Henry Suter
Encyclopedia
Henry Suter (9 March 1841 – 30 July 1918) was a New Zealand
zoologist, naturalist
, palaeontologist, and malacologist.
, Zurich
, Switzerland
, and was the son of a prosperous silk-manufacturer of Zurich. He was educated at the local school and university, being trained as an analytical chemist. Suter joined his father's business, and for some years he engaged in various commercial pursuits.
From his boyhood, Henry Suter was deeply interested in natural history
. He enjoyed the friendship and help of such men as Dr. Auguste Forel, Professor Paul Godet, the brothers de Saussure (linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, sinolog and astronomer
Léopold de Saussure and René de Saussure
esperantist and scientist), Escher von der Linth, and especially the well-known conchologist, Dr. Albert Mousson.
Partly to improve his financial prospects and partly lured by the attraction of the fauna of a new country, Suter resolved to emigrate
to New Zealand
. It was the last day of the year 1886 when with his wife and a family of young children he landed in New Zealand. According to words by captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton
: "He was Swiss, lately arrived in New Zealand with introductions from well-known European zoologists."
Suter began his colonial career by taking up a remote selection in the Forty-mile Bush in the Wairarapa district. It is only in a story that a middle-aged townsman can ever turn backwoodsman with success, and so after about a year, Suter relinquished the hard and hopeless struggle.
At this critical time captain Hutton, always a firm friend to zoologists, succeeded in obtaining for his protégé a post as assistant manager at the Mount Cook Hermitage. Subsequently work was available at the Canterbury Museum. After that, at one or another of the scientific institutions of New Zealand Suter spent the remainder of his life at congenial employment.
Henry Suter was an expert collector. He excelled in finding the most minute land snail
s, to find which requires knowledge, patience, and the sharpest eyes. Specialists in other groups were often supplied valuable material by Suter. In Switzerland he had formed a fine collection of European land and fresh-water shells
, which was later acquired by the Australian Museum
.
For several years, Suter restricted his studies to the terrestrial and freshwater molluscs of New Zealand. When his work on these approached completion, he proposed to extend his investigations to land gastropods abroad, hence his scattered papers on land molluscs from Brazil, South Africa, and Tasmania. His friends, however, persuaded him that science would be better served if he relinquished the foreign shells and transferred his attention to the marine molluscs of New Zealand. Not only did he take this course, but he finally embraced the Tertiary
mollusks into his sphere of operations.
His characteristics were patience, perseverance, and concentration, rather than any great breadth of view.
After a brief illness, Henry Suter died at his home in Christchurch on either 30 or 31 July 1918. He was buried at Linwood Cemetery
on 3 August 1918.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
zoologist, naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, palaeontologist, and malacologist.
Biography
Henry Suter was born on 9 March 1841 in RiesbachRiesbach
Riesbach is a district in the Swiss city of Zurich. It is District number 8.The district comprises the quarters Seefeld, Mühlebach and Weinegg.Riesbach was formerly a municipality of its own, having been incorporated into Zurich in 1893.- References :...
, Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and was the son of a prosperous silk-manufacturer of Zurich. He was educated at the local school and university, being trained as an analytical chemist. Suter joined his father's business, and for some years he engaged in various commercial pursuits.
From his boyhood, Henry Suter was deeply interested in natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. He enjoyed the friendship and help of such men as Dr. Auguste Forel, Professor Paul Godet, the brothers de Saussure (linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, sinolog and astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Léopold de Saussure and René de Saussure
René de Saussure
René de Saussure was a Swiss Esperantist and professional mathematician, who composed important works about Esperanto and interlinguistics from a linguistic viewpoint...
esperantist and scientist), Escher von der Linth, and especially the well-known conchologist, Dr. Albert Mousson.
Partly to improve his financial prospects and partly lured by the attraction of the fauna of a new country, Suter resolved to emigrate
Emigrate
Emigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It was the last day of the year 1886 when with his wife and a family of young children he landed in New Zealand. According to words by captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton
Frederick Wollaston Hutton
Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton, FRS, was an English scientist who applied the theory of natural selection to explain the origins and nature of the natural history of New Zealand.- Biography :...
: "He was Swiss, lately arrived in New Zealand with introductions from well-known European zoologists."
Suter began his colonial career by taking up a remote selection in the Forty-mile Bush in the Wairarapa district. It is only in a story that a middle-aged townsman can ever turn backwoodsman with success, and so after about a year, Suter relinquished the hard and hopeless struggle.
At this critical time captain Hutton, always a firm friend to zoologists, succeeded in obtaining for his protégé a post as assistant manager at the Mount Cook Hermitage. Subsequently work was available at the Canterbury Museum. After that, at one or another of the scientific institutions of New Zealand Suter spent the remainder of his life at congenial employment.
Henry Suter was an expert collector. He excelled in finding the most minute land snail
Land snail
A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...
s, to find which requires knowledge, patience, and the sharpest eyes. Specialists in other groups were often supplied valuable material by Suter. In Switzerland he had formed a fine collection of European land and fresh-water shells
Gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
, which was later acquired by the Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
.
For several years, Suter restricted his studies to the terrestrial and freshwater molluscs of New Zealand. When his work on these approached completion, he proposed to extend his investigations to land gastropods abroad, hence his scattered papers on land molluscs from Brazil, South Africa, and Tasmania. His friends, however, persuaded him that science would be better served if he relinquished the foreign shells and transferred his attention to the marine molluscs of New Zealand. Not only did he take this course, but he finally embraced the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
mollusks into his sphere of operations.
His characteristics were patience, perseverance, and concentration, rather than any great breadth of view.
After a brief illness, Henry Suter died at his home in Christchurch on either 30 or 31 July 1918. He was buried at Linwood Cemetery
Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch
Linwood Cemetery is a cemetery located in Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the fifth oldest cemetery in the city that still exists and it is virtually full. Opened in 1884, it has seen some 20,000 burials. The first burial, of the Sexton's wife, was held even before the cemetery was...
on 3 August 1918.
Species described
Species originally discovered and described by Henry Suter include the following gastropods:- Gundlachia lucasiGundlachia lucasiGundlachia lucasi is a species of minute freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Planorbidae.-Shell description:...
Suter, 1905 - Gundlachia neozelanicaGundlachia neozelanicaGundlachia neozelanica is a species of minute freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk, or micromollusk, in the family Planorbidae.-Shell description:...
Suter, 1905 - Potamopyrgus subterraneus Suter, 1904
- Odostomia murdochi Suter, 1913
- Fastigiella australis Suter, 1919 - fossil
Further reading
- Dell R. K. (1975). "Henry Suter (1841--1918)". New Zealand's Nature Heritage 51: 1432a.
- Fleming C. A. (1954). "Notes on the Suter Collection of New Zealand Mollusca - 1". Auckland Institute and Museum Conchology Section Bulletin 10: 3-4.