Archibald Currie MacGilchrist (born Killarrow, on the island of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

24 May 1872 - died Calcutta, India 14 May 1948) was a British Army medical officer and naturalist from Scotland. He graduated as a Master of Arts from the University of Glasgow in 1894. In 1898 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh as a Vans Dunlop scholar and a

M.B.Ch.B Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

, later gaining a D.Sc. in 1911. On 27 January 1900 he was appointed a lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service of the British Army, on 27 January 1903 he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, by 1911 he was a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. In 1927 he retired on his 50th birthday with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He was attached to the

7th Lancers The 7th Hariana Lancers was a cavalry regiment in the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1846 and in 1921 was amalgamated with the 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry to form the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry. The unit was formed in 1846 as a regime ...

as part of the No. 57 Native Field Hospital, during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

and received the China War Medal for his part in the Siege of the International Legations in Peking, for which he also received the Military Order of the Dragon from the Chinese Government. His scientific work included research on quinine and its salts and he was Surgeon-Naturalist on board ''R.I.M.S. Investigator''. His other scientific interest was the

decapod crustaceans The Decapoda or decapods (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estima ...

of the Indian Ocean. His fellow Indian Medical Service officer, Alfred William Alcock. named an anomuran, '' Pylocheles (Bathycheles) macgilchristi'' in his honour. McGilchrist named the deep see fish ''

Dysalotus alcocki ''Dysalotus alcocki'' is a species of deep sea fish, a swallower, from the family Chiasmodontidae which is found in the tropical and temperate oceans around the world. The adults fed mainly on fish. The juveniles and larvae are most frequently r ...

'' in honour of Alcock in gratitude for the guidance and help he gave MacGilchrist. After retiring MacGilchrist appears to have remained in India and he died of unknown causes in Calcutta on 14 May 1948 at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGilchrist, Archibald Currie Indian Medical Service officers 1872 births 1948 deaths Scottish zoologists Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Islay

See also

References