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Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.

Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.(February 5, 1875 – May 19, 1942) was an Americanmammalogist,bacteriologist,andpathologist.He was born into a military family, and demonstrated an early interest inzoologyby collecting local wildlife around his father's army posts. He graduated fromBrown Universityin 1897, and continued his studies atGeorge Washington Universitywhile working part-time at theUnited States National Museum(USNM).[a]At the same time, he taught atHoward University Medical Schooland laterGeorge Washington University Medical School.He received his Ph.D. fromGeorge Washington Universityin 1913. In 1919, he and his wife, Martha, moved toSouth Bend, Indianato join a newly opened clinic. Prior to moving, Lyon had published many papers on mammalogy, both during and after his tenure at the USNM. In these papers, he had formallydescribedsixspecies,threegenera,and onefamily.Once in South Bend, he began to publish medical studies, too, but continued his work in mammalogy, with a particular focus on the local fauna of Indiana. He published more than 160 papers during his career.

Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.
Marcus Ward Lyon Jr. seated
Marcus Ward Lyon Jr. in 1917 at Washington Biologists’ Field Club onPlummers Island
Born(1875-02-05)February 5, 1875
Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois,United States
DiedMay 19, 1942(1942-05-19)(aged 67)
South Bend, Indiana,United States
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
38°52′49.5″N77°04′15.5″W/ 38.880417°N 77.070972°W/38.880417; -77.070972
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
SpouseMartha Marie Brewer (m.1902 – 1942)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisTreeshrews: An account of the mammalian family Tupaiidae
Author abbrev. (zoology)Lyon

Lyon acquired the rank ofmajorin theMedical Reserve Corpsduring World War I, and was appointed president of theAmerican Society of Mammalogistsfrom 1931 to 1932. He was a member ofSigma Xi,theSociety of American Bacteriologists,theIndiana Academy of Science,and theBiological Society of Washington.Lyon became aconservationistlater in life.

Early life and education

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Lyon was born on February 5, 1875, inRock Island Arsenal, Illinois.[1]His family included his father, Captain Marcus Ward Lyon Sr.; his mother, Lydia Anna Lyon;[2]and his two brothers, Henry S. Lyon and James W. Lyon.[3]Because of his father's military career, Lyon's family moved across the United States throughout his childhood and adolescence. The first hint of the young Lyon's future scientific interests came while they were stationed atWatertown Arsenal,nearBoston, Massachusetts,where he began collecting insects and animals from the local area.[1][4]No other details of his early life were documented[1]until 1893, when he graduated fromRock Island High School—his father had evidently been re-stationed at Rock Island Arsenal at about this time. He attendedBrown Universityand completed hisPh.B.in 1897, which included training inbiology.In 1898, he began his graduate studies atGeorge Washington University,obtaining hisM.S.in 1900, hisM.D.in 1902, and hisPh.D.in 1913.[2]

Career

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Lyon is thetaxonomic authorityfor thefamilyPtilocercidae (pen-tailed treeshrews) and other mammaliantaxa.

Upon completion of his first degree, Lyon spent a year (1897–1898) atNorth Carolina Medical College,where he taughtbacteriology.In conjunction with his graduate studies, he moved to Washington, D.C., in 1898 to become a part-time Aid in the Division of Mammals at theUnited States National Museum(USNM).[a][1]Lyon was later promoted to Assistant Curator for Mammals.[b][2]The USNM sent him toVenezuelawith Lieutenant Wirt Robinson of theUnited States Armyin 1899 to collect mammal specimens, and later appointed him as its Chief Special Agent for the 1904Louisiana Purchase ExpositioninSt. Louisand the 1905Lewis and Clark Centennial ExpositioninPortland, Oregon.[4]He retained his post at the USNM until 1912.[b]Lyon taughtphysiology(1903–04 and 1907–09) and bacteriology (1909–15) atHoward University Medical School.[1][2]

In the latter half of 1915, Lyon began teaching atGeorge Washington University Medical School,handling courses in bacteriology andpathologyuntil 1917, and veterinaryzoologyandparasitologyfrom 1917 until 1918. In 1917, he joined the U.S. Army, serving as a pathologist at theWalter Reed Army HospitalduringWorld War I.In September 1919, he transferred to theMedical Reserve Corpsas amajor.[1][2]By the end of that year, Lyon's 18 years of medical teaching and practice resulted in a job offer in pathology at the South Bend Clinic inSouth Bend, Indiana.His wife, Martha, was also extended a job offer at the same clinic, and joined as anophthalmologist.[1]Lyon maintained his offices at the clinic until his death in 1942.[3]

