John Anderson. 113 



JOHN ANDERSON. 1833-1900. 



JOHN ANDERSON was born on October 4, 1833, in Edinburgh, where 

 his father, Thomas Anderson, was secretary to the National Bank of 

 Scotland. From an early age he evinced a strong inclination towards 

 natural history, collecting insects, shells, fossils, &c., as so many boys 

 do, and his interest in zoology ever increasing as he grew, he deter- 

 mined to take up the study of medicine, which, in those days in Scot- 

 land, was the readiest means of qualifying in the department of 

 science in which he was afterwards to fill so distinguished a place, and 

 to the progress of which he contributed so efficiently. 



After graduating M.D. of the University of Edinburgh in 1861, 

 receiving a gold medal for a thesis on a zoological subject, and 

 lecturing on natural science at the Free Church College of that town, 

 he proceeded to India in 1864 to take up the post of curator of the 

 natural history and archaeological collections of the Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal, which were to form the nucleus of a new Government museum 

 at Calcutta, the previous curator, Edward Blyth, retiring through 

 broken health after twenty -four years' service. The building had yet 

 to be erected, and in this important matter the new curator's artistic 

 taste and practical mind were of great assistance to the recently- 

 appointed trustees of the museum, which was not completed until 

 1870. All this time, Dr. Anderson, whose title was changed soon after 

 his appointment to that of superintendent of the museum, was busy 

 extending the collections and improving their scientific arrangement, 

 lecturing also at the Medical College of Calcutta, where he held the 

 appointment of Professor of Comparative Anatomy from 1867 to 

 1887, and assisting, as honorary secretary, in the management of the 

 newly-opened Zoological Gardens, the establishment of which had been 

 warmly advocated by him. In connection with the latter function he 

 was instrumental in sending to the parent institution in London many 

 rare Indian animals, often at great personal trouble ; the genuine 

 interest he took in living animals was maintained to the last, and on 

 many occasions since his return home have his donations enriched the 

 menagerie in the Eegent's Park. 



At the time of Dr. Anderson's arrival in Calcutta, quite an extra- 

 ordinary activity was being displayed in the field of Indian zoology. 

 Blyth's Catalogue of Mammals (1863), Jerdon's three volumes on the 

 Birds (1862-64), and Giinther's beautiful work on the Reptiles (1864) 

 had given a fresh impetus to the study of Vertebrates, and soon after 



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