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PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


Biological  Society  of  Washington. 


PUBLISHED    WITH    THE    CO-OPERATION  OF    THE    SMITHSONIAN   INSTITUTION. 


Volume  IV. 
February  20,  1886,  to  January  28,  1888. 


WASHINGTON : 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY. 

1888. 


PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE. 


C.    HART  MERRIAM,  Chairman. 

FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS,  R.  E.   C.   STEARNS, 

RICHARD  RATHBUN,  FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON. 

II 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB. 

Officers  and  Committees  for  1887 iv 

Officers  and  Committees  for  188S v 

Joint  Commission         ^  vi 

Proceedings,  February  20,  1886,  to  January  20,  1888 vii-xxii 

Saturday  Lectures,  1886        xxii 

"                 "           1887        xxiii 

Baird  Memorial  Meeting xxiii 

Notice  of  Botanical  Section xxiv 

Addresses  and  Coinmunications  : 

Description  of  a  new  species  of  Bat  from  the  Western  United 
States  '  Vespertilio  ciliolabrnm,  sp.  nov.),  by  C.  Hart  Mer- 
riam  (December  17,  1886*) 1-4 

Description   of  a  new  Mouse  irom   New   Mexico  ( Hesperomys 

anthonyi,  sp.  nov.),  by  C.  Hart  Merriam  (April  15,  18S7*)     .       5-8 
'ie  Beginnings  of  Natural   History  in   America — The  Third 
entury— Annual  Address  of  the  President,  G.  Brown  Goode, 
January  22,  18S7 9-94 

Some  American  Conchologists.  Annual  Address  of  the  Presi- 
dent, William  H.  Dall,  January  28,  1888 95-134 

Description  of  a  new  Fox  from   Southern  California  {  V'ulpes 

macrotis,  sp.  nov. ),  by  C.  Hart  Merriam  (Februai-y  18, 1888.*)  135-138 

*  Author's  separates  of  the  special  papers  here  enumerated  were  published  on  the  dates  given 
in  the  parentheses  following  the  author's  name. 


i'^  J  /  S' 


LIST  OF  THE  OFFICERS  AND  COUNCIL 

OF   THE 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 


Elected  January  S,  1887. 


OFFICERS 


PRESIDENT. 

WILLIAM  H.  DALL. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

LESTER  F.  WARD,  CHAS.  D.  WALCOTT, 

FRANK  BAKER,  C.   HART  MERRIAM. 

SECRETARIES. 

RICHARD  RATHBUN,  FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS. 

TREASURER. 

FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON, 

COUNCIL. 

WILLIAM  H.   DALL,  President. 
FRANK  BAKER,  OTIS  T.  MASON, 

TARLETON  H.   BEAN,  C.   HART  MERRIAM, 

H.   G.   BEYER,  RICHARD  RATHBUN, 

THEODORE  GILL,*  R.   E.   C.   STEARNS, 

G.  BROWN  GOODE,*  CHAS.  D.  WALCOTT, 

F.   H.   KNOWLTON,  LESTER  F.  WALiD, 

FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS,  CHARLES  A.  WHITE,* 

GEORGE  VASEY. 


STANDING  COMMITTEES  — 1887. 

Comniiitee  on  Communications. 
G.  BROWN  GOODE,  Chairman. 
C.  HART  MERRIAM,  FRANK  BAKER. 

Committee  on  Publications. 

C.   HART  MERRIAM,  Chairman. 

FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS,  R.  E.  C.  STEARNS, 

RICHARD  RATHBUN,  FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON. 

Committee  on  Lectures . 

G.  BROWN  GOODE,  Chairman. 
FRANK  BAKER,  G.  K.  GILBERT, 

C.  HART  MERRIAM,  CHAULES  V.  RILEY. 

Committee  on  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  of  Washington . 

LESTER  F.   WARD,  Chairman. 
WILLIAM  SMITH,  FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON, 

GEORGE  VASEY,  E.  LAMSON  SCRIBNER. 


*  Ex-Presidents  of  the  Society. 
IV 


LIST  OF  THE  OFFICERS  AND  COUNCIL 

OF    THE 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 


Elected  January  14,   iSSS. 


OFFICERS. 

PRESIDENT. 

WILLIAM  H.  DALL. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

LESTER  F.  WARD,  CHARLES  V.  RILEY, 

C.   HART  MERRIAM,  RICHARD  RATHBUN. 

SECRETARIES. 

JOHN  B.   SMITH,  FREDERIC  A.   LUCAS. 

TREASURER. 

F.   H.  KNOWLTON. 

COUNCI  L. 

WILLIAM  H.  DALL,  Presidetit. 

TARLETON  H.  BEAN,  RICHARD  RATHBUN, 

THEODORE  GILL,*  CHARLES  V.  RILEY, 

G.  BROWN  GOODE,*  JOHN  B.   SMITH, 

JEROME  H.  KIDDER,  R.   E.   C.   STEARNS, 

F.   H.  KNOWLTON,  FREDERICK  W.  TRUE, 

FREDERIC  A.   LUCAS,  LESTER  F.  WARD, 

C.   HART  MERRIAM,  CxHARLES  A.   WHITE,* 

GEORGE  VASEY. 


STANDING    COMMITTEES— 1888. 

Cotmtiittee  on  Conitnunications. 

G.  BROWN  GOODE,  Chairman. 
C.  HART  MERRIAM,  FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS, 

Commitiee  on  Publications. 

C.  HART  MERRIAM,  Chairman. 
FREDERIC  A.  LUCAS,  R.  E.  C.  STEARNS, 

RICHARD  RATHBUN,  FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON. 

Coinmiitee  on  Lectures. 

G.   BROWN  GOODE,  Chairman. 
FRANK  BAKER,  G.  K.  GILBERT, 

C.  HART  MERRIAM,  CHARLES  V.  RILEY. 

Committee  on  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  o/  Washington. 

LESTER  F.  WARD,  Chairman. 
WILLIAM  SMITH,  FRANK  H.  KNOWLTON, 

GEORGE  VASEY,  F.  LAMSON  SCRIBNER. 

*  Ex-Presidents  of  the  Society. 
V 


JOINT  COMMISSION. 

A  temporary  joint  committee,  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  advisability  of  forming  a  permanent  joint  com- 
mittee, submitted  the  following  report  to  each  of  the  five  societies 
concerned  : — 

Whereas,  There  now  exist  in  Washington  several  scientific 
.societies,  organized  with  similar  aims,  working  by  similar  meth- 
ods, composed  largely  of  the  same  members,  and  meeting  in  the 
same  place  ;  and 

Whereas,  Matters  of  common  interest  are  numerous  and  con- 
stantly increasing  :  therefore  it  is 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  committee,  that  it  is  advis- 
able to  form  a  Joint  Commission  of  the  Anthropological,  Biolog- 
ical. Chemical,  Geographic  and  Philosophical  Societies  of  Wash- 
ington to  consider  questions  of  common  interest; 

That  such  Joint  Commission  shall  consist  of  three  representa- 
tives from  each  of  the  five  Societies  ; 

That  its  functions  shall  be  advisory,  except  that  it  may  execute 
instructions  on  general  subjects,  and  in  special  cases,  from  two  or 
more  of  the  Societies  participating; 

Provided,  That  no  vSociety  shall  be  bound  by  the  Commission 
to  an  act  as  to  which  it  has  not  given  instruction. 

The  above  resolution  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  perma- 
nent Joint  Commission,  composed  of  the  following  delegates  : 


Anthropological  Society. 
ROBERT  FLETCHER, 
WASHINGTON  MATTHEWS, 
F.  A.   SEELY. 

Chemical  Society. 
J.   H.   KIDDER, 
F.  W.   CLARK, 
H.  W.  WILEY. 


Biological  Society. 

WILLIAM  H.  DALL, 
C.   HART  MERRIAM, 
RICHARD  RATHBUN. 

