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Wernerian Natural History Society

The Wernerian Natural History Society (January 12, 1808 - April 16, 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as mineralogy, plants, insects, and scholarly expeditions. The Society was an off-shoot of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and from its beginnings it was a rather elite organization.

The Society was named after Abraham Gottlob Werner, a German geologist who was a creator of Neptunism, a theory of superposition based on a receding primordial ocean that had deposited all the rocks in the crust.^[1]. At this time all rocks, including basalt, and crystalline substances were thought by some to be precipitated from solution ^[2]

History

Robert Jameson, Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh, was the founder and life president of the Society.

In 1800, he had spent a year at the mining academy in Freiberg, Saxony, where he had studied under Werner. The Society was founded on January 12, 1808, and the first meeting of the Society occurred on March 2, 1808 ^[3][1]. The Society hosted many of the notable scientists of its day.

Decline

There were no meetings from 1850-1856, which coincided with the decline of Jameson himself. It was eventually decided to close the Society down and dispose of its assets, and on April 16, 1858 it closed for good. ^{[1] [3]}

Letters

Members of the Wernerian Society were entitled to use the abbreviation M.W.S. after their name.

List of Founding Members

Founding Members as of January 12, 1808^[4]

Honourary

• Abraham Gottlob Werner
• Joseph Banks, President, Royal Society
• Richard Kirwan, President, Royal Irish Academy

Resident

• Robert Jameson, Professor of Natural History, University of Edinburgh
• William Wright (botanist)
• Thomas Macknight
• John Barclay (anatomist)
• Thomas Thomson
• Stewart Murray Fullarton (a.k.a Fullerton)
• Charles Anderson
• Partick Walker
• Partick Neill (Secretary 1808-1849) ^[5]

Notes and references