Charles Lincoln Edwards (December 8, 1863 – May 6, 1937) was an American zoologist. His research included studies of development in reptiles and

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

s, chromosomes of ''

Ascaris ''Ascaris'' is a genus of parasite, parasitic nematode worms known as the "small intestinal roundworms", which is a type of parasitic worm. One species, ''Ascaris lumbricoides'', affects humans and causes the disease ascariasis. Another species ...

'' roundworms, and taxonomy of sea cucumbers and

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s, naming at least five species of copepods found in sea cucumber body cavities. Edwards was a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and a member of the

American Society of Zoologists The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology is organized to integrate the many fields of specialization which occur in the broad field of biology.. The society was formed in 1902 as the American Society of Zoologists, through the merger of ...

, the

American Society of Naturalists The American Society of Naturalists was founded in 1883 and is one of the oldest professional societies dedicated to the biological sciences in North America. The purpose of the Society is "to advance and diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and o ...

, and Southern California Academy of Sciences, as well as the

Mexican Society for Geography and Statistics Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, Mexican Society of Natural History, and Antonio Alzate Scientific Society. He had a secondary interest in folklore, being the author of ''Bahama Songs and Stories,'' and was in 1889 the president of the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsible ...

. Edwards was a member of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...

and was inducted into the Distinguish Service Chapter in recognition of his lifetime involvement. Edwards was born in

Oquawka, Illinois Oquawka is a village in Henderson County, Illinois, Henderson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,371 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Henderson County. Oquawka is part of the Burlington, Iowa, Burlington, Iowa, IA&n ...

, on December 8, 1863, to John and Nancy (Stockton) Edwards. His father, of Welsh descent, was a banker and member of the Indiana legislature. Edwards attended

Lombard College Lombard College was a Universalist college located in Galesburg, Illinois. History Lombard College was founded in 1853 by the Universalist Church as the Illinois Liberal Institute. In 1855, however, a major fire damaged much of the college, p ...

and joined the Lambda (prime) chapter of

. In 1882, he transferred to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

where he founded the Beta Eta Chapter of Delta Tau Delta in 1883. He also served as Western Division President of Delta Tau Delta from 1883 to 1884. He returned to

in 1884 and received his B.S. degree. He subsequently pursued another B.S degree at the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. While he was at Indiana, he refounded the Beta Alpha chapter of Delta Tau Delta. In 1886, he determined to devote himself to the study of biology. He studied three years at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and then went to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he received Ph.D. in 1890. He worked for two years as graduate fellow in

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

, Massachusetts, and became assistant professor of biology at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where after two years he was dismissed for libeling a member of the board of regents. He was made full professor at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

in 1894 and remained there six years. From 1900 to 1910 he was the J. Pierpont Morgan Professor of Natural History in

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Connecticut. He then moved to

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

where he was associate professor of biology (1911–1912), and Professor of Embryology and Histology (1912–1913). Beginning in 1912 he was director of

nature studies The nature study movement (alternatively, Nature Study or nature-study) was a popular education movement that originated in the United States and spread throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nature study ...

in Los Angeles city schools. Edwards was married to Jessie Withers Safford on June 5, 1889. He died May 6, 1937, at the age of 73. A species of eel, ''

Moringua edwardsi ''Moringua edwardsi'', the common spaghetti eel, is an eel in the family Moringuidae (spaghetti/worm eels).David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and C. H. Bollman.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Charles Lincoln 1863 births 1937 deaths American zoologists People from Henderson County, Illinois Lombard College alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Leipzig University alumni Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty University of Cincinnati faculty University of Southern California faculty American folklorists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Presidents of the American Folklore Society