“a
iff of fit
thie CA nttevan,

m=*Pnn Au, Vol. XVII, No.-r, January, 1901. ]

N MEMORIAM: ELLIOTT COUES.

Born 9th Sept. 1842.— Diep 25th Dec. 1899.

BY D. G. ELLIOT, r. R. Ss. E., ETC.

= = = a a Se SS = = es SITES SS?

2
UP
Da Pah

a

‘ i
; 4 , a
A ‘ fs : = .
t y - ©
. y 4 <n i =
/ ‘ f I y
5 7 Hf of =
= = ?
4 7 7
' Si > f
oe 7 ne = aes =
; = m : ae 1 bs :
§ a = 1 8
‘ r ~ = " * .
[om ee fet i a i = i ¢ i.
: ca = = ‘ Ve >
a ae ———s rade Ven A - ‘ ‘
7 ay es a a = f \
pee - ; a 4 7 ; a
- ome A “* - y
7 : - ae nr 7 -
or on = = co ence ~
: 4 ts a =
7 6 ' r —~ 7 1 7 : = _- :
‘= 4 = i“ ae :
ae 4 == h = - 2 . ee y
Se ‘ a a ck ee ;
\ on ; = —_ { » ‘ ne
: - it : ‘ Pa ath : z
‘ee en i i ; e = : = A f
a : a tt, =a - Sorfed i; ¥ : - ‘9 .
a f : : : = - - a H
: iy, z 7 on _ = wo ro
i - P i = tae - + r
ry u i Li J 7 _— 7" - '
i == i i
‘ : = ¥ = me - L
. ¥ ty 4 1
q tram We 7 - ar oe ‘i '
= ~ . Ye a - 7 uv S —
4 , E ‘ i .
’ 7 : ‘ us 4 ’ va ‘ an 7 ‘
¥ : Ss ; < a = A a 7 f —:
¥ - q t a i re = 7
m, » t a ‘
‘ : - Ne ‘ : ; : i
7 = = a \y ie y Aas ‘
any £e = \ : ©
7 = 4 . ; 7 — , uA
: 7 ‘ : * ;
et, oa
ui , : \ x
= s
A . .
7 a : b ao : < : _ 1
" : ‘ r Fi ae _ ;
: = x : \ 2 ~~ =
: ’ Se -
' ¥ yy : : z 7 7 ‘ =
4h :
ss . ii
es
yi
i
.
. tne a tf

~

*

VA

Weis Nore ~ Vom, Sevan PLATE |;

THE AUK:

ALU ARTERLY ]OURNAL OF

ORNITHOLOGY:

———_——— 7 ee a aa

won. XVII. JANUARY, 1901. IN. @e ie

IN MEMORIAM: ELLIOTT COUES.!
Born 9th Sept. 1842.— Diep 25th Dec. 1899.

BY D. G. ELLIOT, F.R. 5S. E., ETC.

In THE life of every nation, society or individual, no matter
how peaceful, prosperous or happy the record of the past may
have been, no matter how encouraging and bright the future may
be for further advancement, increased progress and greater
achievements in the path that always leads onward and upward,
toward the ultimate fulfillment of the highest destiny that may be
attained, in the varying shifting career that all must follow while
accomplishing the pilgrimage of earth, yet in the experience of all
even amidst the rush of a restless activity, there comes a time to
mourn. A time when the daily duties are temporarily neglected
or wholly laid aside, when the engrossing pursuits that occupy
the thoughts and call for the utmost energies of man’s nature
cease for the moment to interest the mind, when the smile van-
ishes and joyous laughter no longer cheers the heart, when the
voice sinks to a whisper low and soft, as the sense of some
irreparable loss comes with stunning force to overwhelm the soul.
To this Society, to all its individual members, and to some of us

1An address delivered at the Eighteenth Congress of the American
Ornithologists’ Union, Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 13, 1goo.

2 Eviot,/z Memoriam: Elliott Coues. — ea.
in a peculiar and intimate relationship such a time has surely
come, for as we are gathered here to-day, one engaging presence,
one vitalizing force, one attractive personality, one brilliant mind
is no longer in our midst, to grace, strengthen and assist us in our
deliberations, and in the accomplishment of duties that must be
met. Who shall measure the extent of the loss sustained by
various branches of scientific and historical research, by this and
kindred societies, by those of us who have parted from an
intimate friend and colleague of many vanished years, as well as
the younger men just entering upon the scientific field, in the
recent death cf our former President and late colleague, Elliott
Coues. No one occupied a more prominent position in our midst
than he and no one held it by a stronger claim founded on excep-
tional ability, in brilliant work successfully accomplished.

