Clifton Fremont Hodge (16 October 1859 – 1949) was an American professor of physiology who worked at
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 ...
. An educator and a keen experimental biologist, he took great interest in
natural history,
animal behavior
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...
, and public understanding of biology, taking an active role in public debates on
vivisection
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...
, experimentation on animals, conservation, and
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
. He opposed a bounty offered for specimens of the last few
passenger pigeons
The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habi ...
which was eventually withdrawn. His textbook ''Civic Biology'' (1919) was the last biology text dealing with evolution before the anti-evolution movement began in 1920.
Biography
Hodge was born in
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...
on 16 October 1859 to Mary (Merrill) and Nelson Wellington.
He graduated with a BA from
Ripon College in 1882, and worked as a civil engineer in Montana and Wyoming before joining
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 ...
in 1886. Receiving a Ph.D. in 1889 he also worked in the university museum as a curator and was a fellow in biology. He worked as a naturalist on the
USFC Fish Hawk and then joined Clark University where he worked on neurobiology while also promoting biological education at all levels including sex education in high schools. He demonstrated fatigue in nerve cells by continuous stimulation of sympathetic and spinal ganglia of frogs. He conducted experiments on the effect of alcohol to cats and dogs. He then moved to the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. From 1913 he served as professor of biology at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
. He studied problems related to nuisance insects and worked on efficient traps.
Hodge was an advocate of animal experiments and opposed the arguments of anti-vivisectionists. In 1896, he commented that "after conscientiously reading their literature for the past five years I feel warranted in saying that science has little to fear from the efforts of the antivivisection societies." His textbook ''Civic Biology'' (1919) coauthored with Jean Dawson (who was later his wife) was among the last pro-evolution texts to be published prior to the 1920s
anti-Darwinian
Objections to evolution have been raised since History of evolutionary thought, evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the 19th century. When Charles Darwin published his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'', his theory of evolution (the idea ...
movement.
He became a professor of extension at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
around 1919, taking an interest in applied biology, including local problems relating to flies and mosquitoes.
![Clifton_Hodge_SIA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Clifton_Hodge_SIA.jpg)
Hodge was a keen naturalist, outdoors educator, and a member of the
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...
(AOU). At the 1909 meeting of the AOU he raised issue with the $100 reward being offered by Colonel
Anthony Kuser for fresh specimens of the
passenger pigeon
The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...
and stated that he would not shoot a pigeon for even $1000. Kuser subsequently changed the reward to $300 for evidence of breeding. Hodge was also interested in animal as well as human behavior and introduced the idea of the ball and field test which was developed by his student
Lewis M. Terman
Lewis Madison Terman (January 15, 1877 – December 21, 1956) was an American psychologist and author. He was noted as a pioneer in educational psychology in the early 20th century at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. He is best known f ...
more formally and used in psychology studies.
He examined how animals navigated their habitat and was critical of any suggestions of unknown senses and suggested rigorous experimental approaches. He wrote that "''All animals, from amoeba to man, spend a good share of their time searching for something or other. May there not be a fundamental logic of search as universal as the search itself?. . .What is the path or curve of logical search?''" and experimented on animal and human search strategies. Hodge examined homing pigeons and noted that there was learning involved in their homing.
He also attempted to domesticate ruffed grouse and raised bobwhite quails. He influenced the ornithologist
Margaret Morse Nice
Margaret Morse Nice (December 6, 1883 – June 26, 1974) was an American ornithologist, ethologist, and child psychologist who made an extensive study of the life history of the song sparrow and was author of ''Studies in the Life History of the S ...
.
File:Girl_and_partridge_-_hodge.jpg
File:Saving_tadpoles_-_hodge.jpg
File:Taming_partridge_-_hodge.jpg
File:Toad_-_hodge.jpg
Personal life
He married Thekla Johanna Eversz (1858–1930), of Wesel, Germany in 1888
and they had two children. He married Jean Dawson (1872-24 April 1928
) in 1915 and settled in Sebring, Florida where he died.
Selected publications
''The Bobwhite''(1890)
''A Microscopical Study of Changes Due to Functional Activity in Nerve Cells''(1892)
''The Vivisection Question''(1896)
''Experiments on the Physiology of Alcohol Made Under the Auspices of the Committee of Fifty''(1897)
''Nature Study. Our Common Birds.(1899)
''Nature Study and Life''(1902)
''Civic Biology''(1918)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Clifton F.
1859 births
1949 deaths
American civil engineers
American naturalists
American physiologists
Johns Hopkins University alumni
People from Janesville, Wisconsin
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Vivisection activists
Writers from Wisconsin
Clark University faculty