Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling (31 December 1818 in Wilkenhof
, Livland
, now in Latvia
– 6 December 1871 in Nevada City, California
, USA) was a German–Russian physician and naturalist
. During his later years he became an American citizen.
from 1838 to 1844. He graduated and received a doctor's degree in 1844.
, Siberia from 1845 through 1851. He went to Ayan over land with his young wife and arrived in winter 1845. The difficulties during the overland journey were extreme in parts. He published an account of it in "Eine Reise um die Welt ..." see below. The German title of the book translates into: "A journey around the world from West to East through Siberia and the pacific and atlantic seas." During his time in Ayan, he kept a daily register of the temperature and rainfall for Ayan. He described all plants in the area and published an account of it with the director of the botanical gardens in St. Petersburg, Russia, Eduard August von Regel
(Florula Ajanensis, see below). He went back to Riga with his wife and four small children and arrived early 1852.
After that, he practiced medicine in Riga
from 1853–1854. From 1854 to 1863, he practiced in Wenden
and from 1863 until 1868, in Sitka, Alaska. He had settled in Sitka before the Alaska purchase. After it he stayed and later went on to San Francisco and Nevada City, California
.
He collected and described numerous plants and species in Siberia, Alaska, and California from 1844 to 1871 such as Tilings monkeyflower (Mimulus tilingii), native to North America.
There is no detailed written evidence about the later movements to San Francisco and Nevada City.
Middendorfiana“ to Europe’s gardens. In addition to that Regel wrote: "It is mainly Dr. Tiling to whom we owe the introduction of many excellent Siberian plants" The review of Lange and Gumprecht go far above a normal book review. They add information about Tilings voyage that is not contained in the book they review. The size of the review with 21 full pages is remarkable as well. Although „Eine Reise um die Welt“ was published anonymously the reviewers did know the author and supported his views. At least among the German speaking people "in the know" it was clear who the author of “Eine Reise um die Welt” was. There must have been intensive contact between author and reviewers previously. Specifically intensive was Tilings exchange with the director of the Botanical Gardens in St Petersburg, Eduard August von Regel
with whom he published "Florula Ajanensis".
Trained as a medical man and having the collection of plants at his heart his interests far exceeded these two areas. One example is the meteorological observations in Ayan described above. This is probably the earliest systematic weather observations taken in Eastern Siberia. Through the scientifically trained experience of different geographical areas of the world and their resulting flora and fauna Tiling developed a very modern view of the development of nature. At the beginning of his lecture „About the inhabitants of the Seas/German title: Ueber die Bewohner des Meeres“, which he gave after his return from Ayan, he made people aware of the differences in the various parts of the sea and the reason for it. The Baltic Sea, on whose shore he and his audience was born and raised, he thought as very poor in diversity of species. Today that is an acknowledged fact. As the most widely known example for the extinction of species he names Steller's Sea Cow
„ … We have seen not very long ago the extinction of an animal of the sea and that in a part of the sea that seemed so vast to us that we thought it should give shelter for its harassed inhabitants.
The large variety of species and individuals in the Sea of Ochotsk near his former home Ayan was described very lively. He combined this knowledge with what he had seen on his return voyage to Europe 1851–1852 as ships surgeon from Ayan via Sachalin
, Kamchatka, Sitka, Hawaii
, Tahiti
, around the Cape Hoorn and through the Atlantic Ocean back to the baltic seaport Kronstadt
, now a suburb of St.Petersburg. He drew the following conclusion: “… Add the huge numbers of sea lions, sea bears and walrusses, which you may encounter in various parts of the sea and you will have to confess that it is due to the complete annihilation of these creatures in the Baltic Sea to which we owe the deadly calmness that the view of the sea induces in us. We have so to speak only the splendid frame left of the gigantic picture that our creator has set before our eyes.” With this he formulates an indeed very modern view and concern that scientists formulated distinctly during the last twenty years.
Viļķene parish
- Towns, villages and settlements of Viļķene parish :*...
, Livland
Livonia
Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida...
, now in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
– 6 December 1871 in Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
, USA) was a German–Russian physician and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. During his later years he became an American citizen.
Early years
His parents were Johann Heinrich Tiling and Margarete, née Pearson of Balmadis. He studied medicine in DorpatTartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
from 1838 to 1844. He graduated and received a doctor's degree in 1844.
Career
Tiling became a physician at the "Russian North American Co." in AyanAyan
Ayan is a rural locality and the administrative center of Ayano-Maysky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the shore of a well-protected bay of the Sea of Okhotsk, from Khabarovsk and by sea from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur...