On September gth, 1842, in the town of Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, Elliott Coues was born, and as soon as he could
exhibit a preference for any object, his taste for ornithology was
manifested, and even when only able to toddle about the nursery,
a poster of one of the old style menageries rendered him oblivious
to all other attractions and no book nor story interested him .
unless animals were their subjects. So early did the tastes and
preferences that were to be the chief controlling influences cf his
life declare themselves. When he was eleven years of age his
father, Samuel Elliott Coues, removed to Washington, in which
city our late colleague was destined to pass a large part of his
life, and where some of his most important works were to be
written. For atime he attended Gonzaga College, a Jesuit Insti-
tution, and where, to one of his ardent temperament, the gorgeous
ritual of the Romish church would be apt to make a deep impres-
sion, but his was to be an energetic life that demanded a wide
field for its activity, and could not be pent amid cloistered shades
or cathedral aisles. In his early days he was rather inclined to
neglect the classics, replying once to a remonstrance of his father,
“T only want just enough of these things to facilitate my other
work,” but later he appreciated the importance of a thorough
knowledge of the ancient tongues and they had no more earnest
advocate than himself. At the age of seventeen he entered
Columbia College, now Columbian University, took his degree of

Vol. XVIII

IgOI

EvLiot, 7x Memoriam: Elliott Coues. 4

A. B. in 1861, Honorary M. A. in 1862, became a Medical Cadet
in 1862, M.D. in 1863 and Acting Assistant Surgeon, United
States Army, in the same year and Assistant Surgeon in 1864.
When he passed his examination for the United States Army
medical corps he was obliged to tell them he was not of age, and
he was appointed a volunteer surgeon for one year before he
could receive his commission and that year he passed at Mount
Pleasant Hospital near Washington. For seventeen years he
continued in the service of the United States and was made a
brevet Captain, resigning in 1881 in order to devote himself
entirely to his scientific and literary pursuits.

During his army life he was stationed at various posts, mostly
those situated in the western part of the United States, and he
was also attached to some of the most important Government
Surveys of the Territories and little known parts of our country,
such as the one under the command of Dr. F. V. Hayden, and
that of the Northern Boundary Commission which surveyed the
forty-ninth parallel westward from the Lake of the Woods. In
these great expeditions he served as surgeon and naturalist, and
gained in the field that intimate knowledge of our birds and
mammals which was to make him in the near future one of the
most illustrious naturalists of our country and of our time. He
had now become so absorbed in his scientific pursuits that the
monotonous routine of an army post was most distasteful, and
when he was detached from the surveying expeditions and
ordered back to his first station at Fort Whipple, Arizona, he
endeavored to obtain a different assignment, one more congenial
to him and better adapted for his scientific work, and when this
proved impossible he resigned from the army and took up his
abode in Washington, where he resided until his death.

Although he was a writer on many and various subjects, his
first scientific work was done in ornithology, and as early as
1861, when he was but nineteen years of age, he made his debut
as an author in a well-conceived and executed paper, that would
have been highly creditable to a far more experienced hand,
entitled ‘A Monograph of the Tringe of North America.’ In
his scientific studies Coues was fortunate in having for his men-
tor the late Professor Baird and between them the strongest

Auk

4 Evuiot, 7x Memoriam: Elliott Coues. talk.

friendship existed and which only terminated with the death of
the senior naturalist. From this period Coues’s contributions to
literary, scientific and philosophic subjects never ceased, for his
energies were unlimited and he became one of the most prolific
writers of our day. In 1869 he was elected Professor of Zoology
and Comparative Anatomy in Norwich University, Vermont, but
the duties of army life prevented him from accepting this posi-
tion, but after he retired from the service of the United States he
accepted the chair of anatomy at the National Medical College
in the medical department of Columbian University, Washington,
where he lectured acceptably for ten years. He was also one of
the contributors to the Century Dictionary, and had editorial
charge of General Zoology, Biology and Comparative Anatomy,
and furnished some 40,000 words to this monumental work as
his share of the enterprise; devoting to it the greater part of his
labor for seven years. Another immense undertaking to which
he devoted some years of painstaking work was a ‘ Bibliography
of Ornithology,’ certain instalments of which alone have been
published, the greater portion still remaining in manuscript. He
also began a ‘ History of North American Mammais,’ but though
considerable progress with it was accomplished nothing was ever
published.

