Malcolm Arthur Smith (1875 in

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

– 1958 in Ascot) was a

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

working in the Malay Peninsula.

Early life

Smith was interested in reptiles and

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s from an early age. After completing a degree in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and surgery in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1898, he left for the then

Kingdom of Siam Kingdom of Siam may refer to: * Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1351) * Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351–1767) * Thonburi Kingdom (1768–1782) * Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932) * Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and official ...

(today

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

) as a doctor to the British Embassy in Bangkok. In 1921 he married Eryl Glynne of Bangor, who as well as being medically trained, made significant collections of ferns from Thailand and later worked at RBG Kew. She was killed in a car crash near Bangkok in 1930. The couple had three children including the mountaineer Cymryd "Cym" Smith, also killed in a road acciden

Eryl was the elder sister of the mountaineer and plant pathologist Mary Dilys Glynne.

Work

Smith went on to become the physician in the royal court of

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

and was a close confidant and a doctor to the royal family. He published his observations on the reptiles and amphibians during his stint there and was in regular correspondence with Boulenger at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. He left in 1925 to continue his studies at the museum in London. He was the founder and president of the

British Herpetological Society The British Herpetological Society (BHS) is an international herpetological society based in the United Kingdom. The BHS is a non-profit organization with goals to support the conservation, education and captive care of reptiles and amphibians. ...

which operated from within 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 ...

Legacy

Malcolm Smith is commemorated in the scientific names of six species of reptiles: '' Hemidactylus malcolmsmithi'', '' Dibamus smithi'', ''Enhydris smithi'' (synonym of ''

Enhydris jagorii ''Enhydris'' is a genus of slightly venomous, rear-fanged, snakes in the family Homalopsidae. The genus is endemic to the tropical area of Indo-Australian region. Species The following 6 species are recognized: * '' Enhydris chanardi'' Murph ...

)'', '' Fimbrios smithi'', '' Trimeresurus malcolmi'', and '' Typhlops malcolmi''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Malcolm/Malcolm Smith", p. 166; "Smith, M.A.", p. 247).

Publications

*(1926). ''Monograph of the Sea-snakes''. *(1947). ''A Physician at the Court of Siam'' *(1931–1943). ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books th ...

''. 3 volumes on Reptiles and Amphibians. *(1951). ''The British Amphibians and Reptiles''.

References

External links

Biography
1875 births 1958 deaths British herpetologists New Naturalist writers Expatriates in the Rattanakosin Kingdom {{UK-zoologist-stub