The Wernerian Natural History Society (12 January 1808 – 16 April 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

, plants, insects, and scholarly expeditions. The Society was an offshoot of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, and from its beginnings it was a rather elite organization. The Society was named after

Abraham Gottlob Werner Abraham Gottlob Werner (; 25 September 174930 June 1817) was a German geologist who set out an early theory about the stratification of the Earth's crust and propounded a history of the Earth that came to be known as Neptunism. While most tenet ...

, a German geologist who was a creator of

Neptunism Neptunism is a superseded scientific theory of geology proposed by Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817) in the late 18th century, proposing that rocks formed from the crystallisation of minerals in the early Earth's oceans. The theory took its na ...

, a theory of superposition based on a receding primordial ocean that had deposited all the rocks in the crust.Scholarly Societies Project
, Wernerian Natural History Society. At this time all rocks, including

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

, and crystalline substances were thought by some to be precipitated from solution.Navigational Aids for the History of Science, Technology & the Environment
, Records of the Wernerian Natural History Society, UK.

History

Robert Jameson Robert Jameson Robert Jameson FRS FRSE (11 July 1774 – 19 April 1854) was a Scottish naturalist and mineralogist. As Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh for fifty years, developing his predecessor John ...

Regius Professor A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...

of Natural History at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, was the founder and life president of the Society. In 1800, he spent a year at the mining academy in

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, where he studied under Werner. The Society was founded on 12 January 1808, and the first meeting of the Society occurred on 2 March 1808.Sweet, Jessie M. ''The Wernerian Natural History Society in Edinburgh''. Freiberger Forschungshefte, Reihe C. (1967) 223: 205–218. Between 1811 and 1839 eight volumes of ''Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society'' appeared. More than twelve of Jameson's papers on geology and mineralogy were published in these volumes, and he also contributed some on zoology and botany. Proceedings after 1839 were published in Jameson's ''

Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal The ''Edinburgh Philosophical Journal'' was founded by its editors Robert Jameson and David Brewster in 1819 as a scientific journal to publish articles on the latest science of the day. In 1826 the two editors fell out, and Jameson continued publ ...

''. The Society hosted many of the notable scientists of its day.

Decline

There were no meetings from 1850–1856, which coincided with the decline of Jameson himself. It was eventually decided to close the Society down and dispose of its assets, and it finally closed on 16 April 1858.

Letters

Members of the Wernerian Society were entitled to use the abbreviation M.W.S. after their name. "Corresponding members", based outside Edinburgh, used the designation C.M.W.S.

Notable members

Founding members

Founding members, as of 12 January 1808: ;Honorary *

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...

, President,

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Richard Kirwan Richard Kirwan, LL.D, FRS, FRSE MRIA (1 August 1733 – 22 June 1812) was an Irish geologist and chemist. He was one of the last supporters of the theory of phlogiston. Kirwan was active in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and geol ...

, President,

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

;Resident *

, F.R.S.Edin., Professor of Natural History,

* William Wright, M.D., F.R.S.S. (London and Edinburgh), A.L.S. * Thomas Macknight, D.D., F.R.S.Edin. * John Barclay, M.D., F.R.S.Edin., Lecturer in Anatomy *

Thomas Thomson Thomas Thomson may refer to: * Tom Thomson (1877–1917), Canadian painter * Thomas Thomson (apothecary) (died 1572), Scottish apothecary * Thomas Thomson (advocate) (1768–1852), Scottish lawyer * Thomas Thomson (botanist) (1817–1878), Scottis ...

, M.D., F.R.S.Edin. * Col. Stewart Murray Fullerton (a.k.a. Fullarton) * Charles Anderson, M.D., F.R.C.S.Edin., Surgeon, of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

* Patrick Walker, Esq., F.L.S. * Patrick Neill, A.M., A.L.S. (Secretary 1808-1849) National Library of Scotland: Scottish Book Trade Index
.

Other members

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Keepe ...

, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh *Sir

Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scotland, Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in ...

, surgeon, anatomist, neurologist and philosophical theologian; authority on the human nervous system *

William Borrer William Borrer ( Henfield, Sussex, 13 June 1781 – 10 January 1862) was an English botanist noted for his extensive and accurate knowledge of the plants of the British Islands. He travelled extensively around Britain to see and collect plan ...