From 1861 to 1881 he completed 300 works and papers, the
major portion devoted to ornithology; and although he always
kept up his interest in that science and was more or less an active
contributor to it all his life, his later years were more particularly
devoted to historical research. The titles to his scientific writings
of all kinds, minor papers, reviews and special works, number
nearly 1,000, and he was the author or joint author of 37 separate
volumes. The work by which he will probably be best known
and remembered, and which has had above all others the most
important influence on ornithology in our own land, is his ‘ Key
to North American Birds,’ a work that in its conception and the
masterly manner in which it is carried out in all its details stands
as one of the best if not ¢#e best bird book ever written. His
knowledge of North American mammals was as extensive and
intimate as was that of our birds, and the ‘ Fur Bearing Animals,’
published in 1877, as well as the Monographs on the Muride,

: aie a Exvwvior, Zz Memoriam: Elliott Coues. 5

Zapodide, Saccomyidz, Haplodontia and Geomyidz in the ‘ North
American Rodentia,’ also issued in 1877, bear ample witness to
this fact. It is impossible, however, in a comparatively brief
address to enumerate the titles of his works and to this audience
they would seem like twice told tales, for with the more important
you are thoroughly familiar, and the minor ones are being con-
stantly met with and referred to by you in the pursuit of your
investigations.

We know what he has done in Natural Sciences, and although
he rests from his labors, and the eloquent tongue is silent and the
still more eloguent pen lies motionless never more to perpetuate
the virile thoughts that struggled for expression in the active
mind, yet his works remain and speak with no uncertain tones for
him. I would, however, pass from the consideration of him as an
author and facile writer, and present him to you as the man, as he
really was, for although many persons were acquainted with Coues
few I believe really knew him. It is now nearly forty years ago,
when on a visit to Professor Baird in Washington, one evening, in
company with my old friend Dr. Gill, I first met Elliott Coues.
He was then in his teens, a student of medicine, frank, simple,
honest and confiding, with a boy’s generous impulses, and the
glorious enthusiasm of the ornithologist manifest in speech and
action. The friendship then formed continued without a break
or a hasty word ever having been exchanged with tongue or pen
throughout all the intervening years. And yet we thought very
differently on many subjects; but such was our confidence in each
other’s honest intention and unreserved frankness that we could,
and did many times, argue on different sides, both orally and in
writing, with an energetic earnestness that would have been
highly dangerous to our continued friendship if we had not under-
stood each other so well. And first among his most eminent
characteristics was his love of truth, and he was constantly striv-
ing with all the force of his energetic nature to search it out and
take its teaching to himself wherever he might find it, careless
where it might lead him or what preconceived views or opinions
it might overthrow or destroy. He believed with Carlyle that
“there is no reliance for this world or any other but just the
truth, there is no hope for the world but just so far as men find

6 Evuiot, Jz Memoriam: Elliott Coues. Ta
out and believe the truth and match their own lives to it.” It
was therefore in his search for truth and an attempt to apply the
principles of physical science to psychical research that in 1880
he became affiliated with the Theosophical Society of India and
was elected President of its American Board of Control, and was
continued in that office for several years. He was much inter-
ested in the subject and investigated its principles and methods
with his usual thoroughness, even visiting Europe in company
with Madame Blavatsky and other prominent members of the sect,
and his connection with this and kindred societies resulted in the
production of several publications such as ‘Biogen’ and the
‘Dezemon of Darwin.’ But the knowledge that he gained of this
interesting but peculiar doctrine was not of that satisfying char-
acter as to cause him to hold fast to its tenets, nor to enable him
to retain his respect for its leaders, and although he gives no rea-
sons for the action, vet in the memorandum in which he records
his election as President in 1885 and his reelection in the follow-
ing year, with characteristic frankness he states that he was
expelled from the Society in 1889. ‘Those of us who have little
sympathy with the claims asserted by the disciples of Theosophy
can not but regard his expulsion from the Society as having con-
ferred a greater honor upon him than his election to the Presi-
dency, and can easily imagine the action he may have taken in
the Council to cause such a result after he finally satisfied himself
that the doctrine could not substantiate its claims. He detested
shams of all kinds and hurled the full force of his invective
against those who had proved themselves unworthy or who strove
to appear entitled to more than was their due..

