Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/280

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
Saunders
270
Saunders

others, petitioned the Royal College of Surgeons of England to grant a diploma in dental surgery, but it was not until after many negotiations that the college obtained powers, on 8 Sept. 1859, to examine candidates and grant a diploma in dentistry. The Odontological Society was founded at Saunders's house in 1857 to unite those who practised dental surgery. Saunders was the first treasurer, and was president in 1864 and 1879. Saunders was trustee of the first dental hospital and school established in London, in Soho Square in 1859. The institution prospered, and in 1874 the Dental Hospital in Leicester Square was opened, being handed over to the managing committee free of debt. Saunders rendered to the new hospital important services, which his colleagues and friends commemorated by founding in the school the Saunders scholarship. Saunders was president of the dental section at the meeting of the International Medical Congress which met in London in 1881, and in the same year was president of the metropolitan counties branch of the British Medical Association. In 1883 he was knighted, being the first dentist to receive that honour. In 1886 he was president of the British Dental Association. He died at Fairlawn, Wimbledon Common, on 15 March 1901, and was buried at the Putney cemetery. In 1848 he married Marian, eldest daughter of Edmund William Burgess, with whom he celebrated his golden wedding in 1898.

Saunders was author of: 1. 'Advice on the Care of the Teeth,' 1837. 2. 'The Teeth as a Test of Age considered in reference to the Factory Children. Addressed to the Members of both Houses of Parliament,' 1837; this work was adopted by the inspectors of factories and led to the detection of much fraud.

[Journal of Brit. Dental Assoc, vol. xxii. new ser., 1901, p. 200; Medico-Chirurgical Trans., vol. Lxxxv. 1902, p. cii; private information.]

D’A. P.


SAUNDERS, HOWARD (1835–1907), ornithologist and traveller, born in London on 16 Sept. 1835, was son of Alexander Saunders by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Laundy. Educated at private schools at Leatherhead and Rottingdean, he subsequently entered the firm of Anthony Gibbs & Sons, South American merchants and bankers in the City of London, and in 1855, when twenty years old, left England to take up a post at Callao, in Peru. His love of natural history and archaeology and liking for adventurous travel led him, however, to relinquish business pursuits. Leaving Peru in 1860, he crossed the Andes and explored the headwaters of the Amazon river, descending thence to Para. The perilous journey provided novel and rich material for scientific study.

After his return in 1862 Saunders devoted himself to ornithological research. His first memoir, which appeared in 1866 in the 'Ibis,' the organ of the British Ornithological Union, gave an account of the albatrosses observed whilst on his voyage from Cape Horn to Peru. Turning his attention to the avifauna of Spain, he next wrote papers on the birds of Spain (Ibis, 1869-78) and the birds of the Pyrenees and Switzerland {Ibis, 1883-97). He had become an accomplished Spanish scholar and often travelled to Spain, contributing 'Ornithological Rambles in Spain and Majorca' to the 'Field' newspaper in 1874. Saunders was joint-editor with Dr. P. L. Sclater of the' 'Ibis' (1883-8 and 1894-1900); and from 1901 till his death was secretary and treasurer of the British Ornithological Union, which he had joined in 1870. He was the recorder of Aves for the 'Zoological Record' (1876-81).

From 1880 to 1885 Saunders was honorary secretary of Section D (zoology) of the British Association. A fellow of the Zoological and Linnean Societies, he served on the councils of each, and wrote for their 'Proceedings' and 'Journal' memoirs, many of which dealt more especially with the Laridce (gulls and terns). He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and deeply interested in all branches of geographical research.

Saunders's chief independent publication was 'An Illustrated Manual of British Birds' (1889; 2nd edit. 1899). He also edited 'Yarrell's British Birds' (4th edit. 1882-5, vols. iii. and iv.) in succession to Prof. Alfred Newton [q. v. Suppl. II], and he wrote the monograph on terns, gulls, and skuas (vol. xxv. 1896) for the 'Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum.' He revised and annotated Mitchell's 'Birds of Lancashire' (2nd edit. 1892). He died at his residence, 7 Radnor Place, W., on 20 Oct. 1907, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. He married in 1868 Emily, youngest daughter of William Minshull Bigg, of Stratford Place, W., and had issue two daughters.

Saunders was a frequent writer in the 'Field' and 'Athenæum.' In addition to those cited he wrote memoirs on the eggs collected on the transit of Venus expedi-