, Siberia from 1845 through 1851. He went to Ayan over land with his young wife and arrived in winter 1845. The difficulties during the overland journey were extreme in parts. He published an account of it in "Eine Reise um die Welt ..." see below. The German title of the book translates into: "A journey around the world from West to East through Siberia and the pacific and atlantic seas." During his time in Ayan, he kept a daily register of the temperature and rainfall for Ayan. He described all plants in the area and published an account of it with the director of the botanical gardens in St. Petersburg, Russia, Eduard August von Regel
Eduard August von Regel
Eduard August von Regel was a German horticulturalist and botanist. He ended his career serving as the Director of the Russian Imperial Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg...
(Florula Ajanensis, see below). He went back to Riga with his wife and four small children and arrived early 1852.
After that, he practiced medicine in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
from 1853–1854. From 1854 to 1863, he practiced in Wenden
Cesis
Cēsis , is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river overlooking the woods below...
and from 1863 until 1868, in Sitka, Alaska. He had settled in Sitka before the Alaska purchase. After it he stayed and later went on to San Francisco and Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
.
He collected and described numerous plants and species in Siberia, Alaska, and California from 1844 to 1871 such as Tilings monkeyflower (Mimulus tilingii), native to North America.
Journey around the world
Directly after having got the doctors degree he was offered a post with the Russian-American Company to become the company surgeon in their newly created port on the Ochotsk Sea, Ayan. He married in the spring of 1844 Anna Elisabeth Fehrmann. She accompanied him on the overland journey to Siberia. Tiling started to learn the Russian language during his travels. The journey was slow and obviously lasted longer than planned and it was already winter when they arrived. After a lot of trouble that ended very nearly deadly they arrived in Ayan on the 4. December 1844 and Tiling began his work. At the time of his arrival Ayan had only about 100 inhabitants and his duties as a doctor took up only about an hour per day. Thus Tiling could spent most of the day making scientific observations. One example is the temperature tables he made starting November 1847. He took temperatures three times per day, at 7 a.m. , 2 p.m. and 9 p,. m., calculated monthly median values, and monthly high and low temperatures. He logged cloud cover, barometer readings, wind direction, and rainfall. He collected plants in the near vicinity of Ayan and according to his own conclusion “hardly missed one”. His weather readings for Ayan are the oldest in Eastern Siberia. The flora of Ayan is one of the best documented in Siberia. In 1851 he and his family, now with four little children, took the boat from Ayan to Sachalin, Kamschatka, Sitka, Hawaii, Tahiti, around Cape Hoorn through the Atlantic Ocean back to Kronstadt.Back in Europe
After the arrival in Europe, Tiling practised first in Riga. In 1854 he was the county surgeon for Wenden. Only when he moved to America he left this post.Second journey
From 1863 to 1868 Tiling was surgeon in Sitka, Alaska. This was either again with the Russian-American Company, or with the Russian Government represented through the governor. Whether his wife and family accompanied him on this second journey is not entirely clear, yet it is very likely. She herself died in Riga in 1876, as much later all their eight children. So nobody of the family stayed in the end in North America. At the time of the journey their youngest child Eduard was only six years old. Therefore it can be assumed that at least his wife and some of the children came with him. In 1867 the US government purchased Alaska from Russia, yet Tiling stayed in Sitka. Most of the higher ranking Russian officials moved back to Europe. It is very likely that Tiling spoke English, his mother being English. His wife Anna was born in London and should have some degree of knowledge of the English language as well.There is no detailed written evidence about the later movements to San Francisco and Nevada City.
Critical assessment
Very obviously the collection and categorization of plants is core to Tiling’s personality. This passion is with him throughout his life. From his various places of residence he send back plants, specimens, seeds, and descriptions. Lange and Gumprecht, the two persons that reviewed "Eine Reise um die Welt ....", sing his praise for the introduction and popularisation of the pretty garden shrub „WeigelaWeigela
Weigela is a small genus of about 12 species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae, growing to 1-5 m tall. All are natives of eastern Asia. The genus is named after the German scientist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel....
Middendorfiana“ to Europe’s gardens. In addition to that Regel wrote: "It is mainly Dr. Tiling to whom we owe the introduction of many excellent Siberian plants" The review of Lange and Gumprecht go far above a normal book review. They add information about Tilings voyage that is not contained in the book they review. The size of the review with 21 full pages is remarkable as well. Although „Eine Reise um die Welt“ was published anonymously the reviewers did know the author and supported his views. At least among the German speaking people "in the know" it was clear who the author of “Eine Reise um die Welt” was. There must have been intensive contact between author and reviewers previously. Specifically intensive was Tilings exchange with the director of the Botanical Gardens in St Petersburg, Eduard August von Regel
Eduard August von Regel
Eduard August von Regel was a German horticulturalist and botanist. He ended his career serving as the Director of the Russian Imperial Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg...
with whom he published "Florula Ajanensis".