Because of his work as a mammalogist, Lyon is considered thetaxonomic authorityfor thefamilyPtilocercidae (pen-tailed treeshrews),[10]as well as thegenusAnathana(theMadras treeshrew)[11]and two genera ofleporids(rabbitsandhares),Pentalagus(theAmami rabbit) andPronolagus(red rock hares).[12]Lyon was the first todescribetheBornean white-bearded gibbon(Hylobates albibarbis),[13]theGansu pika(Ochotona cansus),[14]theSumatran porcupine(Hystrix sumatrae),[15]theshadowy broad-nosed bat(Platyrrhinus umbratus),[16]and two species ofslow lorisfromBorneo,Nycticebus bancanusandNycticebus borneanus.[17]

Hisprivate zoological collectionswere incorporated into the collections at the USNM. Lyon created twoherbariums,the first containing plant specimens fromOregonand the second from theIndiana Dunesand lowerMichigan.The former was included in the United States National Herbarium, now theUnited States Botanic Garden,and the latter at theUniversity of Michigan Herbarium.[4]

Publications

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During his career, Lyon published more than 160 papers,[18]roughly 80 of which were in the field ofzoologyand 55 more in pathology. Other publications included four articles inbotany,numerous book reviews, technical reports, and newspaper articles.[19]Until the move to Indiana, Lyon wrote many papers inmammalogy,focusing primarily onmorphology,systematics,andzoogeography.[1]In addition to his Ph.D. thesis, entitled "Treeshrews:An account of the mammalian familyTupaiidae",[20]he authored papers about other mammals of theFar East,with which he had become very familiar through his study of the collections that were sent to the USNM.[20]Following the end of his relationship with the USNM in 1912, Lyon continued to write mammalogy material and began publishing basic medical studies.[1]

After moving to Indiana, the focus of his publications shifted primarily to medical issues and mammalogy within his new home state.[21]Despite his interest in and occupation with medical science, his passion was for the study of living and extinct mammals.[20]He became a regular contributor to theAmerican Midland Naturalist,[22]publishing a list of plant species native to the Indiana Dunes and notes onground squirrelsandbadgers[23]prior to his work "Mammals of Indiana", which spanned all 365 pages of the first issue in 1936.[8]In 1935, he had been invited to join the editorial staff,[22]becoming an associate editor for mammalogy.[24]Near the end of his life, Lyon began to write aboutwildlife conservation.[21]

A private collection of Lyon's papers, along with those of his wife, is held at theUniversity of Notre DameArchives. It comprises correspondence, papers, notes, manuscripts, letters, articles, and speeches, as well as articles collected by Lyon and a scrapbook of his wife's college life and more.[25]

Selected publications

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  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1904).Classification of the hares and their allies.Smithsonian institution publication, no. 1456. pp. 321–447.OCLC6180284.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1906)."Mammals of Banka, Mendanau, and Billiton Islands, between Sumatra and Borneo".Proceedings of the United States National Museum.31(1498): 575–612.doi:10.5479/si.00963801.31-1498.575.hdl:10088/13904.OCLC25674168.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1906)."Notes on the slow lemurs".Proceedings of the United States National Museum.31(1494): 527–538.doi:10.5479/si.00963801.31-1494.527.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1907)."Mammals Collected in Western Borneo by Dr. W. L. Abbott".Proceedings of the United States National Museum.33(1577): 547–571.doi:10.5479/si.00963801.33-1577.547.hdl:10088/14004.OCLC25775782.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr.; Osgood, W.H. (1909)."Catalogue of the type-specimens of mammals in the United States National Museum, including the biological survey collection".Bulletin of the United States National Museum(62): i–x, 1–325.doi:10.5479/si.03629236.62.i.hdl:10088/10140.OCLC4974907.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1913)."Treeshrews: An account of the mammalian family Tupaiidae".Proceedings of the United States National Museum.45(1976): 1–188.doi:10.5479/si.00963801.45-1976.1.hdl:10088/14451.OCLC4416817.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1936). "Mammals of Indiana".American Midland Naturalist.17(1): 1–384.doi:10.2307/2420156.JSTOR2420156.OCLC2666579.
  • Lyon, M. W. Jr. (1939).Conservation from the naturalist's point of view.Year Book. Indiana Audubon Society.

