Thomas George Bond Howes, FRS (7 September 1853

Newington, London Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County ...

- 4 February 1905

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

) was an English zoologist.

Life

He was born, probably in Kennington, London, the eldest son of hosier Thomas Johnson Howes and Augusta Mary Bond, daughter of George Augustus Bond, a captain in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's service. Howes was assistant professor of zoology at the

Normal School of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

from 1885. From 1895, Howes was first professor of zoology at the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

in South Kensington. After being introduced to

Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The storie ...

in 1874, his skill as a draughtsman and enthusiasm as a naturalist led to his being employed as assistant to Huxley. He was tasked with developing a system of practical instruction in biology at the Normal School of Science and the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

at Kensington, where he was appointed demonstrator of biology in 1880. Howes was an eminently gifted teacher. The comprehensiveness of the biology courses at the Royal College of Science attested to his knowledge and thoroughness. He invested much of his energy in founding and supporting societies concerned with the natural sciences, serving as office bearer in many of these. His drawing skills were well above average: the Atlas of Elementary Biology (1885) was illustrated entirely with his drawings. Howes's main interest lay with the comparative anatomy of the

Vertebrata Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

, a field to which he made significant contributions. An important account, which Howes co-authored with H. H. Swinnerton, dealt with the development of the skeleton of the

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

reptile, the Tuatara or ''

Sphenodon Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language a ...

'' and appeared in Transactions of the Zoological Society, 1901.

John Edmund Sharrock Moore John Edmund Sharrock Moore ARCS (10 May 1870 – 15 January 1947) was an English biologist, best known for being co-publisher of the term meiosis and leading two expeditions to Tanganyika. Personal life Born at Swinshaw near Loveclough, Ross ...

worked within Howes's laboratory from 1892 - 1905. He was elected

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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1897,

Legum Doctor Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

at St Andrews in 1898, and

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

at Manchester in 1899. He was President of the

Malacological Society of London The Malacological Society of London is a British learned society and charitable organisation concerned with malacology, the study of molluscs, a large phylum of invertebrate animals divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two ar ...

(1895-1896), Treasurer of the

Anatomical Society The Anatomical Society (AS), previously known as the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland or ASGBI was founded in London in 1887 to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". The society o ...

, Zoological Secretary 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 ...

and a Member of the Council of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. Bathanalia howsei, the type species of the genus Bathanalia, is named after him.Moore J. E. (1898). "The mollusks of the Great African lakes. 2. The anatomy of the Typhobias, with a description of a new genus (''Batanalia'') (sic)". ''

Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered with P ...

'' 41
181
204
page 192
Plat
11
14.

Personal life

In 1881 Howes married Annie, daughter of James Watkins. They had one daughter.

Publications

''Zoology and Food Fishes'' (1883)''Atlas of practical elementary biology'' (1885)
*''Atlas of practical elementary zootomy'' (1902)

Notes

References

* *
Obituary notes in Journal of Molluscan Studies 6.6 (1905): 315-318
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, George Bond 1853 births 1905 deaths English zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society