As a critic in certain lines he was unrivaled and exhibited the
highest practice of the art in his reviews, dwelling most upon
what was meritorious in the treatment of the subject before him,
for he believed true criticism was to seek that which was praise-
worthy rather than something to condemn. But no one could be
more caustic in his treatment, nor wield a sharper weapon, when
he found that praise would be misapplied and it would be kinder
to act as the skillful surgeon does, create wounds in order that
the patient’s recovery might be more sure and lasting. Rarely,
however, for one who published so much, was he severe in his

aa Exvuiot, In Memoriam: Elliott Coues. 7
writings, though none had the power to be more so, but when
from whatever the cause that influenced him he permitted himself .
to indulge in phrases that would be remembered and might pos-
sibly leave a sting, he set down ‘naught in malice,’ but em-
ployed a phraseology that he honestly believed was best suited to
the case in hand, and after some such severe articles had been
issued, he has spoken to me in the kindest way of the author of
the work or act he had so criticised or condemned, apparently
entirely unconscious that it could possibly affect any friendly rela-
tions or be the means of any estrangement. It was the senti-
ment advanced, or the conclusion reached, that was the object of
his attack, not the individual who was the author. In all his crit-
ical reviews there is no thought of self, but only desire to do
justice to his subject and to its author, and if anything could
be charged against him on this point, it was an evident inclination
always to find something to praise.

In his scientific writings he was always extremely lucid, and
conservative in his methods, and he had but little sympathy for
the hair splitting and microscopic variations in the appearance of
animals, that is the joy and delight of some naturalists in these
later days. He was a scholar and knew his Greek and Latin,
and with a scholar’s instinct and abhorrence of incorrect phrase-
ology, he strove with all his might to inculcate not only in his
own scientific writings, but in those of others the true principles
of etymology and philology, and both by tongue and pen, in the
keen analytical style of which he was an undisputed master, he
strove with all the force of his energetic personality against the
unfortunate and mistaken doctrine that the perpetuation of errors
can ever be permissible, much less commendable. He possessed
a command of language gained by few and the beauty of his style
and his felicity of expression has created numerous pen pictures
of the habits and appearances of our wild creatures that have
never been excelled by any writer, if indeed they have been
equalled.

While a keen and just critic himself, he was very sensitive
regarding the opinion of others towards his own productions, and
sought the approbation of those who were bound closely to him
either by earthly ties or an intimate friendship, or whose knowledge

BS Exvuiot, Zz Memoriam: Elliott Coues. yak
of the subject under consideration caused their opinion to be of
special value. This extreme sensitiveness is best illustrated by
an act committed in his youthful days, when after having labored
for several years upon a work on Arizona, on reading his manu-
script to one, who, if not competent to judge of the importance
of his labors, he had the right to expect would exhibit sympathy
for his efforts, and who must at least have been impressed with
its thoroughness and beauty of diction, yet, was only able to con-
sider its value as a commercial asset and therefore commented
upon it so unfavorably and with such strength of expression, that,
utterly disheartened at the want of appreciation for that which
had been so long a labor of love and of which he was so proud of
his ability to produce, on the impulse of the moment he cast the
‘copy’ into the fire where it was consumed, and then suffered a
severe attack of illness in consequence of his loss by his hasty act.

Of a most affectionate disposition he sought and enjoyed the
society of his friends and those with sympathetic tastes, and
although he possessed strong convictions and firm opinions, yet
no one more readily yielded to the views of another whose oppor-
tunities to reacha correct decision had been greater than his own,
and this was always effected with a courtesy that caused his
friendly opponent to regret he could not himself yield and reverse
their positions. He loved science and scientific work and scorned
to employ his talents and his knowledge merely for financial con-
siderations, and although he could command large sums for his
labor, he preferred to devote himself to pure science which, if less
remunerative pecuniarily, achieves a more lasting result, and one
of greater honor.

After all these years of scientific work his thoughts and labors
turned to a new channel, that of historical research, and the last
eight or ten years of his life were devoted to editing the journals
of the early explorers of our continent, and he made many long
and wearisome journeys over the various routes taken by these
hardy pioneers in order to familiarize himself with the country
traversed and locate the many places mentioned, but which had
no designation on any published map. His former army life and
his great experience as a naturalist eminently fitted him for this
tisk, and probably no one could have proved himself so compe-

Vol. XVIII

IQOl

Ev.iiot, Zz Memoriam: Elliott Coues. 9

tent to fulfill this duty. The first of these works was that of the
Expedition of Lewis and Clarke which appeared in 1893, followed
in 1895 by the Expedition of Zebulon M. Pike. In 1897 came
the Henry & Thompson Journals, in 1898 appeared the Fowler
Journal and the Narrative of Charles Larpentuer, forty years a
Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri; and during this year The
Diary of Francisco Garces, on the trail of a Spanish Pioneer, in
all r5 volumes. All of these books bear the impress of his most
conscientious care and wonderful minuteness of annotation, and
it is to Coues more than to any other, that the original sources of
the early explorations of the western portion of our country,
beyond the Mississippi, are preserved.