Honors

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Lyon held honorary memberships inPhi Beta KappaandSigma Xi.[22]A member of the organization committee that founded the District of Columbia Chapter of Sigma Xi in 1914, Lyon became the Secretary of both the Organization Committee and Chapter, which held its first annual meeting in 1915.[26]He was appointed secretary of theBiological Society of Washingtonin 1904 and from 1915 through 1919.[22]In 1917, he was elected for membership to the Washington Biologists' Field Club.[18]Lyon was president of the St. Joseph County Medical Society in 1931, as well as the treasurer (1927–1932) and president (1933) of theIndiana Academy of Science.[22]He was also a member of theSociety of American Bacteriologists.[25]Lyon was the 7th president of theAmerican Society of Mammalogistsfrom 1931 to 1932,[27]and received honorary membership a month before he died.[22]

Personal life

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Lyon was buried atArlington National Cemetery.

Lyon married Martha Marie Brewer (b.1871) ofLanham, Maryland,in 1902,[2][25]and together they had one daughter, Charlotte Lyon.[3]Lyon and his wife attended scientific meetings together; in 1911, they traveled to Europe to see museums and to visit famous zoologists.[4]Martha Brewer Lyon obtained her M.S. at Columbian College in 1901 and M.D. from Brown University in 1907.[25]She later worked as an ophthalmologist at the South Bend Clinic with her husband until she opened her own office in 1931. She maintained her office until her death on January 18, 1942. Lyon died on May 19, 1942, at his home in South Bend[3]and was buried on May 27 atArlington National Cemetery.[28]

While living in South Bend, Lyon became close friends with ReverendJulius A. Nieuwland,CSC,a botanist andchemistat the University of Notre Dame. They went on field trips and collected plant specimens[22]that were incorporated into Lyon's second herbarium, which he made in his spare time with the help of his wife, Nieuwland, and Austrian botanistTheodor Just.[4]Lyon was known for his love of nature, and in an obituary written by Just, he was noted as being an "ardentconservationist"later in his life. Lyon criticized poorly managed conservation programs in his paper" Conservation from the Naturalist's Point of View "(1939), and in his final paper," The Kankakee Area—Its Past and Present ", he envisioned life around theKankakee Outwash Plainbefore human activities had changed it. Lyon also gave up his cottage in the Indiana Dunes after the wildlife refuge was converted into a vacation destination.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^abThe United States National Museum is now theNational Museum of Natural Historyof theSmithsonian Institution.
  2. ^abSources disagree on the duration of his tenure as the Assistant Curator for Mammals. According to theGuide to the Smithsonian Archives,he was an Aid from 1898 until 1906 and Assistant Curator from 1906 to 1909,[5]and this is supported by the museum's annual report for the year ending June 30, 1899, which reports his appointment to the position of Aid on August 15, 1898,[6]and the museum's annual report for the year ending June 30, 1906, which recorded his promotion to Assistant Curator during the preceding twelve months.[7]According to Robert P. McIntosh, Lyon was the Assistant Curator from 1898 until 1900, and theHistorical Catalogue of Brown Universityreports that he held that position from 1905 through 1912; neither gives dates for his post as an Aid.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^abcdefghiLayne & Hoffmann 1994,p. 34.
  2. ^abcdefJust 1942,p. iii.
  3. ^abcdJust 1942,pp. iii–iv.
  4. ^abcdeJust 1942,p. iv.
  5. ^Smithsonian Archives 1996,p. 81.
  6. ^United States National Museum 1901,p. 35.
  7. ^United States National Museum 1906,p. 50.
  8. ^abMcIntosh 1990,p. 11.
  9. ^Brown University 1914,p. 336.
  10. ^Helgen 2005,p. 108.
  11. ^Helgen 2005,p. 104.
  12. ^Hoffman & Smith 2005,p. 206.
  13. ^Groves 2005,p. 179.
  14. ^Hoffman & Smith 2005,p. 186.
  15. ^Woods & Kilpatrick 2005,p. 1544.
  16. ^Simmons 2005,p. 424.
  17. ^Munds, Nekaris & Ford 2013,pp. 52–53.
  18. ^ab"Marcus Ward Lyon Jr".Washington Biologists' Field Club.Archivedfrom the original on September 24, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 10,2013.
  19. ^McIntosh 1990,p. 12.
  20. ^abcdJust 1942,p. v.
  21. ^abLayne & Hoffmann 1994,pp. 34–35.
  22. ^abcdefgJust 1942,p. vi.
  23. ^McIntosh 1990,p. 7.
  24. ^McIntosh 1990,p. 10.
  25. ^abcd"Notre Dame Archives Inventory: Marcus and Martha Lyon Papers".Notre Dame.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 11,2013.
  26. ^"About the District of Columbia Chapter".Sigma Xi.Archivedfrom the original on April 15, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 12,2013.
  27. ^Layne & Hoffmann 1994,p. 22.
  28. ^"ANC Explorer".Arlington National Cemetery. Archived fromthe originalon April 18, 2015.RetrievedMarch 14,2013.

Literature cited

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