Arthur James Cain (1921-1999), Derby Professor of Zoology at the University of Liverpool, England, is renowned for his work in evolutionary biology and ecology. Cain's interests in natural selection, systematics, biogeography, and the history of biology are well documented in his many publications, but he is perhaps best known for his book, Animal species and their evolution (London, 1954), a survey of the nature of species, their origin, and their evolutionary importance.

Much of Cain's research focused on terrestrial gastropods, including snails and slugs, and particularly on the genus Cepaea, a group of land snails that exhibits tremendous variation in shell color and ornamentation, and which is thought to have been subject to strong natural selective pressure. The pattern of longitudinal banding in the shells of C. hortensis and C. nemoralis has been intensively studied by Cain and other geneticists, and Cain and his fellow Oxford biologist, Philip Sheppard, made important contributions to udnerstanding the genetic basis of ecophenotypic variation in the highly polymorphic C. nemoralis. Subsequent collaborative work with John Currey, combined with work on fossil gastropods, resulted in the discovery of the "area effects" phenomenon in Cepaea. Cain also made contributions to the systematics of oligochaete "worms" and birds such as fruit pigeons and parrots, and to avian biogeography.

Born on July 25, 1921, Arthur James Cain attended the Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby, for his early education, and in 1939 was awarded an open scholarship (Demyship) to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with honors (first class) in zoology in 1941. Entering military service in December of 1941, Cain was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (R.A.O.C.- engineering) and was subsequently transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (R.E.M.E.) upon its formation. He was promoted to Captain in 1942.

After leaving the military in November, 1945, Cain immediately returned to Oxford to pursue a D.Phil. as an advanced student in the Department of Zoology. He easily matched his undergraduate successes in academics, becoming a Departmental Demonstrator in October, 1946, and receiving his M.A. in November, 1947. From January, 1949, until 1964, Cain was employed as University Demonstrator (now referred to as University Lecturer) in Animal Taxonomy, conducted research with John Baker, focusing on the histochemistry of lipids.

Cain's main interests, however, lay in evolutionary biology. From January to June, 1950, Cain studied with the great evolutionary biologist, Ernst Mayr at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and took part in a scientific expedition to the Allegheny Mountains and Florida, the first in a long line of field expeditions in which he participated.

Leading an Oxford Department of Zoology expedition to the British Solomon Islands in 1953, Cain investigated the correlation between geographical, ecological, and morphological variation in birds, and his efforts helped earn his an appointment as Curator of the Zoological Collections at the Oxford University Museum in 1954, a position he held for ten years in addition to his duties as University Lecturer and as Lecturer in Zoology at St. Peter's Hall (1958-1961). In 1964, he left Oxford to become Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester, and he later (1968) was appointed Derby Professor of Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He received emeritus status at Liverpool upon his retirement in 1989.

Cain's professional career was marked by a continued engagement in field research. As leader of the Oxford University expedition to British Guiana in 1959, he studied the comparative ecology of closely related species of birds in the tropical forest. In 1962, he was selected as the Oxford University representative on the Inter-Universities Committee for Research at Lake Kariba; and acted as the scientific secretary to this committee in the U.K. In this capacity, Cain made several trips to Africa from 1962-1965, conducting further research in Kariba and Johannesburg, and in 1965, he spent time at Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, studying avian ecology.

In his other professional activities, Cain served as editor of the Biological Series for Hutchinson's University Library from 1967-1975, as advisor in biology for the Science Research Council from 1972-1975, as well as remaining involved with many scientific organizations: as a founder and member of the Society for the Study of Human Biology, President of the Oxford Genetical Society, Zoological Secretary of the Systematics Association in Great Britain, member of the Council of the Linnean Society of London, fellow of the Institute of Biology in Great Britain, fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, member of the Malacological Society of London, and fellow of the Royal Society in Great Britain.

Cain died at home in Liverpool, England, in 1999.

The Arthur James Cain Papers (1945-1988) contain correspondence, grant applications, reports, programs for scientific meetings, unpublished papers and lectures, research notes, charts, graphs, maps, and manuscript reviews of journal articles and books. The bulk of the papers dates from the 1960s and 1970s, documenting the height of Cain's career as a biologist at the University of Liverpool. Some of the earliest items of the collection, ca. 1945-1946, are letters to Cain from English author and literary scholar, C. S. Lewis.

Cain's correspondence (Series I) represents the largest part of the collection, and contains some of the most noteworthy material. Letters discussing his research, expeditions, and data with fellow biologists are of particular interest. Research notes in the form of complete notebooks, per se, are not common; most of the pertinent information on Cain's research topics is dispersed throughout his correspondence with colleagues and in the miscellaneous documents filed in the subject files (Series II). The subject files also contain information regarding Cain's memberships and activities in biological societies and scientific organizations, and his Oxford University expeditions to the British Solomon Islands and British Guiana.

Provenance

The Cain Papers were donated to the American Philosophical Society Library by Arthur James Cain in July, 1989. Their transfer from Liverpool, England, to Philadelphia was arranged by William B. Provine of Cornell University, in conjunction with the Philip M. Sheppard Papers (Ms. Coll. 65).

Preferred citation

Cite as: Arthur J. Cain Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Genetics Note

This collection contains materials which relate to the history of genetics.

Genre(s)

• Maps

Personal Name(s)

• Cain, Arthur J. (Arthur James), 1921-1999
• Clarke, B. C. (Bryan C.)
• Cranach, Mario von, b. 1931
• Davis, George Morgan
• Mayr, Ernst, 1904-2005
• Sheppard, P. M. (Philip Macdonald), 1921-1976
• Woodruff, David S.

Subject(s)

• Biology
• Biology--Classification
• Birds.
• Evolution (Biology)
• Gastropoda
• Genetics
• Mollusks
• Natural selection
• Ornithology
• Paleontology
• Pulmonata