Benjamin Heyne
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Heyne M.D. F
LS
(1770-1819) was a Moravian
-Scottish
, surgeon
, naturalist
and botanist.
In 1793, Benjamin Heyne joined the service of the British East India Company
and in 1796 was assigned as the Madras Presidency Botanist to Samalkot.
, the Lalbagh botanical garden at Bangalore
was appropriated by the British East India Company
"as a depository for useful plants sent from different parts of the country". Dr. Benjamin Heyne, the Company’s botanist at Madras, was ordered by the Governor-General
, Richard Wellesley
to accompany the Surveyor, with the following instructions:
"A decided superiority must be given to useful plants over those which are merely recommended by their rarity or their beauty,... to collect with care all that is connected with the arts and manufacturers of this country, or that promises to be useful in our own; to give due attention to the timber employed in the various provinces of his route,... and to collect with particular diligence the valuable plants connected with his own immediate profession, i.e. medicine."
An important task assigned to the colonial botanical gardens was dealing with malaria
, the largest obstacle to colonial expansion. Heyne was placed in charge of the Lalbagh botanical garden till 1812. He did a great deal of collecting at Coimbatore
and Bangalore and compiled a large collection of plant specimens which were forwarded to London
. He collected more than 350 species from the Western Ghats
and more than 200 species were named by him. He sent many of his Indian botanical specimens to the German
botanist Albrecht Wilhelm Roth
, whose work Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientali (a book of Indian flora) is largely based on Heyne's botanical specimens.
: "To Sautgur Hill (near Conjeeveram) with Mackenzie. Of the Sienite, they made formerly Cannon balls of which many are found lying all over the Hill." and at Nandydroog which was: "this morning cloathed with a white fog, when the rest of the country was Clear. The country hereabouts pretty well cultivated. Yesterday morning was with Capt. Mackenzie in the Fort, in which the houses, very few excepted, were empty. The garden in it that was formerly famous is entirely neglected and nothing in it worth attention but a few apple and coffee Trees." Dr. Benjamin Heyne died at Madras in 1819.
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
LS
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...
(1770-1819) was a Moravian
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
-Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
, naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
and botanist.
In 1793, Benjamin Heyne joined the service of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
and in 1796 was assigned as the Madras Presidency Botanist to Samalkot.
Bangalore collections
In 1800, after the fall of MysoreFourth Anglo-Mysore War
The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a war in South India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company under the Earl of Mornington....
, the Lalbagh botanical garden at Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
was appropriated by the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
"as a depository for useful plants sent from different parts of the country". Dr. Benjamin Heyne, the Company’s botanist at Madras, was ordered by the Governor-General
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
, Richard Wellesley
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
Richard Colley Wesley, later Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, KG, PC, PC , styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781, was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator....
to accompany the Surveyor, with the following instructions:
"A decided superiority must be given to useful plants over those which are merely recommended by their rarity or their beauty,... to collect with care all that is connected with the arts and manufacturers of this country, or that promises to be useful in our own; to give due attention to the timber employed in the various provinces of his route,... and to collect with particular diligence the valuable plants connected with his own immediate profession, i.e. medicine."
An important task assigned to the colonial botanical gardens was dealing with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, the largest obstacle to colonial expansion. Heyne was placed in charge of the Lalbagh botanical garden till 1812. He did a great deal of collecting at Coimbatore
Coimbatore
Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
and Bangalore and compiled a large collection of plant specimens which were forwarded to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He collected more than 350 species from the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
and more than 200 species were named by him. He sent many of his Indian botanical specimens to the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
botanist Albrecht Wilhelm Roth
Albrecht Wilhelm Roth
Albrecht Wilhelm Roth was a physician and botanist who was a native of Dötlingen, Germany.He studied medicine at the Universities of Halle and Erlangen, where he received his doctorate in 1778....
, whose work Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientali (a book of Indian flora) is largely based on Heyne's botanical specimens.
Mysore survey
Benjamin Heyne was assistant to Francis Buchanan on his Mysore Survey. He recorded in his Journal, his visits to sites with Col. Colin MackenzieColin Mackenzie
Colonel Colin Mackenzie was Surveyor General of India, and an art collector and orientalist.Mackenzie was born in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland...
: "To Sautgur Hill (near Conjeeveram) with Mackenzie. Of the Sienite, they made formerly Cannon balls of which many are found lying all over the Hill." and at Nandydroog which was: "this morning cloathed with a white fog, when the rest of the country was Clear. The country hereabouts pretty well cultivated. Yesterday morning was with Capt. Mackenzie in the Fort, in which the houses, very few excepted, were empty. The garden in it that was formerly famous is entirely neglected and nothing in it worth attention but a few apple and coffee Trees." Dr. Benjamin Heyne died at Madras in 1819.
Publications
- 1793. "Plants of the Coromandel coast: a collection of watercolor botanical drawings of 394 plants and flora". Not published
- 1800. Joseph Joinville, Thomas John Newbold, James Sowerby, Benjamin Heyne, Mark Wilks, HW Voysey, Theodore Edward Cantor, J. Postaus, John Grant Malcolmson. "List of minerals contained in the Museum of the Honble East India Company". 76 pp.
- 1813 February. "On the formation of sulphur in India", Benjamin Heyne, East India Company, Madras Army, DOI: 10.1080/14786441308638711, Philosophical Magazine Series 1, Volume 41, Issue 178 pages 101 - 104, Now published as: Philosophical Magazine Series 2
- In 1814, Dr. Heyne authored his major work: "Tracts, historical and statistical, on India: with journals of several tours through various parts of the peninsula: also, an account of Sumatra, in a series of letters", 462 pp., printed for R. Baldwin and Black, Parry and Co.,
- 1819. "On the Deoxidation of the Leaves of Cotyledon calysina": in a Letter to AB Lambert. 3 pp.
- 1818. P.J. Siddons, Benjamin Heyne. An examination of so much of the tracts, historical and statistical, on India, & c. & c.& c., by Benjamin Heyne, as Related to the account of Sumatra, with various notices on the subjucts of cannibalism, slavery, & c. Ed AJ Valpy. 99 pp.