George Henry Horn (April 7, 1840 – November 24, 1897) was a U.S.

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

who specialized in the study of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Horn attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, from which he graduated with a degree in medicine in 1861. From 1862 to 1866, he served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

as surgeon to the infantry of the

California Volunteers California State Volunteer Units 1861 – 1866 The following are California State Volunteer Units that were active between 1861 – 1866 serving in the Union Army, most west of the Rocky Mountains in place of Federal troops: California Brigade ...

, during which time he collected insects extensively in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. He then returned to Philadelphia, where he established a medical practice, specializing in

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

, and was elected president of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, the predecessor of the

American Entomological Society The American Entomological Society was founded on March 1, 1859. It is the oldest continuously operating entomology society in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the oldest scientific societies in the United States. It is headquartered in Philade ...

. He would remain president of the latter society until his death. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1869. Working with the collection he had made during his service in the West, he published "more than 150 important papers, in addition to very many minor notes; in these papers about 150 genera and more than 1550 species are defined". He bequeathed his collections of insects to the American Entomological Society; they are now in the

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. According to the entomologist

Neal Evenhuis Neal Luit Evenhuis (born Kornelus Luit Evenhuis on 16 April 1952;) is an American entomologist. He works at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. Evenhuis has described over 500 species of insects since 1976, and is known both for his research and pecul ...

, Throughout his career, he worked closely with

John Lawrence LeConte John Lawrence LeConte (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomologist of the 19th century, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime,

, most notably as coauthor of the revised and expanded 1883 edition of LeConte's then-standard ''Classification of the Coleoptera of North America''; and after LeConte's death Horn was recognized as "easily the most eminent investigator in his chosen line of work".

References

External links

*
"A Biographical Notice of George Henry Horn"
by Philip P. Calvert, ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'', vol. XXV (1898)
"The Entomological Writings of George Henry Horn"
by Samuel Henshaw, ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'', vol. XXV (1898) {{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, George Henry 1840 births 1897 deaths Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni American entomologists Coleopterists Union Army surgeons Scientists from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War