Trained as a medical man and having the collection of plants at his heart his interests far exceeded these two areas. One example is the meteorological observations in Ayan described above. This is probably the earliest systematic weather observations taken in Eastern Siberia. Through the scientifically trained experience of different geographical areas of the world and their resulting flora and fauna Tiling developed a very modern view of the development of nature. At the beginning of his lecture „About the inhabitants of the Seas/German title: Ueber die Bewohner des Meeres“, which he gave after his return from Ayan, he made people aware of the differences in the various parts of the sea and the reason for it. The Baltic Sea, on whose shore he and his audience was born and raised, he thought as very poor in diversity of species. Today that is an acknowledged fact. As the most widely known example for the extinction of species he names Steller's Sea Cow
Steller's Sea Cow
Steller's sea cow was a large herbivorous marine mammal. In historical times, it was the largest member of the order Sirenia, which includes its closest living relative, the dugong , and the manatees...
„ … We have seen not very long ago the extinction of an animal of the sea and that in a part of the sea that seemed so vast to us that we thought it should give shelter for its harassed inhabitants.
The large variety of species and individuals in the Sea of Ochotsk near his former home Ayan was described very lively. He combined this knowledge with what he had seen on his return voyage to Europe 1851–1852 as ships surgeon from Ayan via Sachalin
Sachalin
Sachalin may refer to the following villages:*Sachalin, Lublin Voivodeship *Sachalin, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship For the Russian island, see Sakhalin....
, Kamchatka, Sitka, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, around the Cape Hoorn and through the Atlantic Ocean back to the baltic seaport Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
, now a suburb of St.Petersburg. He drew the following conclusion: “… Add the huge numbers of sea lions, sea bears and walrusses, which you may encounter in various parts of the sea and you will have to confess that it is due to the complete annihilation of these creatures in the Baltic Sea to which we owe the deadly calmness that the view of the sea induces in us. We have so to speak only the splendid frame left of the gigantic picture that our creator has set before our eyes.” With this he formulates an indeed very modern view and concern that scientists formulated distinctly during the last twenty years.
Plants named by him
More than 20 species were named after him. The abbreviation Tiling indicates that Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling has described this species for the first time.:- Asteraceae Erigeron tilingii Vorosch. -- in Bull. Princ. Bot. Gard. Acad. Sci. URSS No. 60, 40 (1965). (IK)
- Asteraceae Hieracium tilingii Üksip—Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 19: 495. 1959 (IK)
- Brassicaceae Arabis tilingii (Regel) Berkut. -- Bot. Zhurn. (Moskau & Leningrad) 88(11): 132. 25 nov 2003
- Brassicaceae Borodinia tilingii (Regel) Berkut. -- Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 19: 106 (1982):. (IK)
- Brassicaceae Braya tilingii Regel—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 61. 1859 (IK)
- Brassicaceae Hesperis tilingii Kuntze—Revis. Gen. Pl. (1891) 935. (IK)
- Brassicaceae Sisymbrium tilingii E.Fourn. -- These Crucif. 133. (IK)
- Brassicaceae Smelowskia tilingii (Regel) Vorosch. --in Byull. Glavn. Bot. Sada (Moscú), 113: 36 (1979). (IK)
- Convallariaceae Streptopus tilingii (Regel) Grey—Hardy Bulbs, ii. 536 (1938). (IK)
- Leguminosae Oxytropis tilingii Bunge—Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.Petersburg, Ser. 7. xxii. (1874) I. 94. (IK)
- Leguminosae Spiesia tilingii Kuntze—Revis. Gen. Pl. (1891) 207. (IK)
- Rosaceae Padus avium Mill. var. pubescens (Regel & Tiling) T.C.Ku & B.M.Barthol. -- Fl. China 9: 423 (1 May 2003).
