James Cossar Ewart’s experimental station, ‘The Bungalow,’ Penicuik

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

The Bungalow

Navaar House Hotel, 23 Bog Rd, Penicuik EH26 9BY

‘The Bungalow’ was originally home to James Cossar Ewart (1851–1933), Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh between 1882 and 1927. Ewart commissioned the house in 1895 and also established a ‘Natural History Station’ on the premises, where he kept a menagerie of animals. Ewart’s most famous experiments were cross-breeding zebras and horses, the results of which were published in 1899 as The Penycuik Experiments. Ewart was later instrumental in founding the study of genetics at the University. The Bungalow is now a hotel, as is Ewart’s later home, Craigybield, which is situated further down the road.

The Bungalow c.1900.

The Bungalow c.1900.

 

Zebra-horse hybrid

James Cossar Ewart with his zebra-horse hybrid Romulus, at the Bungalow, Penicuik, c.1899.

 

Original home of the Institute of Animal Genetics

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Jul 242017
 

Surgeons' Square1 Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP

The Institute of Animal Genetics owed its existence to a scheme initiated in 1911 to encourage research into animal breeding. The University of Edinburgh was already a leading centre for research in this field, with many leading figures such as James Cossar Ewart (1851-1933), professor of Natural History, physiologist Francis Marshall (1878-1949) and Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire (1879-1915), lecturer in Genetics and Animal Breeding. Francis Albert Eley Crew (1886-1973) was chosen as its first director. The Institute was based in one of the buildings in Surgeons’ Square until it moved to Kings Buildings in 1924.

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