Charles Alston ; 1685 - 1760 ) - Scottish physician and botanist.
| Charles Allston | |
|---|---|
| English Charles Alston | |
| Date of Birth | October 26, 1685 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | November 22, 1760 (75 years old) |
| Place of death | |
| A country | |
| Scientific field | botany , medicine |
| Place of work | |
| Alma mater | |
Content
Biography
Born in the village of Eddlewood in the Hamilton parish in Scotland on October 26, 1685 . The third son of a physician, Thomas Alston. In 1700 he entered the University of Glasgow , but did not graduate, being forced to support his family after the death of his father in 1703.
With the participation of the Duchess, Hamilton was educated in Edinburgh by a sworn solicitor, James Anderson, then worked at her estate in Hamilton. In 1715, thanks to the influence of the duchess, he was appointed to the post of Royal Botanist and Chief Professor of Botany, and began to give lectures in the botanical garden of Holyrood Palace .
In the years 1718-1719 he studied at the University of Leiden with Herman Burgava . In December 1719, received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Glasgow.
Allston studied the beneficial properties of lime water. In botany, he adhered to the Tournefort system, in 1753 issued a publication in which he tried to refute the fact of the existence of sexes in plants, shown by Karl Linnaeus . Alston demonstrated that the stamens are not always necessary for the formation of ovaries in plants, and thus, probably, he first observed the phenomenon of apomixis .
He died in Edinburgh on November 22, 1760 .
Some works
- A dissertation on quick-lime and lime-water . - 1752.
- Tirocinium botanicum Edinburgense . - 1753.
- A second dissertation on quick-lime and lime-water . - 1755.
- A third dissertation on quick-lime and lime-water . - 1757.
- Lectures on the Materia Medica . - 1770.
Plant genera named after C. Alston
- Alstonia Mutis ex Lf , 1782 , nom. illeg. = Symplocos Jacq. , 1760
- Alstonia R. Br. , 1810 , nom. cons.
- Alstonia Scop. , 1777 , nom. rej. ≡ Pacouria Aubl. , 1775
Literature
- DE Allen. Alston, Charles // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.