National  Geograph'ic  Society. 
GARDNER  HUBBARD, 
HENRY  GANNETT, 
JOHN  R.  BARTLETT. 


Philosophical  Society.' 

GARRICK  MALLERY, 
J.  W.   POWELL, 
MARCUS  BAKER. 

VI 


PROOEEDTT^GS. 


Ninetieth  Meeting,  February  30,  i8S6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-seven  persons  present. 

Dr.  D.  E.  Sahnon  and  Dr.  Theoliald  Smith  presented  a  pa- 
per, which  was  read  by  the  latter,  entitled,  On  a  New  Method 
OF  Producing  Immunity  From  Coxtagious  Diseases. 

A  paper  by  Prof.  C.  V.  Riley,  describing  A  Carnivorous 
Butterfly  Larva,  Fenesica  targjuinius,!  was  read  by  Mr. 
J.  B.  Smith.  Specimens  of  both  the  larva  and  imago  were  ex- 
hibited. 

Prof.  L.  F.  Ward  spoke  upon  The  Plane  Tree  and  its  An- 
cestors,! and  exhibited  specimens  and  figures  of  both  the  recent 
and  fossil  species. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  described  A  New  Species  of  Aplodox- 
TiA  FROM  California,  §  and  exhibited  skms  and  skulls  of  the 
only  two  species  of  the  genus  at  jDresent  known. 


NiNETY-FiRST  Meeting,  March  6,  i8S6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-six  persons  present. 

Dr.  Geoi-ge  Vasey  spoke  upon  New  and  Recent  Species  of 
North  American  Grasses. 

Mr.  Charles  Hallock  read  a  paper  entitled  Hyper-Instinct 
IN  Animals. 

*  Until  March  19,  18S7,  the  meetings  wei-e  held  either  in  the  Lecture 
Room  or  in  the  office  of  the  National  Museum,  and  subsequentlv  in  the 
Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  on  Lafayette  Square. 

tiSS6.    Amer.  Nat.,  June;  and  Proc.    Ent.    Soc ,  Washington,  i.  No.  2, 

P-  37- 

J  The  Paleontological  History  of  the  Genus  Platanus.  <Proc.  U.  S. 
Nat.  Mus.,  xi.     (In  cource  of  publication.) 

§  1886.  Merriam,  C.  Hart.  Description  of  a  New  Species  of  Aplo- 
dontia  from  Cnlifornia.  <  Ann.  N.  Y.  Acad.  Sci.,  iii.  No.  10,  pp.  312-328, 
plates  19,  20,  and  two  tables. 

VII 


Vin  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTGTOlSr. 

Ninety-Second  Meeting,  March   20,  18S6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-one  persons  present. 
The  following  communications  were  presented  :  • 

Dr.  D.  E.  .Sahnon  and  Dr.  Theobald  Smith,  Notes  on  Some 
Biological  Analyses  of  Potomac  Drinking  Water. 
Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer,  Remarks  on  Anti-Pyretics. 
Dr.  W.  S.  Barnard,  The  Effects  of  Kerosene  on  Animal 
and  Vegetable  Life,  with  exhibition  of  a  fungus  that  had  de- 
veloped in  an  emulsion  of  kerosene  and  milk. 

Mr.  F.  H.  Knowlton,  Additions  to,  and  Changes  in,  the 
Flora  Columbiana  for  18S5.* 


Ninety-Third  Meeting,  April  3,  1SS6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-two   members  present. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Smith  read  a  paper  entitled  Some  Peculiar  Sec- 
ondary Sexual  Characters  in  the  Deltoids,  and  Their 
Supposed  Functions. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  described  a  New  Subspecies  of  Gray 
Squirrel  from  Central  Minnesota.! 

A  paper  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufeldt,  on  Some  Early,  and  as 
YET  Unpublished,  Drawings  of  Audubon,  was  read  by  Mr. 
F.  W.  True.     Photographs  of  the  drawings  were  exhibited. 

Dr.  Frank  Baker  and  Mr.  J.  L.  Wortman  spoke  upon  Recent 
Investigations  into  the  Mechanism  of  the  Elbow  Joint.  J 


Ninety-Fourth  Meeting,  April   17,  1886. 

Prof.  Ward,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  seventeen  per- 
sons present. 

Prof.  Theodore  Gill  described  The  Characteristics  and 
Families  of  Iniomous  Fishes. 

*  1SS6.     These  Proceedings,  iii,  pp.  106-132. 
t  Science,  April  16,  1SS6,  351. 

J  Embodied  in  the  article,  "  Elbow-ioint,"  Wood's  Reference  Hand-book 
of  Medical  Sciences,  vol.  ii. 


PROCEEDINGS,  IX 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  read  a  paper  entitled  Notes  ox  the  Verte- 

BR.E  OF  AmpHIUMA,   SiREN,  AND  MenOPOMA.* 

Mr.  F.  \V.  True  g^ave  an  account  of  Some  Distinctive  Cra- 
NiAL  Characters  of  the  Canadian  Lynx,!  with  exhibition 
of  specimens,  and  also  exhibited  a  specimen  of  a  wood  hare, 
showing  an  abnormal  growth  of  fur. 


Ninety-Fifth  Meeting,  May  i,  iS86. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-six  persons  present. 

Prof.  R.  E.  C.  Stearns  read  a  paper  entitled  Instances  of 
the  Effect  of  Musical  Sounds  on  Animals. 

Mr.  John  A.  Ryder  spoke  upon  The  Evolution  of  the 
Mammalian  Placenta, |  which,  he  contended,  had  passed  in  its 
evolution  from  a  diffuse,  through  a  zonary,  to  a  discoidal  condi- 
tion. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Dall  exhibited  specimens  of  Lingula  (Glottidia) 
PYRAMiDATA.  Stimpson,  attached  to  sand  and  bits  of  shell  by 
the  tip  of  the  peduncle.  He  also  described  The  Superficial 
Anatomy  of  Different  Species  of  the  Genus  Pecten.§ 


Ninety-Sixth  Meeting,  May  39,  1S86. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-two  persons  present. 
Mr.  J.  B.  Smith  read  a  paper  on  Ants'  Nests  and  Their 
Inhabitants.  II 

Dr.  T.  H.  Bean  presented  a  communication  on  The  Trout 

*  1886.  Lucas,  F.  A.  The  Sacrum  of  Me7iopoma.  <Amer.  Nat.,  xx, 
pp.  561,  562,  June. 

t  18S7.     Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus..  x,  pp.  8,  9. 

X  A  Theory  of  the  Origin  of  Placental  Types,  and  on  certain  vestigiary 
structures  on  the  placent8e  of  the  mouse,  rat,  and  field-mouse.  American 
Naturalist,  August,  1S87,  pp.  770-784  (with  two  figs.) 

See  also  (the  placentation  of  the  two-toed  ant-eater,  Cycloturus  didac- 
tylus),  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  1S87,  p.  . 

§  1886.     Bull.  Mus.  Comp.  Zool.,  xii.  No.  6. 

II  1886.     Amer.  Nat.,  xx,  pp.  679-687,  August. 


X  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

OF  North  America,  with  exhibition  of  specimens,  which  was 
followed  by  a  long  discussion,  in  which  many  members  partici- 
pated. 

Prof.  L.  F.   Ward  exhibited  a  Specimen  of  the  Palo  La 
Cruz,  or  Wood  of  the  Cross,  obtained  in  Northern  Brazil. 


Ninety-Seventh  Meeting,  October  i6,  iSS6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twelve  members  present. 

The  Secretary  read  a  letter  from  Dr.  Basil  Norris,  U.  S.  A., 
Spokane  Falls,  W.  T.,  descriptive  of  the  larval  form  of  a  species 
oi  Atnbly stoma ^  probably  A.  tigrina^  a  specimen  of  which  was 
exhibited. 

