# Clarke Abel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Clarke_Abel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Clarke_Abel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_Abel > Source revision: 1355410770 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) British surgeon and naturalist (1780-1826) Clarke Abel Chief Medical Officer and Naturalist of the British Embassy to China In office 1816–1817 Monarch George III Personal details Born (1780-09-05)5 September 1780 Died 24 November 1826(1826-11-24) (aged 46) Cawnpore, India Occupation Surgeon, naturalist Known for Accompanying Lord Amherst on his mission to China, being the first Western scientist to report the presence of the orangutan on the island of Sumatra **Clarke Abel** (5 September 1780 – 24 November 1826)[1] was a British [surgeon](/source/Surgery) and [naturalist](/source/Natural_history). The standard [author abbreviation](/source/List_of_botanists_by_author_abbreviation_(A)) C. Abel is used to indicate this person as the author when [citing](/source/Author_citation_(botany)) a [botanical name](/source/Botanical_name).[2] He accompanied [Lord Amherst](/source/William_Amherst%2C_1st_Earl_Amherst) on his [mission to China in 1816-17](/source/Amherst_Embassy) as the embassy's chief medical officer and naturalist, on the recommendation of [Sir Joseph Banks](/source/Sir_Joseph_Banks). En route, Abel landed twice in the Cape, where he devoted a chapter to the region's geology, and became notes a pioneer in South African Geology.[3]This mission to China was Britain's second unsuccessful attempt to establish diplomatic relations with China and involved travelling to the [Beijing](/source/Beijing) and the famous botanical gardens of Fa Tee (Huadi) near [Canton](/source/Guangzhou) ([Fangcun District](/source/Fangcun_District)). While in China, Abel collected specimens and seeds of the plant that carries his name, *[Abelia chinensis](/source/Abelia)*, described by Banks' botanical secretary [Robert Brown](/source/Robert_Brown_(Scottish_botanist_from_Montrose)), "with friendly partiality". However a shipwreck and an attack by pirates on the way back to his home in Britain caused him to lose all of his specimens. Abel's *Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China*, 1818,[4] gives a detailed account of the collection's misfortunes. However, he had left some specimens with Sir George Staunton at Canton, who was kind enough to return them to him; living specimens of the Chinese Abelia that we know today were introduced by [Robert Fortune](/source/Robert_Fortune) in 1844.[5] In March 1819 he was elected a [Fellow of the Royal Society](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society).[6] He was also a member of the [Geological Society](/source/Geological_Society_of_London).[7] Abel was the first Western scientist to report the presence of the [orangutan](/source/Orangutan) on the island of [Sumatra](/source/Sumatra); the Sumatran Orangutan *[Pongo abelii](/source/Sumatran_orangutan)* Lesson 1827 is named for him.[8] He went on to become the surgeon-in-chief to [Lord Amherst](/source/William_Pitt_Amherst%2C_1st_Earl_Amherst) when the earl was appointed [Governor-general of India](/source/Governor-general_of_India). Abel died at [Cawnpore](/source/Kanpur), India, 24 November 1826, aged 46.[9] Abel was also the first scientist to describe the Chiru or [Tibetan Antelope](/source/Tibetan_Antelope), in 1826. It is the only member of the genus [Pantholops](/source/Pantholops). In 1919, botanist [Takenoshin Nakai](/source/Takenoshin_Nakai) published *[Abeliophyllum](/source/Abeliophyllum)*, which is a genus of shrubs from [Korea](/source/Korea), in the [olive](/source/Olive) family, [Oleaceae](/source/Oleaceae). It was named in Clarke Abel's honour.[10] Then in 2010, Landrein published *[Diabelia](/source/Diabelia)*, which is a genus of shrubs from China and Korea, in the [Caprifoliaceae](/source/Caprifoliaceae) family.[11] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [*Abel, Clarke (1789-1826)*](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb10230696n) (in French). Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Retrieved 6 February 2021. {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: |website= ignored ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [International Plant Names Index](/source/International_Plant_Names_Index). [*C. Abel*](https://www.ipni.org/search?q=author%20std%3AC.+Abel). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** doi:10.1017/S0016756800089329 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Abel, Clarke (1818). [*Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China: And of a Voyage to and from that Country, in the Years 1816 and 1817*](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008586229). London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Alice M. Coats, *Garden Shrubs and Their Histories* (1964) 1992, *s.v.* "Abelia". 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Library and Archive Catalogue"](http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27abel%27%29). Royal Society. Retrieved 5 December 2010. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** According to the title page of his *Narrative* 1818. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Behlens, Bo, Watkins, Michael. and Grayson, Michael *Eponym Dictionary of Mammals*, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-801893-04-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-801893-04-9). p. 1-2) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Bretschneider, Emil (2011). [*History of European Botanical Discoveries in China*](https://books.google.com/books?id=FFU-g42KVEIC). SEVERUS Verlag. p. 225. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783863471651](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783863471651). Retrieved 8 Sep 2016. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["*Abeliophyllum* Nakai | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science"](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:28314-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Retrieved 30 January 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["*Diabelia* Landrein | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science"](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77105077-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Retrieved 30 January 2022. - Diana Wells, *100 Flowers and How They Got their Names*, (Chapel Hill: Algonquin), 1997. - Alice M. Coats, "The Plant Hunters", (London: Studio Vista Limited), 1969. Authority control databases International ISNI 2 VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Netherlands Israel Academics CiNii International Plant Names Index People Deutsche Biographie Other IdRef Open Library Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clarke Abel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_Abel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_Abel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.