Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Townson, Robert (fl.1792-1799)

by Edward Irving Carlyle

TOWNSON, ROBERT (fl. 1792–1799), traveller and mineralogist, was probably a native of Yorkshire. In 1793 he made a journey through Hungary, an account of which he published in 1797 under the title ‘Travels in Hungary’ (London, 8vo). In 1795 he graduated M.D. at Göttingen University. He was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Besides the work mentioned, he wrote: 1. ‘Observationes physiologicæ de Amphibiis,’ Göttingen, 1794, 4to. 2. ‘The Philosophy of Mineralogy,’ London, 1798, 8vo. 3. ‘Tracts and Observations in Natural History and Physiology,’ London, 1799, 8vo. He also contributed a paper on the ‘Perceptivity of Plants’ to the ‘Transactions’ of the Linnean Society (ii. 267).

[Townson's Works; Britten and Boulger's British and Irish Botanists; Lit. Memoirs of Living Authors of Great Britain, 1798.]

E. I. C.