Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Poeppig, Eduard

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POEPPIG, Eduard (pup-pig). German naturalist, b. in Plauen, Saxony, 16 July, 1797; d. in Leipsic. 4 Sept., 1868. He received his education in Leipsic, and, after obtaining a medical degree, was given by the rector of the university a botanical mission to North and South America. He returned to Germany toward the close of 1832 with valuable collections in zoölogy and botany, and was appointed in the following year professor of zoölogy in the University of Leipsic, which post he held till his death. He also contributed to the establishment of a scientific museum in the latter city, and bequeathed to it his collections. He published “Reise nach Chili, Peru, und auf dem Amazonen-Flusse” (2 vols., Leipsic, 1835); “Nova genera ac Species plantarum quas in regno, Chiliensi, Peruviano, ac Terra Amazonica, anni 1827-1832 lectarum” (3 vols., 1835-'45); “Reise nach den Vereinigten Staaten” (1837); and “Landschaftliche Ansichten und erlauternde Darstellungen” (1839). Poeppig also wrote most of the American articles for the “Allgemeine Encyclopaedie,” edited by Ersch and Grüber.