Abstract
PROF. ALEXANDER MACALISTER, the famous Cambridge anatomist, was born on April 9, 1844, in Dublin, where he was educated at Trinity College. He qualified at the Irish Royal Colleges in 1861, became M.B. at Trinity College ten years later and M.D. in 1876. After acting as demonstrator of anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, he was appointed professor of zoology, and eight years later professor of anatomy and chirurgery, at Dublin. In 1883 he succeeded Sir George Murray Humphry in the chair of anatomy at Cambridge, and held this post for thirty-six years. He was a prolific writer. Besides his "Text-book of Human Anatomy"(1889) for which he is best known, he was the author of "Introduction to Animal Morphology"(1876) and "Morphology of Vertebrate Animals" (1878) as well as of numerous papers on animal, morphology, human anatomy and small text-books for students. He was a man of remarkable versatility, being an able mathematician as well as versed in archæology, Egyptology and draughtsmanship. Like his cousin, Sir Donald Macalister, he was a proficient linguist, having knowledge of fourteen languages. He received many honours. In 1881 he was elected, a fellow of the Royal Society. He was made hon. LL.D. of the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and McGill and hon. D.Sc. and senator of the University of Dublin. His name has been attached to the fovea gastrica and the annulus femoralis s. cruralis.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prof. Alexander Macalister, F.R.S. (1844–1919). Nature 153, 554 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153554b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153554b0