Mr.  F.  H.  Knowlton  read  a  paper  on  Fasciation  in  Ra- 
nunculus AND  RuDBECKiA,  exhibiting  specimens  of  each  of  the 
genera,  and  reviewing  the  different  theories  held  by  authors  as  to 
the  cause  of  this  structure.  Remarks  upon  the  same  subject 
were  made  by  Dr.  Fernow,  Prof.  Ward,  and  Mr.  Mann. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Smith  gave  an  account  of  an  abnormal  abundance 
of  Dynastes  tityus,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  American  beetles, 
and  having  an  intensely  disagreeeble  odor.  It  occasionally  oc- 
curs in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  ranges  south  and  west  from 
there  into  Texas  and  Mexico.* 

Mr.  F.  W.  True  presented  A  Revision  of  the  Genus  La- 
GENORHYNCHUS.  He  also  exhibited  an  abnormally  developed 
hoof  of  a  mule,  which  was  curved  and  twisted  like  a  ram's  horn, 
and  a  living  specimen  of  the  Alniiqui  {Solenodon  cubanus) 
from  Cuba,  the  largest  known  American  Insectivore. 


NiNETY-EiGHTH  MEETING,  October  30,  18S6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  ten  members  present. 
Prof.  Theodore  Gill  presented  a  communication  on  T^nioso- 
Mous  Fishes. t 


*  1887.     Popular  Science  Monthly,  xxx,  pp.  409,  410,  January. 
tThe  Characteristics  and  Relations  of  the   Ribbon-fishes.     <Ain.  Nat., 
V.  21,  p.  86,  Jan.,  '87. 


PROCEEDINGS.  XI 

Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer,  U.  S.  N.,  called  attention  to  an  alleged  method 
of  instructing  the  memory,  which  is  being  widely  advertised. 


NiNETY-NiNTPi  Meeting,  November  13,  1886. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-two  persons  present. 

The  following  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Dall,  was  unanimously  adopted  :  "  No  person  shall  be  con- 
sidered a  member  of  the  Society  vmtil  he  shall  have  signified  to 
the  Secretary,  in  writing,  his  acceptance  of  election,  and  shall  have 
paid  his  entrance  fee  and  annual  dues  for  the  year  in  which  he 
shall  have  been  elected." 

Dr.  Filip  Tiybom,  Inspector  of  Fisheries,  of  Sweden,  read  a 
paper  On  the  Recent  Progress  of  Zoology  in  Sweden.* 

Prof.  J.  W.  Chickering,  Jr.,  under  the  title,  Travels  in 
Alaska,  gave  a  graphic  description  of  the  coast  sceneiy  of  British 
Cohmibia  and  southeastern  Alaska,  as  seen  from  the  deck  of  a 
passenger  steamer. 

Mr.  William  H.  Dall  presented  some  Historical  Notes  on 
THE  Department  of  Mollusks  of  the  National  Museum. f 


Oxe  Hundredth  Meeting,  November  27,  1886. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-five  persons  present. 

Prof.  W.  H.  Seaman  presented  a  communication  entitled 
Notes  on  Marsilia  quadrifolia,  illustrating  his  remarks 
with  stereopticon  views,  and  herbarium  and  microscopical  speci- 
mens. Prof.  Ward  referred  to  tlie  paleontological  history  of  the 
order  containing  the  Marsilia. 

Prof.  L.  F.  Ward  spoke  upon  The  Autumnal  Hues  of  the 
Columbian  Flora,  which  he  thought  were  much  brighter  and 
finer  than  farther  north.  This  paper  gave  rise  to  a  long  discus- 
sion, in  which  Prof.  Riley,  Dr.  Merriam,  Mr.  Mann,  and  Mr. 
Goode  participated. 

*  1887.     Trybom,  Filip.    The  Present  Coridition  of  the  Natural  Sciences 
in  Siveden.      <  Amer.  Nat.,  xxi,  pp.  409-415,  May. 
t  Annual  Rept.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  for  18S6. 


XII  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Dr.    C.    Hart  Merriam   described  A   New  Species   of  Bat, 
Vespertilio  ciliolabrum,  from  the  Western  States.* 


One  Hundred  and  First  Meeting,  December  ii,  iSS6. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-three  persons  present. 

The  following  papers  were  read  : 

Dr.  Theobald  Smith,  Parasitic  Bacteria  and  Their  Re- 
lation TO  Saprophytes. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas,  On  the  Osteology  of  the  Spotted  Tin- 
amou,  Nothura  maculosa.! 

Mr.  C.  D.  VValcott,  Crustacean  Tracks  Found  on  Strata 
of  Upper  Cambrian  (Potsdam)  Age. 

Dr.  Frank  Baker,  The  Foramen  of  Magendie.J 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam,  Description  of  a  New  Sub-species 
of  Pocket  Gopher,  from  the  Colorado  Desert  of  South- 
ern California. § 


One  Hundred  and  Second  Meeting,  January  8,   1SS7. 
(Seventh  Annual  Meeting.) 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-one  members  present. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Secretary  and   Treasurer  were  read 
and  accepted. 

The   following  board   of  officers  was  elected  for  the  ensuing 
year : 

President— ^x.  William  H.  Dall. 

Vice-Presidents — Prof.   Lester  F.  Ward,   Dr.   Frank  Baker, 
Mr.  C.  D.  Walcott,  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam. 

Secretaries— yix.  Richard  Rathbun,  Mr.  Frederic,  A.   Lucas. 
Treasurer — Mr.  F.  H.  Knowlton. 


*  1886.     These  Proceedings,  iv,  pp.  1-4  (Extras  issued  Dec.  17,  1886). 
ti886.     Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  p.    157. 

X  Embodied  in  the  article,  "Meninges,"  Wood's  Reference  Hand-book  of 
Medical  Sciences,  vol.  viii. 
§  Science,  Dec.  24,  1886,  588. 


PKOCEEDINGS.  XHI 

Additional  Members  of  the  Council — Dr.  T.  H.  Bean,  Dr. 
George  Vasey,  Prof.  O.  T.  Mason.  Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer,  Prof.  R.  E. 
C.  Stearns. 


One  Hundred  and  Third  Meeting,  January  22,  1887. 
(Seventh  Anniversary  Meeting.) 

The  President,  Mr.  Dall,  occupied  the  chair,  and  about  seventy- 
five  persons  were  present,  inchiding  invited  guests. 

The  retirino-  President,  Mr.  G.  Brown  Goode.  delivered  an  ad- 
dress,  entitled.  The  Beginnings  of  Natural  History  in 
America — The  Third  Century.* 


One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Meeting,  February  5,  18S7. 

The  President  occupied  the  chair,  and  thirty-five  persons  were 
present,  including  Mr.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  of  England. 

Mr.  William  T.  Hornaday  read  a  paper  entitled  The  Last  of 
THE  Buffalo,  in  which  he  described  the  rapid  destruction  of  this 
species,  and  narrated  his  recent  experiences  in  obtaining  speci- 
mens for  the  National  Museum. 

Prof.  Cope,  Dr  Merriam,  and  Mr.  Fernow  made  remarks  upon 
the  same  subject. 

Mr.  Richard  Rathbun  exhibited  a  series  of  temperature  charts 
prepared  by  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission  to  illustrate  the  surface 
water  temperatures  of  the  Atlantic  sea  coast  of  the  United  States, 
in  connection  with  the  migrations  of  fishes. f 

Mr.  Dall  spoke  upon  the  value  of  temperature  observations  in 
studying  the  distribution  of  marine  animals. 


*  These  Proceedings,  pp.  9-94.     Extras  printed  with  cover  and  title  page. 

t  1887.  Rathbun,  Richard.  Orean  Temperatures  of  the  Eastern  Coast 
of  the  United  States,  from  observations  tnade  at  txvcnty-four  light-houses 
and  light-ships.  <U.  S.  Commission  of  Fish  and  Fisheries.  *  *  * 
The  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  the  United  States.  *  *  *  By 
George  Brown  Goode  *  *  *  and  a  Staff  of  Associates,  Section  iii,  pp. 
155-176,  32  folding  plates,  quarto. 


