Dr John Kinnis was a medical superintendent to the British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 military forces in Ceylon

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 in the nineteenth century, and wrote a number of paper for the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal on, for example, elephantiasis

Elephantiasis

Elephantiasis is a disease that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and male genitals. In some cases the disease can cause certain body parts, such as the scrotum, to swell to the size of a softball or basketball. It is caused by...

, smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

 vaccination

Vaccination

Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...

 and military medical statistics. He retired from medical service in 1851.

He was also an energetic and successful amateur naturalist

Naturalist

Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 and was seconded by Robert Templeton

Robert Templeton

Robert Templeton was a Naturalist, artist, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast, Ireland.-Life and work:...

 of the Royal Artillery to investigate and collect the local flora and fauna.

The Ceylon subspecies of the Blackbird, Turdus merula kinnisii, was named for him by English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 zoologist and chemist Edward Blyth

Edward Blyth

Edward Blyth was an English zoologist and pharmacist. He was one of the founders of zoology in India....

in 1841.