natural History Review Volume 3, London, 1863, pp. 279-287.
On the Brain of the red Howling Monkey ( Alouatta seniculus ). In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society London. London 1864, pp. 335-338.

Evidence

Frederic Boase: Modern English Biography: Containing Many Thousand Concise Memoirs of Persons who Have Died Since the Year 1850, with at Index of the most Interesting Matter. Netherton and Worth, Truro: 1892-1921, 6 volumes.
Obituary: Sir William Henry Flower, KCB, FRS, FRCS In: British medical journal. Volume 2, 1899, pp. 123-124, doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.2010.123.