It was during an arduous journey in New Mexico atl Arizona
in the summer of 1899, undertaken, as he wrote me, as a “ still
hunt for old Spanish MSS.” and to refresh his memory of the
country described by Francisco Garces, and render still more
effective his editing of the Diary in his possession that Coues’s
splendid physique and robust health that for so long seemed to
defy fatigue and exposure gave way, and he was brought to Santa
Fé in a rather critical condition, where for a month he was very
ill, but in September he came to Chicago. He seemed to be get-
ting better and at my last interview with him, during which his
condition was freely discussed, although he fully appreciated the
gravity of his case, yet he expressed the hope, and perhaps he
thought it was clearly among the possibilities, that he might be
present at the last meeting of this Society in Philadelphia. Re-
garding him, as I then did, as in a critical condition I could not
share this hope, although I encouraged him in his belief, or what
seemed to be his belief, for Coues had been too long a skilled
medical practitioner to try and deceive himself, but from his refer-
ences to his attendant physician it was clearly apparent that he
preferred to advance the opinion of his medical adviser, of whom he
spoke in the highest terms, rather than any of his own. He was
greatly changed in appearance, but the old fire and enthusiasm,
that I had so often admired and not infrequently contended with
in friendly conflict during so many years, was not a whit abated,
and he spoke with all his old time interest of the work he had
himself in view and of that of others. But the voice was feeble

IO Evuiot, /z Memoriam: Elliott Coues. Aule.

Jan.

and the frame was weak, and he was filled with a restlessness that.

was foreign to him. But when I bade him an adieu, which was

to be our last on earth, he was cheerful and spoke hopefully of

meeting soon again. As you all know, his condition hecame

more serious after he arrived at his home in Washington and an .

expert examination at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore gave
but little hope for the preservation of his life. During these last
days I received a number of letters from him explaining frankly
his condition and how few were his chances for life, and just
before submitting to the operation came one virtually bidding me
farewell and announcing the close of our correspondence that had
extended over many years. On the sixth of December the oper-
ation was performed and for a short time there was a probability
that his life would be prolonged, but it was not to be, for he had
finished his work and he was to rest from his labors. Through-
out his illness he exhibited the natural bravery of spirit habitual
to him; not a murmur or complaint of the excessive and lasting
pain, but gentle and courteously appreciative of every attention,
and at the last overcoming for an instant the weakness that
denoted the approach of that moment when his freed spirit should
depart and soar above all earthly things, he raised himself in his
bed, and with all the old time vigor of voice exclaimed, ‘‘ Welcome!
oh, welcome beloved death,” and sinking backwards on the pillow
he was at rest. Nevermore shall you welcome to your midst this
courteous gentleman, who was the considerate friend, the able
counsellor, the chivalrous debater, the one most capable of
leadership, yet always willing to yield to another, the trained
scientist, the accomplished anatomist, the able naturalist, the con-
scientious historian. His was a life of intense activity and that
which his hand found to do he did with all his might; and of
none can it be more appropriately said, ‘‘ Nihil tetigit quod non
ornavit.”’

Coues, as may be readily supposed, was the recipient of many
scientific honors, and he was an Honorary or Active member of
a very large number of societies, both in this country and in
Europe, and at the time of his election to our National Academy
he was, I believe, its youngest member. The list of scientific
societies with which he was connected numbers between fifty and

Vol. XVIII

fo Evuiot, lx Memoriam: Elltott Coues. II

sixty, far too many for me to attempt to give their titles at this
time, yet none of them was so distinguished but that it received
as well as conferred an honor by having his name upon its rolls.
As a naturalist Coues will always hold the highest rank in the
estimation of all who are familiar with his works, and in that
galaxy of eminent names which sheds so great a brilliancy on the
scientific annals of our own land, none shall appear in the years
to come more lustrous than that of our late distinguished col-
league and friend. But the brilliant mind no longer teems with
thoughts of earth, and the hand that executed its commands lies
motionless and we, who are drawing near to that shining portal
through which he has so lately passed, and from whose farther
side no steps are ever retraced by any one of mortal birth, may
never look upon his like again, whose pen was the ‘pen of a
ready writer,’ fit instrument to convey and render permanent the
eloquence of thought, beauty of diction, and facility of expression,
of Nature’s illustrious Disciple and Interpreter.

fe ; ee ;

ue ea i : f iy fi eT } Se 1 har) y af f

ane ete u i : el Lh / i ie A : Fae a : ai P Pa

7 eh j enn 1 : i a ’ th j \ Nia! yh A ll!
bly cis Wy, Hl uD | ) t il een I f

{ Nec

Il

{ Gay ie Pes
PAMPHLET BINDER

Syracuse, N. Y.
Stockton, Calif.

Il