John Hulke

John Whitaker Hulke

John Whitaker HulkeFRCSFRSFGS (6 November 1830 – 19 February 1895) was a Britishsurgeon,geologist andfossilcollector. He was the son of a physician inDeal,who became aHuxleyitedespite being deeply religious.

Hulke became Huxley's colleague at theRoyal College of Surgeons.He was a long-time collector from theWealdencliffs of theIsle of Wight,and his work on vertebrate palaeontology included studies ofIguanodonandHypsilophodonfrom the Wealden (Lower Cretaceous). He became president of theGeological Society(1882–84); and was awardedWollaston Medalin 1888. He was president of thePathological Society of Londonin 1883, and president of theRoyal College of Surgeonsfrom 1893 until his death.

Life

Hulke was born inDeal, Kent,the son of ageneral practitioner.He was educated partly at a boarding-school in England, partly at the Moravian College atNeuwied(1843–1845), where he gained an intimate knowledge of German and an interest in geology through visits to theEifeldistrict.Of Dutch Reformed descent, and Calvinist leanings, he held strict views: "his Protestantism was of the intolerant kind".He got on well with Huxley, whose agnosticism was also rather strait-laced. After returning from Germany he enteredKing's College School,and three years later commenced work at the hospital. He qualifiedMRCSin 1852.

Career

In theCrimean Warhe volunteered, and was appointed (1855) assistant-surgeon atSmyrnaand subsequently during theSiege of Sevastopol.On returning home he became medical tutor at his old hospital, was elected FRCS in 1857, and afterwards assistant-surgeon to theRoyal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields(1857), and surgeon (1868–1890).

In 1861, Hulke first described oculodermal melanosis (Nevus of Ota).In 1870 he became surgeon at theMiddlesex Hospital,and here much of his more important surgical work was accomplished. His skill as an operator was widely known: he was an excellent general surgeon, but made his special mark as anophthalmologist.As a geologist he attained a European reputation: he was elected FRS in 1867 for his researches on the anatomy and physiology of the retina in man and the lower animals, particularly the reptiles.

He subsequently devoted all his spare time to geology and especially to the fossil reptilia, describing many remains ofdinosaursfrom theIsle of Wight.He had access to one of the best private collections of the day: that ofRev. W. Foxon the Isle of Wight. Hulke located a completeIguanodonbraincase in 1869, and offered it to Huxley to describe. Huxley was too busy, but helped Hulke prepare and describe it. Hulke published a string of papers in theGeological Society of London'sQuarterly Review.In 1887 theWollaston Medalwas awarded to him by the Geological Society.

He was president of both the Geological andPathological Societiesin 1883, and president of theClinical Societyfrom 1893 to 1895 and of theRoyal College of Surgeonsfrom 1893 until his death. He was a man with a wide range of knowledge not only of science but of literature and art.In all, he published over fifty papers, 28 on dinosaurs. After his death his collection was donated to theNatural History Museum.He delivered the 1891Bradshaw Lectureat the Royal College of Surgeons on spinal fractures and dislocations.

He was due to read theHunterian Orationat the Royal College of Surgeons just before his death in February 1895. In the event it was delivered on his behalf by past presidentThomas Bryant.

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Hulke, John Whitaker".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 869.
• obituary: Hulke, John Whitaker 1896QJ Geol Soc52

External links

• Works by or about John Hulkeat theInternet Archive
• Works by or aboutJohn HulkeatWikisource
• Biography in Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online