JOHN STEVENS HENSLOW
1796—1861
An all-round man—appointed Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge in 1826, but succeeds Martyn in the Chair of Botany a year later—essentially an ecologist—his famous teaching methods—"practical work"—his wide interests—country life—the educational museum—village amenities.
The scientific career and parochial life of the late Rev. Prof. J. S. Henslow, are described by my late uncle, the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, in his Memoir[1]. I propose adding and illustrating some of his more personal traits, habits and pursuits as a scientific man, and to deal especially with his educational methods. His studies in science were by no means confined to one branch, thus Geology was first ardently pursued in conjunction with Sedgwick. It was in a tour together in the Isle of Wight in 1819, that they proposed establishing a "Corresponding Society, for the purpose of introducing subjects of natural history to the Cambridge students." The outcome of this idea, which was subsequently abandoned, was the "Cambridge Philosophical Society," of which " Henslow, B.A. was elected secretary in 1821[2]."
Conchology and Entomology claimed his attention; one of his first discoveries was the rare insect Macroplea equiseti, his identical "find" being figured in Curtis' British Entomology, while he found the bivalve Cyclas Henslowiana, so named by
