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American physician, scientist and artist
James Eights
(1798?1882) was an American
physician
,
scientist
, and
artist
. He was born in
Albany, New York
, the son of physician Jonathan Eights and Alida Wynkoop. James also became a physician and was appointed an examiner at a local engineering school which is now known as
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
.
Eights became an assistant to
Amos Eaton
and helped complete the surveys along the
Erie Canal
.
Upon the recommendation of
Amos Eaton
, who called Eights "one of the most competent geologists in North America", Eights obtained the position of
naturalist
on the first voyage of discovery made outside the
United States
. He was a member of the "South Sea Fur Company and Exploring Expedition" of 1829. This was a private enterprise organized by
Jeremiah N. Reynolds
. The expedition included two
brigs
,
Annawan
and
Seraph
, commanded by Benjamin Pendleton and
Nathaniel B. Palmer
respectively, plus the
schooner
Penguin
commanded by Alexander Palmer. Eights made observations of the flora and fauna in the lands reached by the expedition, which included
Patagonia
and
Staten Island
. He was the first to describe a
trilobite
fossil
found on the
South Shetland Islands
in the
Antarctic
, a
pycnogonid
, and the presence of
glacial erratics
.
[1]
Upon his return, James Eights published some of his materials in journals, but failed to obtain any further positions on exploratory voyages. He held himself out to be a
geologist
,
mineralogist
, and
surveyor
, obtaining some work away from Albany. Later he produced the
watercolors
and sketches of the Albany of his youth, by which he is now better known. He is believed to have never practiced medicine after the Antarctic expedition. Eights never married and lived his last years in the home of a sister.
Eights died in
Ballston, New York
. The
Eights Coast
of Antarctica and the short lived
Eights Station
exploration base were named in his honor.
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