Andrew Dickson Murray
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
FRPSE FLS (19 February 1812,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
– 10 January 1878,
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
) was a Scottish lawyer, botanist, zoologist and
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
. Murray studied insects which caused
crop damage, specialising in the ''
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
''. In botany, he specialised in the ''
Coniferae'', in particular the
Pacific rim
The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire.
List of co ...
conifer species.
He served as president of the
Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh was a learned society based in Edinburgh, Scotland "for the cultivation of the physical sciences".
The society was founded in 1771 as the Physico-Chirurgical Society but soon after changed its name to the ...
during 1858–59.
Life
He was born at 17 Forth Street in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, on 19 February 1812, and was son of William Murray WS of Conland (now part of
Glenrothes
Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...
) and Duncrivie (near Kinross), and his wife Mary Thompson (d.1871).
Murray was apprenticed in law under his father, and became a
Writer to the Signet
The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of document ...
in 1837, joined the firm of Murray & Rhind, and for some time practised in Edinburgh.
His earliest scientific papers were entomological, and did not appear until he was forty.
On the death of the Rev. John Fleming, professor of
natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
in
New College, Edinburgh
New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Student ...
, in 1857, Murray took up his work for one session, and in the same year he became a fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
.
On the foundation of the Oregon Exploration Society, he became its secretary, and this apparently first aroused his interest in Western North America and in the Coniferae.
In 1858–9, Murray acted as president of the
Botanical Society of Edinburgh
The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities includ ...
, and in 1860, abandoning the legal profession, he came to London and became assistant secretary to the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
(1860–5).
In 1861, he was elected fellow of the
Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.
In 1868, he joined the scientific committee of the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
, and in 1877 was appointed its scientific director.
In 1868, he began the collection of economic entomology for the Science and Art Department, now at the
Bethnal Green Museum
Bethnal were a British rock band formed in 1972. In 1978, they released two albums on Vertigo Records: ''Dangerous Times'', produced by Kenny Laguna; and ''Crash Landing''; produced by Jon Astley and Phil Chapman,
with special thanks to Pete Tow ...
.
In 1869, he went to
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
as one of the delegates to the botanical congress, and in 1873 to Utah and California to report on some mining concessions.
This latter journey seems to have permanently injured his health.
He died at
Bedford Gardens,
Campden Hill
Campden Hill is a hill in Kensington, West London, bounded by Holland Park Avenue on the north, Kensington High Street on the south, Kensington Palace Gardens on the east and Abbotsbury Road on the west. The name derives from the former ''Campde ...
,
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, on 10 January 1878.
His chief contributions to entomology deal with ''Coleoptera'', the unfinished monograph of the ''Nitidulariae'', in the Linnean ''Transactions'' (vol. xxiv. 1863–4), undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. J. E. Gray, being perhaps the most important.
His chief work on the ''Coniferae'' was to have been published by the Ray Society, but was never completed.
Murray has been described as a forgotten pioneer in
cave biology.
[Moseley, Max. (2015)]
''A forgotten British cave biology pioneer: Andrew Dickson Murray''
'' Cave and Karst Science'' 42 (2): 60–62.
Opposition to natural selection
Murray was a prominent opponent of the
Darwin-Wallace model of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
.
[Glick, Thomas F. (1988). ''The Comparative Reception of Darwinism''. University of Chicago Press. p. 52. ][Clark, John F. M. (2009). ''Bugs and the Victorians''. Yale University Press. p. 113. ] Murray believed that
hybridization was a better explanation for
mimicry
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...
than natural selection. He contended that hybridization, modification and reversion to type had been set in motion by God.
Murray used the argument of the absence of intermediate evolutionary forms. He cited the example of eyeless insects of the same genera existing in isolated caves in distant parts of the world as evidence against natural selection.
Darwin described his objection as an "ingenious difficulty" but suggested he had little doubt that such insects were examples of
living fossil
A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossi ...
s.
In 1860, Murray reviewed Darwin's ''
On the Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
'' in the ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh''. He had sent proof-sheets of his review to Darwin before it was published. Darwin in a letter to Murray wrote "I thank you from my heart for your most kind letter. I never knew or heard of a hostile Reviewer doing so kind & generous an action."
Some later biographers have described Murray as holding
creationist
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...
views.
However, in his book ''The Geographical Distribution of Mammals'' (1866), he stated his issue was with natural selection, not the origin of species and that he "thoroughly accepted the theory that species are not produced by independent creation, but that, under the operation of a general law, the germs of organisms produce new forms different from themselves, when particular circumstances call the law into action."
[Murray, Andrew. (1866)]
''The Geographical Distribution of Mammals''
London: Day & Son, Limited. p. 4 In December, 1868 he presented an anti-Darwinian paper to the
Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.
Selected publications
*1853 ''Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland'' Edinburgh, London, W. Blackwood and sons.
*186
''On Mr Darwin's theory of the origin of species'' ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh'' 4: 274–291.
*1860 ''On the Disguises of Nature; Being An Inquiry into the Laws which regulate External Form and Colour in Plants and Animals''. ''
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal
The ''Edinburgh Philosophical Journal'' was founded by its editors Robert Jameson and David Brewster in 1819 as a scientific journal to publish articles on the latest science of the day. In 1826 the two editors fell out, and Jameson continued publ ...
'' 11: 66–90.
*1861 ''On the pediculi infesting the different races of man '' Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb. 22: 567
*186
''The Geographical Distribution of Mammals''*1867 ''List of Coleoptera received from Old Calabar''. ''
Annals and Magazine of Natural History
The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') a ...
'' (3rd series) 19: 167–179.
*186
''The Journal of Travel and Natural History'' London: Williams & Norgate.
*187
''Mimicry and Hybridisation'' ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' 3: 54–56.
*1870 ''On the geographical relations of the chief coleopterous faunae''. ''J. Linn. Soc.'' 11: 1–89.
*187
''Mimicry versus Hybridisation'' ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' 3: 186–187.
*1877 ''Economic entomology'' Chapman and Hall, London.
References
;Attribution
Sources
*Anonym 1878
urray, A.''
Entomologist's Monthly Magazine
''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' is a British entomological journal, founded by a staff of five editors – T. Blackburn, H. G. Knaggs, M.D., R. McLachlan, F.L.S., E. C. Rye and H. T. Stainton – and first published in 1864.Wale, Matthew ...
'' (3) 14 1877-78 215-216
*Anonym 1879
urray, A.''Petites Nouv. Ent''. 2 (Nr. 190) 207.
*
Kraatz, G. 1878
urray, A.''Dtsch. ent. Ztschr''. 22 229.
*
Marseul, S. A. de 1883 Les Entomologistes et leurs Écrits (Entomologists and their writings) ''L'Abeille'' (4) 21(=3) 61-120 106–107.,
*Musgrave, A. 1932 ''Bibliography of Australian Entomology'' 1775–1930. Sydney 233.
*
Westwood, J. O. 1877
urray, A.''Trans. Ent. Soc. London'', London
877XXXIX.
External links
Internet ArchiveDigitised ''Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland''
* http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/MURR1812.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Andrew
1812 births
1878 deaths
Scottish entomologists
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Scottish botanists
Scientists from Edinburgh
19th-century Scottish people
19th-century British scientists
Scottish zoologists
Scottish solicitors
Scottish agronomists
Scottish scholars and academics
Academics of the University of Edinburgh