XIV  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON, 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  described  A  New  Species  of  Wood 
Rat,  Neotoma  Bryanti,  from  Cerros  Island,  off  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia.* 

Mr.  Leouliard  Stejneger  exhibited  specimens  of  several  New 
.Species  of  Birds  from  the  Sandwich  Islands, f  and  made 
remarks  upon  the  avifauna  of  that  region. 

Mr.  Eaduard  Muybridge,  of  Philadelphia,  by  invitation,  ex- 
hibited a  series  of  his  photographic  views  of  animals  in  motion, 
and  explained  the  process  of  taking  them.  The  assistance  of  these 
views  in  explaining  some  obscure  points  in  the  evolution  of  ver- 
tebrates was  pointed  out  by  Prof.  Cope. 


One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Meeting,  February  19,  1SS7. 

Prof.  Ward,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-two  per- 
sons present. 

The  presiding  ofHcer  announced  that  an  invitation  had  been  re- 
ceived from  the  Cosmos  Club  to  use  its  new  hall  for  the  future 
meetings  of  the  Society.     It  was  accepted. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope  described  A  New  Species  of  Snake,  from 
the  District  of  Columbia,  closely  related  to  the  common  Water 
Snake,  Tropidonotiis  sipedon^  which  he  proposes  to  call  T.  bl- 
sectus.\  He  also  spoke  upon  The  Hyoid  Apparatus  in  the 
Urodele  Batrachians. 

Dr.  George  Vasey  made  some  remarks  upon  A  Recent  Col- 
lection OF  Mexican  Grasses,  obtained  by  Dr.  E.  Palmer, 
and  exhibited  specimens  of  the  rarer  species. 

Prof.  R.  E.  C.  Stearns  read  a  paper  on  The  Asclepiad 
Plant,  Araujia  albans,§  and  explained  the  mechanism  of  its 
blossoms  in  capturing  Lepidoptera.  Tliis  subject  was  further 
discussed  by  Prof.  Riley,  Mr.  Smith,  Prof.  Ward,  Dr.  Baker, 
and  Prof.  Cope. 

*  1887.     Amer.  Nat.,  xxi,  No.  2,  pp.  igi-193. 

t  18S7.  Stejneger,  Leonhard.  Birds  of  Kauai  Island.  Hawaiian  Ar- 
chipelago, collected  by  Mr.  Valdemar  Knudsen,  zvifli  descriptions  of  neiv 
species.      <Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  x,  pp.  75-102. 

X  1887.     Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  x,  p.  146. 

§1887.  Stearns,  R.  E.  C.  Araujia  albcns  as  a  moth  trap.  <Ani. 
Nat.,  xxi,  pp.  501-507. 


PROCEEDINGS.  XV 

One  Hundred  and  Sixth  JNIeeting,  March  5,  1S87. 

Prof.  Ward,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-eight 
persons  present. 

Mr.  P.  L.  Jouy  presented  a  communication  entitled  Corea  ; 
The  Country  and  the  People,  and  exhibited  a  large  series 
of  native  implements  and  utensils,  and  also  many  photographs. 

Dr.  Frank  Baker  described  Some  Unusual  Mitscular  Vari- 
ations IN  the  Human  Body,*  which  had  recently  come  under 
his  notice,  illustrating  his  remarks  with  the  aid  of  diagrams  and 
prepared  specimens. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  exhibited  and  described  A  New  Species 
OF  Wood  Mouse,  Evotomys  canadensis,  recently  received 
from  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina. 

Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer  made  some  remarks  upon  The  Preserva- 
tion OF  Bottled  Museum  Specimens,  especially  in  the  line  of 
Materia  Medica. 


One  Hundred  and  Seventh  Meeting,  March  19,  1887. 

Prof.  Ward,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  twenty-two  per- 
sons present. 

Mr.  L.  O.  Howard  read  a  paper  entitled  A  Rock  Creek  Phi- 
lanthropist,! the  philanthropist  being  the  larva  of  a  species  of 
Hydropsyche^  which  preys  upon  the  abundant  larva  of  the  black 
fly  {Simzditcm  ve?iiistujti) . 

Mr.  Charles  Hallock  described  The  Trans-Continental 
Range  of  the  Moose,  xA-Lces  machlis,  in  North  America.  J 

Dr.  T.  H.  Bean  compared  American  and  European  work 
in  deep  sea  Ichthyology,  much  to  the  credit  of  the  former 
country. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  noted  The  Occurrence  of  Nocturnal 
Lepidoptera  at  Sea.  mentioning  some  twelve  or  thirteen  spe- 
cies which  had  been  found  distant  from  land.§ 


♦Published  in  the  New  York  Medical  Record,  December  31,  1S87,  vol. 
xxxii,  No.  27,  under  the  title,  '"  Some  Unusual  Muscular  Anomalies." 

t  1886.  Published  in  part  in  Annual  Rept.,  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  1886, 
p.  510. 

X  18S7.     American  Field,  xxvii,  15,  344,  April  9. 

§  Science,  April  8,  1887. 


XVI  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Capt.  J.  W.  Collins,  under  the  title  Some  Novel  Facts  in 
THE  Natural  History  of  the  Codfish,  described  certain  curi- 
ous variations  in  the  species,  and  exhibited  several  articles  found 
in  the  stomachs  or  imbedded  in  the  flesh.  The  most  peculiar  of 
these  was  a  small  hand-made  knife  of  curious  v\^orkmanship. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  described  A  new'  Species  of  Mouse 
from  New  Mexico  (Hesperomys  anthonyi).* 


One  Hundred  and  Eighth   Meeting,  April  3,  1SS7. 

The  Society  met  for  the  first  time  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the 
Cosmos  Club.  The  President  occupied  the  chair,  and  thirty  per- 
sons were  present. 

Dr.  Theobald  vSmith  described  the  Qltantitative  Variations 
IN  the  Germ  Life  of  Potomac  Water  during  18S6. 

Dr.  Edward  Eggleston  made  an  interesting  communication,  in 
the  form  of  queries,  addressed  to  the  members  of  the  Society,  re- 
specting Certain  Plants  and  Animals  Known  to  the  First 
Colonists  of  North  America.     Many  replies  were  obtained. 

Prof.  O.  T.  Mason  exhibited  and  described  a  large  series  of 
Representations  of  Animal  Life  in  Eskimo  Art. 

Mr.  F.  W.  True  gave  an  account  of  The  Blackfish  of  our 
Southern  Waters. 


One  Hundred  and  Ninth  Meeting,  April   16,  1SS7. 

0.  The  President  in  the  chair,  and  forty-one  persons  present. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Dall  described  some  R?:cent  Geological  Ex- 
plorations IN  Southwestern  Florida, f  made  by  himself. 
The  observations  were  discussed  by  Mr.  G.  K.  Gilbert  and  Dr.  T. 
Sterry  Hunt. 

Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer  spoke  upon  The  Action  of  Caffeine  upon 
the  Kidneys. 

*  1SS7.   These   Proceedings,  iv,  pp.  5-8.     (Extras   issued  April  15,  1887.) 
+  1887.     Dall,  William  H.     Notea  on  the  Geology  of  Florida.     <Ainer. 
Tour.  Sci.,  xxxiv,  pp.  162-170. 


PROCEEDINGS.  XVII 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  read  a  paper  detailing  the  Ravages   of 
THE  Bobolink  in  the  Rice  Fields  of  the  South.* 


One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Meeting,  April  30,   1SS7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-eight  persons  present. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Kidder  exhibited  a  rounded  concretion-like  mass 
taken  from  the  stomach  of  a  codfish  ;  and  also  several  rounded 
grass  balls  from  a  small  salt  pond  near  Pyramid  Lake.  Nevada, 
and  explained  their  composition.  These  gave  rise  to  much  dis- 
cussion, and  Mr.  McGee.  who  had  collected  the  grass  balls,  de- 
scribed the  manner  of  their  formation. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  spoke  upoufTnE  Os  Prominens  in  Birds. 