- Polygonaceae Polygonum ajanense (Nakai) Grig. subsp. middendorfii (Kongar) Vorosch. -- in A.K. Skvortsov (ed.), Florist. issl. v razn. raĭonakh SSSR: 163 (1985):. (IK)
- Rosaceae Potentilla fragiformis Willd. var. villosa (Pall. ex Pursh) Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 85. 1859 Fl. Ajanensis, 85. 1858 (GCI)
- Rosaceae Potentilla nivea L. var. villosa (Pall. ex Pursh) Regel & Tiling (GCI)
- Ranunculaceae Pulsatilla ajanensis Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 28. 1859 (IK)
- Ranunculaceae Pulsatilla ajanensis Regel & Tiling subsp. tatewakii (Kudô) Vorosch. -- in A.K. Skvortsov (ed.), Florist. issl. v razn. raĭonakh SSSR: 169 (1985):. (IK)
- Saxifragaceae Saxifraga tilingiana Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 94. 1859 (IK)
- Rosaceae Sieversia selinifolia Fisch. ex Regel & Tiling—Fl. Ajan. (Nouv. Mem. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc.xi.), 82 (1858), in syn. (IK)
- Caryophyllaceae Silene ajanensis (Rgl. & Til.) Vorosch. subsp. villosula (Trautv.) Vorosch. -- in A.K. Skvortsov (ed.), Florist. issl. v razn. raĭonakh SSSR: 166 (1985):. (IK)
- Caryophyllaceae Sofianthe ajanensis (Regel & Tiling) Tzvelev—Byull. Moskovsk. Obshch. Isp. Prir., Otd. Biol. 111(6): 38. 2006 [11 Dec 2006]
- Rosaceae Sorbaria kirilowi (Regel & Tiling) Maxim. -- Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 6: 225. 1879 (IK)
- Rosaceae Spiraea kirilowii Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 81. 1859 (IK)
- Caryophyllaceae Stellaria sibirica (Regel & Tiling) Schischk. -- Fl. URSS vi. 420 (1936). (IK)
- Convallariaceae Streptopus ajanensis Tiling ex Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 122. 1859 ; nom. inval. (IK)
- Convallariaceae Streptopus ajanensis Tiling ex Maxim. -- Diagn. Pl. Nov. Asiat. 5: 855 (1883). ; nom. illeg.
- Convallariaceae Streptopus ajanensis Tiling ex Maxim. -- Mélanges Biol. Bull. Phys.-Math. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 11(5): 855. 1881 (GCI)
- Gentianaceae Swertia perennis L. subsp. stenopetala (Regel & Tiling) Vorosch. -- in A.K. Skvortsov (ed.), Florist. issl. v razn. raĭonakh SSSR: 187 (1985):. (IK)
- Gentianaceae Swertia stenopetala (Regel & Tiling) Pissjaukova—Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R. 22: 213. 1963 (IK)
- Ranunculaceae Thalictrum aquilegiifolium L. var. sibiricum Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 23. 1859
- Apiaceae Tilingia Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 97. 1859 (IK)
- Apiaceae Tilingia ajanensis Regel & Tiling—Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 11: 97. 1859 (IK)
- Apiaceae Tilingia ajanensis Regel & Tiling var. longifoliolata Gorovoj & Belyi—in A. M. Cauwet-Marc & J. Carbonnier, Les Ombelliferes Contrib. Pluridisc. Syst. (2e Sympos. Int.) 657 (1977 publ. 1978), without type. (IK)
- Apiaceae Tilingia ajanensis Regel & Tiling var. longiinvolucrata Gorovoj—in A. M. Cauwet-Marc & J. Carbonnier, Les Ombelliferes Contrib. Pluridisc. Syst. (2e Sympos. Int.) 657 (1977 publ.1978), without type. (IK)
- Apiaceae Tilingia ajanensis Regel & Tiling f. umbrosa Gorovoj—in A. M. Cauwet-Marc & J. Carbonnier, Les Ombelliferes Contrib. Pluridisc. Syst. (2e Sympos. Int.) 657 (1977 publ. 1978), without type. (IK)
- Ranunculaceae Trollius ochotensis Tiling—Regel & Tiling, Fl. Ajan. 38. (IK)
Sources
- Barnhart, JH. 1965. Biographical Notes upon Botanists. G.K. Hall & Co. (Boston)
- Brennsohn, I, 1905. Die Ärzte Livlands von den ältesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart. E. Bruns (Riga)
- Plöhn, Hans Arnold. o.J. Die niedersächsischen Geschlechter Tiling. Sonderdruck aus "Deutsche Stammtafeln". (Leipzig)
- Regel, Dr. E und Tiling, Dr. H. 1858. Florula Ajanensis, Aufzaehlung der in der Umgegend von Ajan wachsenden Phanerogamen und hoeheren Cryptogamen nebst Beschreibung einiger neuer Arten und Beleuchtung verwandter Pflanzen. Universitaets-Buchdruckerei. (Moskau)
- Anonymous (i. e.: Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling)1854 : Eine Reise um die Welt von Westen nach Osten durch das stille und atlantische Meer. Verlag von C. Krebs, Aschaffenburg
- Dr. Tiling (i. e. Heinrich Sylvester Theodor Tiling): Ueber die Bewohner des Meeres. Populäre Vorlesung gehalten im naturforschenden Verein zu Riga am 12. März 1854 in: Literarisches Taschenbuch der Deutschen in Russland. Herausgegeben von Jegór von Sivers. Riga. Verlag von N Kymmel 1858, p. 130 ff.
- H. Lange and T. E. Gumprecht: Review of "Reise um die Welt von Westen nach Osten durch Sibirien und das stille und atlantische Meer", in: Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde, Published by T. E. Gumprecht, Fourth Volume, Berlin, 1855, S. 428 ff. und S 481 ff.