, botanist * Robert Brown, botanist and palaeobotanist, the first observer of Brownian motion * William Bullock an English traveller, naturalist and antiquarian. *

Edward Donovan Edward Donovan (1768 – 1 February 1837) was an Anglo-Irish writer, natural history illustrator, and amateur zoologist. He did not travel, but collected, described and illustrated many species based on the collections of other naturalists. Hi ...

Anglo Irish writer, natural history illustrator and zoologist. *

James Duncan (Zoologist) James Duncan (1804–1861) was a Scottish naturalist. After his education in Edinburgh, he followed the family tradition to work in the Scottish church. He however retired and worked with publishing firms, and among other works helping produc ...

, Entomologist. *

John Goodsir John Goodsir (20 March 1814 – 6 March 1867) was a Scottish anatomist and a pioneer in the formulation of cell theory. Early life Goodsir was born on 20 March 1814 in Anstruther, Fife, the son of Elizabeth Dunbar Taylor and John Goods ...

, anatomist, pioneer of cell biology * Robert Graham, botanist *

Robert Knox Robert Knox (4 September 1791 – 20 December 1862) was a Scottish anatomist and ethnologist best known for his involvement in the Burke and Hare murders. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Knox eventually partnered with anatomist and former teache ...

, surgeon, anatomist and zoologist, whose career was ruined by his involvement in the Burke and Hare case *King

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Loui ...

* William Lochead, surgeon and superintendent of the Saint Vincent Botanical Garden *

William MacGillivray William MacGillivray FRSE (25 January 1796 – 4 September 1852) was a Scottish naturalist and ornithologist. Life and work MacGillivray was born in Old Aberdeen and brought up on Harris. He returned to Aberdeen where he studied Medicin ...

, naturalist and ornithologist who worked with Audubon *Sir James McGrigor, physician, military surgeon and botanist who founded the Royal Army Medical Corps * Joseph Mitchell, civil engineer *

Samuel Mitchill Samuel Latham Mitchill (August 20, 1764September 7, 1831) was an American physician, naturalist, and politician who lived in Plandome, New York. Early life Samuel Mitchill was born in Hempstead in the Province of New York, the son of Robert ...

, physician, naturalist and member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate *

Friedrich Mohs Carl Friedrich Christian Mohs (; 29 January 1773 – 29 September 1839) was a German chemist and mineralogist. He was the creator of the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Mohs also introduced a classification of the crystal forms in crystal syst ...

, geologist and mineralogist who devised Mohs scale of physical hardness * Alexander Monro, tertius, surgeon and anatomist who taught Darwin *Sir William Parry, Arctic explorer *

Marc-Auguste Pictet Marc-Auguste Pictet (; 23 July 1752 – 19 April 1825) was a Swiss scientific journalist and experimental natural philosopher. Pictet's main contribution to learning was his editing of the scientific section of the ''Bibliothèque Britanni ...

, physicist and meteorologist *

James Cowles Prichard James Cowles Prichard, FRS (11 February 1786 – 23 December 1848) was a British physician and ethnologist with broad interests in physical anthropology and psychiatry. His influential ''Researches into the Physical History of Mankind'' touched ...

, ethnologist and physician *

William Scoresby William Scoresby (5 October 178921 March 1857) was an English whaler, Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman. Early years Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering south-west of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, William ...

, whaler, Arctic explorer, and clergyman *

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

, lighthouse engineer *

Thomas Stewart Traill Thomas Stewart Traill (29 October 1781 – 30 July 1862) was a British physician, chemist, meteorologist, zoologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He was the grandfather of the physicist, meteorologist and geologist Robert Traill Omon ...

, physician, natural historian and scholar of medical jurisprudence *

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...

, pioneer of the industrial revolution *

William Hyde Wollaston William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingo ...

, physicist, chemist and physiologist who discovered Rhodium and Palladium

References

{{authority control 1808 establishments in Scotland Organizations established in 1808 Royal Society of Edinburgh Learned societies of Scotland 1858 disestablishments in Scotland 19th century in Scotland 19th century in science Organisations based in Edinburgh History of Edinburgh Natural history societies