Air.  W.  T.  Hornaday  read  a  paper  entitled  Cu'ilization  as 
an  Exterminator  of  Savage  Races,  which  led  to  some  re- 
marks by  Prof.  Ward  and  Mr.  Dall. 

Mr.  VV.  H.  Dall  called  attention  to  A  Genus  of  Bivalve  Mol- 
LUSKS  New  to  North  America.     The  genus  is  Cyre7iella.-\ 


One  Hundred  and  Eleventh  Meeting,  May   14,  18S7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  forty-two  persons  present. 

Prof.  C.  V.  Riley  presented  some  Biological  Notes  on 
Southern  California,  suggested  by  a  recent  trip  to  that  re- 
gion. Remarks  were  made  by  Dr.  Vasey,  Dr.  Merriam,  Prof. 
Stearns,  and  Mr.  Dall. 

Mr.  P.  L.  Jouy  exhibited  specimens  of  A  Bird  New  to  Japan, 
Pitta  oreas  of  Swinhoe,  from  the  island  of  Tsushima. 

Mr.  F.  H.  Knowlton  made  a  communication  on  The  Recent 
Shower  of  Pollen  in  Washington,  the  so-called  *'  sulphur 
shower."  The  distance  which  pollen  may  be  carried  by  the 
winds  gave  rise  to  remarks  by  Dr.  Vasey,  Prof.  Riley,  and  Prof. 
Ward. 

♦1887.  Published  in  part  in  Annual  Rept.  Dept.  of  Agriculture  for  1886, 
pp.  246-250. 

t  1887.     Amer.  Jour.  Sci.,  xxxiv,  p.  170. 


XVIII  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  question,  '•'  Does  the  Flying  Fish  Fly?"  was  discussed 
by  Mr.  W.  B.  Barrows,  Engineer  G.  W.  Baird,  U.  S.  N.,  Mr. 
Lucas.  Mr.  Goode,  Mr.  Hallocl^,  Mr.  Dall,  and  Prof.  Riley. 


One  Hundred  and  Twelfth  Meeting,  May  2S,  1SS7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  twentj'-one  persons  present. 

Prof.  R.  E.  C.  Stearns  read  a  paper  entitled  The  Protective 
Devices  in  the  '•'■  Carrier  vShell,"  Xenophora,  and  exhibited 
specimens  of  several  species. 

Mr.  R.  T.  Hill  explained  The  True  Geological  Horizon 
OF  SOME  hitherto  UNPLACED  Faunas,  with  special  reference  to 
the  Cretaceous  of  Texas.  Mr.  McGee  made  some  remarks  on  Mr. 
Hill's  paper. 

Mr.  G.  Brown  Goode  exhibited  a  series  of  Japanese  Chromo- 
lithographs of  Fishes,  recently  published.  Mr.  Baba.  of 
Japan,  spoke  upon  Japanese  methods  of  delineation,  and  the  sub- 
ject was  further  discussed  by  Prof.  Gill,  Prof.  Riley,  Mr.  Dall, 
Mr.  vStejneger,  and  Prof.  Seaman. 


One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Meeting,  October  32,  18S7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  forty  persons  present. 

The  President  announced  the  death,  during  the  summer  recess, 
of  Prof.  Spencer  F.  Baird,  the  only  honorary  member  of  the  So- 
ciety, and  of  Dr.  Charles  Rau,  one  of  its  most  distinguished  active 
members. 

Mr.  L.  O.  Howard  described  An  Ant-Decapitating  Para- 
site, the  larva  of  a  species  of  Diptera,  probably  belonging  to  the 
family  Conopidce^  from  New  Hampshire. 

Dr.  George  Vasey  presented  some  Notes  on  Western 
Grasses. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  read  a  paper  entitled  The  Bird  Rocks  of" 
THE  Gulf  of"  Saint  Lawrence  in  1SS7.*  These  rocks  are  situ- 
ated in   the   Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  were  visited,  during   the 

*  18S8.     The  Auk,  ApriL 


PROCEEDINGS.  XIX 

summer  of  1 887,  by  ]Mr.  Lucas  with  the  Fish  Commission  schooner 
Grampus. 

Air.  A.  A.  Crozier,  under  the  title.  Some  Botanical  Terms, 
referred  to  the  ambiguity  attending  the  use  of  the  words  "  sinis- 
trorse  "  and  •'  dextrorse."  as  applied  to  twining  plants. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  gave  an  account  of  the  Fauxa  and  Flora 
OF  THE  Great  Smoky  Mountains  in  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee. 


One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Meeting,  November  5,  18S7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-six  persons  present. 

Mr.  John  B.  Smith  read  a  paper  on  Some  Geographical  Va- 
riations OF  Insects,  with  special  reference  to  local  variations 
in  Lepidoptera  and  Coleoptera. 

Dr.  T.  H.  Bean  presented  a  communication  respecting  The 
Young  Forms  of  Some  of  Our  Food  Fishes,  and  exhibited 
.alcoholic  specimens  of  the  same. 

Mr.  N.  P.  Scudder  explained  The  Period  of  Gestation  in 
the  Common  Caged  Whitp:  Mouse. 

Mr.  H.  E.  Van  Diemen  exhibited  specimens  of  the  fruit  and 
colored  drawings  of  the  foliage,  flow^ers,  and  fruit  of  The  Jap- 
anese Persimmon,  Diospyros  kaki. 

Prof.  Theodore  Gill  described  the  characteristics  of  The  Fish 
Fauna  of  the  South  Temperate  or  Notalian  Realm. 


One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Meeting.  Nov.    19,  1887. 

Prof.  Ward,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-two  per- 
sons present. 

Col.  Marshall  McDonald  joresented  an  Explanation  of  Past 
Failures  in  the  Culture  of  the  Salmonid.^. 

Mr.  Walter  B.  Barrows  read  a  paper  entitled  Freshet  Notes 
ON  THE  Rio  Uruguay,  South  America. 

Dr.  T.  H.  Bean  described  A  New  Species  of  Thyrsitops 


XX  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

PROM  THE  New  England  Fishing  Banks,*  with  the  aid  of 
photographs  and  a  life-size  crayon  sketch. 

Mr.  F.  W.  True  gave  a  review  of  some  of  the  more  important 
works  on  Cetaceans  published  since  iSS6. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas  read  a  paper  entitled  An  Alcine  Ceme- 
tery, being  the  resting-place  of  the  Great  Auk  on  Funk  Island, 
oft"  Newfoundland. 

Mr.  H.  E.  Van  Diemen  called  attention  to  a  cluster  of  the 
fruit  of  the  date  palm,  Phcenix  dactylifera^  from  New  Orleans, 
which  he  had  placed  upon  the  table  for  examination. 


One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Meeting,  December  3,  1SS7. 

The  President  in  the  chair,  and  thirty-nine  persons  present. 

Mr.  Charles  Hallock  read  a  paper  descriptive  of  The  Great 
Roseau  Swamp  of  northwestern  Minnesota. 

A  communication  from  Dr.  C.  A.  White,  on  The  Rapid  Dis- 
appearance OF  the  Shed  Antlers  of  the  Cervid^,  was 
read  by  the  Secretary. 

Dr.  Theobald  Smith  made  a  few  remarks  upon  Peptonizing 
Ferments  among  Bacteria. 

Mr.  C.  D.  Walcott  exhibited  A  Fossil  Lingula  Preserving 
THE  Cast  of  the  Peduncle,  from  the  Hudson  Terrane,  near 
Rome,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  Theodore  Gill  discussed  The  Phylogeny  of  the  Ce- 
tacea. 


