Arthur Milnes Marshall (1852–1893) was an English zoologist, known also as an administrator at
Victoria University.
Life
Born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
on 8 June 1852, he was the third son of William P. Marshall, secretary of the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
. In 1870, while still at school, he graduated B.A. at
London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
, and the following year entered
St John's College, Cambridge, to read for the
Natural Science Tripos
The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, w ...
. He was one of the first biology students following the reforms of
Francis Balfour, and took the classes of
Michael Foster. In 1874 he graduated B.A. with a top first, and was appointed in the early part of 1875 by
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
to their table at the new
Stazione Zoologica
The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell bio ...
, Naples. In the summer of the same year he returned to Cambridge, and during the October term he joined Balfour in giving a course of lectures and laboratory work in zoology.
In 1877 Marshall won an open science scholarship at
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...
, and in the same year he passed the M.B. examination at Cambridge, obtained the London degree of D.Sc., and was elected to a fellowship at St John's College. He was appointed, in 1879, at the age of 27, to the newly-established professorship of zoology at
Owens College, Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...
. There Marshall built a reputation as teacher and organiser. He graduated M.A. in 1878 and M.D. in 1882. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in 1885, and served on its council 1891–2. He was president of section D at the meeting of the
British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
at Leeds in 1890, and gave one of the popular discourses before the British Association at the Edinburgh meeting in 1892.
As an administrative move, Owens College became part of Victoria University in 1880.
There Marshall organised the courses of biological study. He was secretary, and subsequently chairman, of the board of studies. He was also secretary of the extension movement initiated by the university.
Death
Marshall's main recreation was mountain climbing, despite the death of his friend Francis Balfour on
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...
. In most long vacations he climbed in the Tyrol,
Switzerland, or on the Mont Blanc chain; and he passed Easter and Christmas vacations on the mountains of Wales and of the English
Lake District. On 31 December 1893, while he was engaged with friends in photographing the rocks of Deep Ghyll on
Scafell
Scafell ( or ; also spelled Sca Fell, previously Scawfell) is a mountain in the English Lake District, part of the Southern Fells. Its height of makes it the second-highest mountain in England after its neighbour Scafell Pike, from which ...
, a rock gave way beneath him. Falling backwards, he was killed instantaneously. A cross was cut on the rocks below Lord's Rake to mark the spot where his body fell.
He was unmarried.
Works
Between 1878 and 1882 Marshall published in the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'' "The Development of the Cranial Nerves in the Chick", 1878; "The Morphology of the Vertebrate Olfactory Organ", 1879; "Observations on the Cranial Nerves of Scyllium", 1881 (with W. Baldwin Spencer); "On the Head-cavities and associated Nerves of Elasmobranchs", 1881. In 1882 he published a memoir on "The Segmental Value of the Cranial Nerves" in the ''Journal of Anatomy and Physiology''. With his later researches on the anatomy of
Pennatulid corals, these papers form Marshall's significant contributions to zoology. A list of his major papers is in ''The Owens College, Manchester'', 1900, pp. 210, 211.
Marshall wrote three text-books, ''The Frog'' (1882, 7th edit. 1900), ''Practical Zoology'' (with Charles Herbert Hurst) (1887, 5th edit. 1899), and ''Vertebrate Embryology'' (1893). Other works were ''Biological Essays and Addresses'' (1894), and ''The Darwinian Theory'' (1894). A pithy speaker, he put
recapitulation theory
The theory of recapitulation, also called the biogenetic law or embryological parallelism—often expressed using Ernst Haeckel's phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny"—is a historical hypothesis that the development of the embryo of an a ...
in the form that animals "climb up their genealogical tree".
Notes
External links
Online Books pageArthur Milnes Marshall Papers University of Manchester Library
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
, University of Manchester
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Arthur Milnes
1852 births
1893 deaths
English zoologists
Fellows of the Royal Society
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge