CARL LOUIS SCHWENDLER: HISTORY OF A POLYMATH

I had recently visited Kolkata on wanderlust and tried to visit some important places of interest. Being an animal lover, I went to the zoo ie, the Zoological Garden , Alipore. Among mega charismatic fauna, I found pleasure in watching the larger felines such as the tiger, the leopard, the jaguar and the asiatic lion. But what I principally did not fail to notice was our sturdy and imposing colonial past which revealed itself in every nook and corner of this great zoo. I will draw attention towards one structure which is historically very significant to the establishment of this zoo. It is an obelisk which was erected in the memory of Carl Louis Schwendler. Schwendler, a German electrician and one of the first proponents of the Tungsten based incandescent light bulb, was the founder of this zoo. He worked in the Telegraph Department of British India and was also the pioneer in setting up of the telegraph system in India during the Raj. He was a member of Council of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Asiatic Society of Bengal still exists as a scholarly society founded on Jan. 15, 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies. Schwendler, in his hey days, had extensively worked on the science of telegraphy and had authored the book titled, "On the General Theory of Duplex Telegraphy". In this book he had researched on the method of sending messages simultaneously along the same wire in opposite directions which was very new to the science of telegraphy during that time. This method was previously only successfully used by an American Telegrapher named Stearns on some of the American Telegraph lines. The greatest problem in setting up of telegraph lines in India was to decide on the best possible method available to calculate the resistance arrangements and the distribution of condensers required for any given line, overland or submerged. Schwendler's theory on Duplex telegraphy and his book came to the rescue of telegraphic engineers of that time. Schwendler's work principally helped in designing and installing submerged telegraph lines in India. He also worked on "Earth Currents" or "Lines", as he called them, and believed that their direction (drift) was from East to West in India and in Bengal. He held that the accurate measurement of the direction and source of the electromotive force producing them were a scientific necessity in setting up of the telegraphic system in India.  According to him, earth currents were produced by difference of potentials between two points of the earth with which the earth plates were in contact. He further mentioned in a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in 1874, that these earth currents reach their full magnitudes when magnetic storms occur which coincide with electromagnetic disturbance in the Sun's surface. During such magnetic storms the entire telegraphic communication process tended to break down as had been previously experienced during the autumn of 1849-50 and again in 1870 in The British Isles. Schwendler fully understood that in a country as large as India, such a situation would cause immense problems. So he recommended the then British Government of India to introduce a system of measurement of these currents. Thus two projects namely the "Porcupine" and "Challenger" were initiated by the British government for dredging the Indian seas and to procure sophisticated instruments for measuring Earth currents. But due to lack of administrative will the procurement of the required instruments was deplorably slow. Hence these projects perished in their infancy. While in India, he worked in several committees of finance, library, natural history and physical sciences of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. During this period, he and other prominent persons fully understood the need of establishing a "proper" zoo in Kolkata since as early as 1841, but this need only did finally materialize in 1873 when a sub-committee of the Society was formed exclusively for the purpose of discussing the prospects of establishing a zoo in Calcutta. Mr. Schwendler headed this committee, which composed of members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Bengal Agri-Horticultural Society. Finally in 1875, did the Zoological Gardens, Alipore finally get established after three decades of contemplation and debate.  Schwendler was an engineer but he also was an animal enthusiast which we infer from the large collection of animals that he owned in his menagerie. He convinced the then Indian Viceroy, Lord Thomas Northbrook, that instead of constructing large and expensive houses for animals in the Indian climate, simple sheds but surrounded by luxuriant vegetation was all that was required for animal husbandry, thus making the housing of animals both scientific and simple. An honorary managing committee of the zoo was formed in December 1875, headed by C. Buckland (he was the private secretary to the then lieutenant Governor, Sir Richard Temple) as honorary secretary. Mr. Schwendler and Dr. George King (superintendant of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens) were members. Schwendler's long experience and knowledge in exotic animal husbandry and handling helped the zoo attain laurels in the fields of zoo organization and animal husbandry in England, Australia and several European countries. When the zoo was established, the then Government of Bengal had promised to pay twenty thousand rupees a year as a grant for management of the zoo. However, during the period between July 1876 and July 1877, the grant stopped thus making the financial position of the zoo shaky. During this time Mr. Schwendler had to direct the Managing Committee's vision of the objectives of the zoo not only towards the already existing ones of research and education, but towards a new one that was of public entertainment in order to stabilize the zoo's financial condition. Thus revenue in the form of gate receipts (from tourists), boating and fishing in the great serpentine lake of the zoo accrued which strengthened its economic status. While all  members of the Zoo Managing Committee had specific roles given to them, Mr. Schwendler was given the duty of looking after the housing and comfort of the animals, especially the exotics, as his experience was mainly with animals exotic to India.    Carl Louis Schwendler donated his private collection of animals which consisted of 31 mammals and 57 birds to the zoo. In 1877, during its golden era, this zoo had 756 mammals, birds and reptiles. The zoo successfully carried out captive breeding programs for lemurs, mongoose, short spined porcupine, agouti, tiger and leopard under his supervision. The vision of this zoo had changed from mere displaying of animals to maintaining sustained breeding groups of animals by proper study and analysis of their behavior and ecology. Thus the greatest shift in objective of this zoo was realized. Study of behavior of animals for their husbandry and educating the public about the importance of wildlife conservation had gained precedence over the sheer unscientific display of fauna.  The point which I want to stress from this story is that it is really not compulsory whether one has a degree or any academic accolade in a particular field in order to serve that field. One only need have the bona fide interest in it. In fact developing true passion for a field has little to do with official degrees. Degrees only bind our imagination to a particular subject or area, whereas interest liberates us from such mundane restraints and drives us towards more intriguing pastures. Even research shows that people who are skilled in diverse fields or people having flair in multiple facets of the same field show a higher percentage of brain usage than others, for example people who speak multiple languages or people who play different musical instruments. There are numerous examples of famous persons such as Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Albert Schweitzer and Isaac Asimov who were prolific polymaths and went on to become shining examples in the history of mankind. I believe that we owe our sincerest gratitude towards Carl Louis Schwendler who was instrumental in establishing one of the oldest organizations devoted to the cause of wildlife research and conservation in India. His diligent efforts to stabilize the future of the zoo when it faced dire economic crisis is laudable. Till today, Zoological Gardens, Alipore continues to serve as a nodal centre for conservation breeding of the Manipur Brow Antlered Deer and Bhutan Grey Peacock Pheasant. The zoo functions under a society called “West Bengal Zoo Authority”. More work can be done if the “Central Zoo Authority” takes over the charge of management of this zoo.