One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth   Meeting,  Dec.  17.  1887. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam.  Vice-President,  in  the  chair,  and  twenty- 
three  persons  present. 

Mr.  C.  L.  Hopkins  read  a  paper  entitled  Notes  Relative  to 
THE  Sense  of  Smell  iv  the  Turkey  Buzzard. 

Dr.  Cooper  Curtice  described  some  recent  observations  respect- 
ing The  Timber  Line  of  Pike's  Peak. 

*  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  x  (in  course  of  publication). 


PROCEEDINGS.  XXI 

Mr.  C.  D.  Walcott  exhibited  a  Section  of  a  Fossil  Endo- 
CERAS  OVER  EiGHT  Feet  IN  Length,  and  explained  its  structure 
and  relations  to  other  shell-bearin<^  Cephalopoda,  both  fossil  and 
recent. 

Mr.  Leonhard  Stejneger  read  a  paper  entitled  How  the  Great 
Northern  Sea  Cow,  Rhytina,  became  Exterminated.* 


One  Hundred  and  Eighteenth   Meeting,  Dec.  31,  1887. 

The  President  occupied  the  chair,  and  sixteen  persons  were 
present. 

Mr.  W.  J.  McGee  spoke  upon  The  over-lapping  Habitats 
of  Sturnella  magna  and  Sturnella  neglecta,  in  Iowa. 

Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriain  exhibited  and  described  A  New  Species 
of  Field  Mouse,  Arvicola  (Chilotus)  pallidus,  from  the 
Bad- Lands  of  Northwestern  Dakota. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Barrows  described  The  Shape  of  the  Bill  in 
Snail-Eating  Birds,  with  special  reference  to  the  Kite,  Ros- 
trhamus  soclabilis^  and  the  "  crying"  birds,  Aramiis. 

A  paper  by  Mr.  H.  Justin  Roddy,  on  the  Feeding  Habits  of 
Some  Young  Raptores,  was  read  by  Mr.  Lucas. 


One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  Meeting,  Jan.  14,  1S88. 

(Eighth  Annual  Meeting). 

The  President  occupied  the  chair,  and  twenty-seven  members 
were  present. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer  were  read 
and  accepted. 

The   following  board   of  officers  was  elected  for  the  ensuing 
year  : 

President — Mr.  William  H.  Dall. 

Vice-Presidents — Dr.  C.   Hart  Merriam,  Prof.   L.   F.   Ward, 
Prof.  C.  V.  Riley.  Mr.  Richard  Rathbun. 

*  1887.     American  Naturalist,  xj?i,  pp.  1047-1054,  December. 


XXII  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Secretaries— "^x.  J.  B.  Smith.  Mr.  F.  A.  Lucas. 

Treasurer — Mr.  F.  H.  Knowlton. 

Additional  Members  of  the  Council — Dr.  T.  H.  Bean,  Dr. 
J.  H.  Kidder,  Prof.  R.  E.  C.  Stearns,  Mr.  F.  W.  True,  Dr. 
George  Vasey. 

The  President  announced  the  following  Committee  on  Satur- 
day Lectures  :  Prof.  G.  Brown  Goode,  Chairman  ;  Dr.  Frank 
Baker,  Mr.  G.  K.  Gilbert,  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam,  Prof.  C.  V. 
Riley. 


One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Meeting,  Jan.   28,  1S8S. 
(Eighth  Anniversary  Meeting). 

The  eighth  anniversary  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  in  the 
lecture  hall  of  Columbian  University,  on  the  evening  of  January 
28,  about  seventy-five  persons  being  present. 

The  President,  Mr.  William  H.  Dall,  delivered  an  address,  en- 
titled, Some  American  Conchologists.* 


SATURDAY  LECTURES,  1886. 

The  fifth  course  of  Saturday  Lectiu'es  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Biological  Society  and  the  Anthropological  Society  was  begun 
March  6,  iSS6.  The  lectures  were  delivered  in  the  lecture  room 
of  the  National  Museum,  and  the  following  programme  was  carried 
out : 

March  6 :  Mr.  William  Hallock.     The  Geysers  of  the  Yellowstone. 

March  12:  Prof.  William  Harkness.  How  the  Solar  System  is 
measured. 

March  20 :  Prof.  T.  C.  Mendenhall.     The  Nature  of  Sound. 

March  27:  Prof.  F.  W.  Clarke.     The  Chemistry  of  Coal. 

April  3 :  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam.     The  Migration  of  Birds. 

April  10  :  Dr.  Washington  Matthews.     The  Gods  of  the  Navajos. 

April  lb  :  Dr.  D.  B.  Simmons.     Social  Status  of  the  Women  of  Japan. 

April  24 :  Prof.  W.  K.  Brookes.     Life. 

May  I :  Prof.  Lester  F.  Ward.     Heredity  and  Opportunity. 

Alay  S :  Dr.  John  S.  Billings.     Animal  Heat. 


*  These   Proceedings,  pp.   95-134.     Extras  printed  with   title  page  and 
cover. 


PEOCEEDINGS.  XXIII 

SATURDAY  LECTURES,  1887. 

The  sixth  course  of  Saturday  Lectures  was  begun  March  12, 
1SS7,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Biological,  Philosophical,  and 
Anthropological  Societies.  The  lectures  were  delivered  in  the 
lecture  hall  of  the  National  Museum,  eight  being  given  on  Sat- 
urday afternoons,  and  four  on  Wednesday  evenings  with  the  aid 
of  the  stereopticon.     The  programme  was  as  follows  : 

March  12:  Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  U.  S.  A.     Animals  of  the' Arctic  Region. 

March  ig :   Capt.  C.  E.  Dutton,  U.  S.  A.     Earthquakes. 

March  2j :  Mr.  W.  J.  McGee.  The  Charleston  Earthquake.  (Evening 
lecture.) 

March  26:  Prof.  Otis  T.  Mason.     The  Natural  Historv  of  Human  Arts. 

April  2  :  Dr.  B.  E.  Fernow.     Our  Forestry  Problem. 

April  6:  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson.  Pre-historic  Man  in  Europe.  (Even- 
ing lecture.) 

April  lb:  Dr.  Edward  M.  Hartwell.  The  Aims  and  Eftects  of 
Physical  Training. 

April  20:  Dr.  Frank  Baker.     Facial  Expression.     (Evening  lecture.) 

April  2j:  Miss  H.  C.  DeS.  Abbott.  The  Chemistry  of  the  Higher 
and  Lower  Plants. 

April  jo:  Prof.  Harrison  Allen.     Rights  and  Lefts. 

May  4:  Prof  S.  P.  Langley.  Sunlight  and  the  Earth's  Atmosphere. 
(Evening  lecture.) 

May  7 :  Dr.  J.  H.  Bryan.     The  Mechanism  of  the  Human  Voice. 


BAIRD  MEMORIAL  MEETING. 

January  11,  18S8,  a  meeting  commemorative  of  the  life  and 
scientific  work  of  Prof.  Spencer  Fullerton  Baird  was  held  in  the, 
lectui'e  hall  of  the  Columbian  University,  under  the  joint  auspices 
of  the  Anthropological,  Biological,  and  Philosophical  Societies  of 
XVashington.  A  very  large  number  of  persons  was  in  attendance. 
Mr.  Garrick  Mallery,  President  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  pre- 
sided, and  the  following  addresses  were  delivered  : 

Relations  between  Professor  Baird  and  the  Partici- 
pating Societies,  by  Mr.  Garrick  Mallery. 

Professor  Baird  as  Administrator,  by  Mr.  William  B. 
Taylor,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


XXIV  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Professor  Baird  in  Science,  by  Mr.  William  H.  Dall,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Biological  Society. 

The  Personal  Characteristics  of  Professor  Baird,  by 
Mr.  J.  W.  Powell,  President  of  the  Anthropological  Society.* 


BOTANICAL  SECTION. 

