Dictionary of Indian Biography/Anderson, John (2)
ANDERSON, JOHN (1833–1900)
Son of Thomas Anderson : born Oct. 4, 1833, at Edinburgh : M.D. at Edinburgh University, 1862, obtaining the gold medal for zoology : President of the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh, which he helped to found : Professor of Natural History in the Free Church College, Edinburgh : in 1865 appointed Curator, and, later, Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, an office which he held till he retired in 1886. He was a member, as naturalist, of scientific expeditions to Upper Burma and Yunnan in 1867 : in the same direction, as far as the Burmese frontier, in 1875–6 : and to the Mergui Archipelago in 1881–2 : wrote full accounts of his travels, adding largely to the science of marine and general zoology, and anatomy : also on the reptiles and fauna of Egypt : and contributed to the proceedings of learned societies : F.R.S. in 1879 : LL.D. of Edinburgh, 1885 : Fellow of the Linnaean Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, and Vice-President of the Zoological Society of London : died Aug. 15, 1900.