A  preliminary  meeting  of  persons  interested  in  Botany  took 
place  November  21,  1SS7,  in  the  office  of  the  Botanist  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture.  A  second  meeting  was  held  December 
5,  at  which  a  Botanical  Section  of  the  Biological  Society  was  for- 
mally organized.  Dr.  George  Vasey  was  elected  President,  and 
Mr.  A.  A.  Crozier,  Secretary.  The  first  regular  meeting  was 
held  January  4,  18S8,  when  the  following  papers  were  read  : 

1 .  Recent  Progress  in  the  Study  of  Fresh-Water  Alg^, 
Prof.  E.  A.  Burgess. 

2.  A  Case  of  Sewer  Obstruction  by  Tree  Roots,  Prof. 
F.  H.  Knowlton. 

3.  Fungi  of  the  Arid  Regions,  Prof.  S.  M.  Tracy. 

4.  Glceosporium  of  the  Wax  Bean,  Miss  E.  A.  Southworth. 

The  Section  is  to  meet  monthlv. 


*  These  addresses,  together  with  a  portrait  of  Professor  Baird,  have  been 
printed  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  vol.  x,  pp.  41-77,  1SS8. 
Also  separately  issued  with  independent  pagination. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   A   NEW   SPECIES    OF   BAT 

FROM  THE  WESTERN  UNITED  STATES. 

(  Vespertilio  ciliolabriivi  sp.  nov.) 

By  Dr.   C.  Hart  Merriam. 
(Read  November  27,  18S6.) 

Specimens  of  a  small  and  apparently  hitherto  undescribed 
species  of  bat  have  reached  me  from  two  widely  separated 
localities  in  the  Western  United  States.  The  first  were  col- 
lected by  Mr.  A.  B.  Baker  in  Trego  County,  Kansas ;  the 
second  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Anthony  in  Grant  County,  in  the  ex- 
treme southwestern  corner  of  New  Mexico. 

Mr.  Baker  writes  me  that  ••  the  first  two  of  these  bats  were 
found  in  blufts  or  cafions  near  the  town  of  Banner,  and  were 
hidden  away  in  clefts  in  the  chalk  rock.  The  others  were 
captured  at  a  bluft'  several  miles  distant.  They  had  secreted 
themselves  in  abandoned  swallows'  nests  which  were  inacces- 
sible ;  but  the  bats  were  easily  dislodged  by  means  of  stones. 
They  were  followed  to  their  various  places  of  refuge,  and  seven 
were  secured." 

These  bats  belong  to  the  group  of  American  Vespertiltos,  of 
which  V.  nitidus  may  be  considered  fairly  typical.  They  differ 
from  V.  nitidus^  however,  in  size,  proportions,  and  color,  as 
well  as  in  the  much  larger  size  of  the  ear. 

The  Kansas  specimens  varv  in  color  from  nearly  pure  white  to 
pale  yellowish-brown,  or  even  isabella-brown,  while  those  from 
New  Mexico  are  tawny-isabella  above  and  much  paler  under- 
neath. 


2  BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

The  following  characters  will  serve  to  distinguish  the  species- 
from  its  allies  : 

VESPERTILIO  CILIOLABRUM*   sp.   nov. 
(Type  No.   2797  female  ad.,  Merriam  Collection). 


:    2-2,  ^    i-i, 3-3,  ^^^  3-3,  ^^S 

3-3       ■  3-3        20 


Dental  fortmila:  i.  — ,—  c. '  pm.  ^-•^~  m.-^-^'  ;= —  ==38. 

-^  6  i-i    ^       x-x         -x-x         20       ^ 


The  outer  upper  incisor  of  each  side  slopes  forward  and 
inward  parallel  to  the  inner,  contrary  to  the  rule  in  the  genus 
Vespcrtllio,  in  which  these  teeth  usually  are  divergent ;  cusp 
of  inner  upper  incisor  bifid,  the  anterior  point  being  larger. 
First  upper  premolar  small  and  crowded  against  (and  usually 
somewhat  internal  to)  the  canine  ;  second  upper  premolar 
minute  and  wholly  internal  to  the  tooth-row  so  that  it  is  not 
visible  from  the  outside  except  in  immature  individuals  ;  third 
premolar  very  large,  nearly  or  quite  equal  to  canine.  Middle 
lower  premolar  smallest ;     posterior  largest. 

Sides  of  upper  lip  fimbriate.  Glandular  prominences  be- 
tween eyes  and  nostrils  moderately  developed.  Tip  of  ear 
laid  forward   extends  to  end  of  muzzle. 

The  calcaneum  reaches  about  half-way  from  the  foot  to  the 
tip  of  the  tail  ;  the  postcalcaneal  lobule  is  large  for  a  Ves- 
pertilio ;    the  calcaneum  ends  in  a  projecting  tooth  or   lobule. 

The  form  of  the  ear  is  somewhat  intermediate  between  that 
of  V.  nitidus  and  that  of  V.  fzigricaiis :  Internal  basal  lobe 
slightly  rounded ;  middle  three-fourths  of  anterior  margin 
strongly  convex  ;  tip  shortly  rounded  oft',  forming  a  small,  pro- 
jecting lobe  posteriorly,  beneath  which  the  outer,  border  is 
sharply  emarginated  for  about  one-third  of  its  entire  length  ; 
bottom  of  emargination  straight  or  slightly  convex  ;    below    this 


*The  specific  name  ciliolabrum  refers  to  the  fringe  of  hairs  along  the 
sides  of  the  upper  lip. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  A  NEW  BAT.  6 

the  outer  margin  becomes  abruptly  convex  and  then  nearly- 
straight,  with  a  distinct  reflexed  lobe  near  its  base.  Tragus  at- 
tenuated above  ;  inner  margin  straight  or  slightl\  convex  ;  outer 
margin  slightly  concave  in  upper  half,  then  slightly  convex, 
with  a  distinct  lobule  at  the  base,  which  is  separated  by  a 
notch  from  the  convexity  above. 

Thumb  very  small,  considerably  shorter  than  the  foot.  Foot 
small.  Wings  from  base  of  toes.  Upper  surface  of  wing- 
membranes  haired  from  about  the  middle  of  the  humerus  to 
the  knee  ;  basal  third  of  upper  surface  of  interfemoral  mem- 
brane covered  with  hair  ;  on  under  sin-face  of  interfemoral  the 
hair  is  arranged  in  little  tufts  along  transverse  lines,  about 
thirteen  in  number.      Half  of  last  vertebra  of  tail  free. 

Fur  long  and  soft ;  basal  portion  dusky  ;  apical  portion  vary- 
ing from  whitish  or  yellowish-white  to  isabella-brown  (tawny- 
isabella  in  the  New  Mexico  specimens),  which  in  sohie  indi- 
viduals is  nearly  as  dark  as  in  I '.  subulatus :  the  colored  apical 
portion  varies  in  extent  from  less  than  one-third  to  more  than 
one-half  the  length  of  the  hairs. 

Oleaster ements  front  alcoholic  specimens. — Male  adult  (No. 
2794  Merriam  Collection)  :  Head  and  body.  42  mm.  ;  head, 
16.25  i^i^"'-  '  tail,  37  mm.  ;  ear,  trom  inner  basal  angle,  15 
mm.  ;  tragus,  6.7^  mm.  ;  humerus,  22  mm.  ;  forearm,  32.50 
mm.  ;  thumb,  3.75  mm.  ;  third  finger,  ^6  mm.  ;  fifth  finger, 
44  mm.;     tibia,    11.25   nim.  ;     hind  foot,  7  nim. 

Female  adult  (type,  No.  2797  Merriam  Collection)  :  Head 
and  body,  43  mm.  ;  head,  16.25  mm.  ;  tail.  40  mm.  ;  ear. 
from  inner  basal  angle,  15  mm.  ;  tragus,  6.75  mm.  ;  humerus, 
22  mm.  ;  forearm,  33  mm.  ;  thumb,  3.50  mm.  ;  third  finger, 
^6  mm.;  fifth  finger,  45.50  mm.;  tibia,  11.50  mm.;  hind 
foot,   7.50  mm. 


BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 


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DESCRIPTION  OF  A  NEW  MOUSE  FROM  NEW 

MEXICO. 

Hesperomys  (  Vesperimus)  Antho7iyi  sp.  nov. 

By  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam. 

(Read  March  19,  18S7). 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1SS6,  Mr.  A.  W.  Anthony, 
of  Denver,  Colorado,  made  his  headquarters  at  Camp  Apache, 
Grant  county,  New  Mexico  (about  hit.  31''  20').  Camp  Apache 
is  in  a  hot  desert  region  in  the  extreme  southwestern  corner  of 
the  Territory,  and  only  about  four  miles  from  the  Mexican 
boundary. 

The  following  extract  from  one  of  Mr.  Anthony's  letters 
sufficiently  describes  the  region.  He  writes  :  "  You  can  form 
some  idea  of  my  location  when  I  tell  you  that  our  nearest 
water  is  a  very  small  spring  nine  miles  across  the  valley, 
from  which  all  our  water  is  carried  in  wagons.  The  only 
trees  within  forty  miles  are  a  few  very  small  stunted  cedars 
and  oaks.  The  only  other  vegetation  consists  of  cacti  and 
other    plants    characteristic    of    these    hot    dry    desei'ts." 

While  in  this  region  Mr.  Anthony  made  a  valuable  collec- 
tion of  mammals,  which  he  has  very  kindly  presented  to  me. 
Among  other  things  of  interest  it  contains  five  specimens  of  a 
pretty  little  mouse,  hitherto  unknown  in  the  United  States, 
which  I  believe  to  be  undescribed,  and  which,  therefore,  I 
take  pleasure  in  dedicating  to  its  discoverer.  In  coloration, 
proportions,  and  cranial   characters  this  mouse  differs   so    rad- 


6  BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

ically  from  all  previously  known  species ^  that  comparison 
with  others  is  unnecessary.  Unfortunately,  nothing  is  known 
of  its  habits.  It  may  be  distinguished  from  its  congeners  by 
the  following  diagnosis : 

HESPEROMYS   (VESPERIMUS)  ANTHONYI  sp.   nov. 
Type  No  -„    -•  male  ad.,  Merriam  Collection. 

Size,  small  ;  tail  considerably  longer  than  head  and  body  ; 
ears  large  and  scant  haired ;  whiskers  long,  reaching  past 
shoulders.  Soles  naked,  6  tuberculate  ;  palms  5  tuberculate  ; 
thumb  armed  with  a  blunt  nail. 

Color. — Upper  parts  from  nose  to  tail,  uniform  clear  ash- 
gray,  more  or  less  darkened  by  black-tipped  hairs ;  sides 
bright  buffy-fulvous  ;  under  parts  white,  the  plumbeous  basal 
portion  of  the  hairs  showing  through  on  the  chin  and  throat, 
which  are  thinly  clothed  with  rather  short  hairs ;  belly 
strongly  washed  with  salmon,  which  may  be  due  to  earth- 
staining.  Pelage  soft.  The  fur  covering  the  breast,  abdo- 
men, and  tlanks  is  very  much  more  dense  than  that  of  the 
rest  of  the  body,  from  which  it  mav  be  distinguished  at  a 
glance.  In  fact,  on  the  sides  it  forms  well-marked  flank 
patches  or  tufts.  Possibly  this  character  may  be  seasonal ; 
if  not,  it  is  very  remarkable.  In  the  young  the  belly  is  pure 
white,  and  the  bufiy-fulvous  flank  patches  are  not  apparent. 

The  material  at  hand  consists  of  five  skins  and  skulls,  col- 
lected in  April  and  May.  All  are  males.  Nos.  2332  and 
2335  are  immature,  though  the  latter  is  full  grown.  The 
skins  were  prepared  with  unusual  care,  and  consequently 
afford  measurements  of  approximate  accuracy.  Moreover,  Mr. 
Anthony  recorded  the  total  length  of  each  before  skinning. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  A  NEW  MOUSE.  7 

Table  of  Measure7ne7it$  of  five  S/ec /mens  of  Hespevomys  Anthonyi  roller  fed 
at  Camp  Apache,  Grant  County,  Nevj  JSIcxico,  by  A.    W.  Anthony. 

{Measurements  in  7iiillimeters). 


SkuU 
No. 

Sex 
and 

Age. 

Measured  in 
THE  Flesh.* 

Total  length. 

Measuked  from  the  dry  skin. 

Skin 
No. 

Total 
length. 

Head 

and 

body. 

TaU,  to  end  of 

Verte-    Hairs, 
brae. 

Hind 

foot. 

Height 

of  Ear 

from 

crown. 

Date. 

2149 
2332 
2333 
2334 
2335 

2675 
2840 
2841 
2842 
2843 

^ad 
d^ad. 
d'im. 

165 
162 
168 
165 
162 

144 
145 
145 
l.iO 
139 

63 
62 
63 
66 
64 

80 
82 
81 
83 
74 

81.5 

83.5 

82.5 

85. 

75. 

18.5 
18.5 
19.5 
19.5 
19. 

12. 
11. 
12. 
12. 

10.       ; 

Apr.  12, 1886. 
May  10,     '^ 

(&        ik           u 

Cranial  Characters. — The  skull,  compared  with  that  of 
H.  leucoptis.  is  short,  broad,  and  flat.  The  incisor  foramina 
reach  past  the  anterior  plane  of  the  first  molar.  The  nasals  are 
short  and  do  not  extend  so  far  posteriorly  as  the  premaxillaries. 

Excluding  skull  Xo.  2S40.  which  is  not  full  grown,  the  close 
agreement  in  cranial  measurements  is  remarkable. 

Cranial  JMcasurements. 


Basilar  length  ffrom  one  of  the  occipital  condyles  to  posterior 
edge  of  alveola  of  incisor  of  same  side) 

Basilar  length  of  Hensel  (from  inferior  lip  of  foramen  magnum 
to  posterior  edge  of  alveola  of  incisor) 

Greatest  zygomatic  breadth 

Interorbital  constriction 

Greatest  length  of  nasal  bones 

Length  of  upper  molar  series 

Incisor  to  molar 

"       "   post-palatal  notch 

Distance  between  alveolse  of  upper  molar  series  anteriorly 

"  "  "        "        "  "         "      posteriorly 

Foramen  magnum  to  post-palatal  notch 

Height  of  cranium  from  inferior  lip  of  foramen  magnum 

Fronto-palatal  depth  (taken  at  middle  of  molar  series) 

Length  of  mandible 

Length  of  under  molariform  series 


No.    ;  No.    '   No. 
2840  I  2841  I  2842 


cfim.|c?ad.;c?ad. 
20.3 


I 


18.9      20. 


16.5 
12.4 
3.8 
7.4 
3.6 
5.4 
8.8 
2.5 
2.5 
7.4 
6.8 
5.8 
12.6 
3.7 


18. 
12.1 

3.! 

7.) 

3. 

5. 

9. 

2. 

2. 

8. 

7. 

6. 
12. 

3. 


No. 
2843 


18. 

12.7 
3.7 
8.5 
3.8 
5.6 
9.5 
2.  5 
2.5 


3  7. 

2  6. 

9  12.9 

8  3.8 


20.4 


18. 

12.1 
3.7 
8.3 
3.8 
5.7 
9.5 
2.5 
2.5 
8.2 
7.  , 
5.8 

13.2 
4. 


*The  apparent  discrepancy  between  the  total  length  as  recorded  by  Mr. 
Anthony  and  that  taken  from  the  dry  skin  is  due  to  the  necessary  stretching 
of  the  fresh  specimens  for  measurement. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  AMERICAN  SCIENCE.* 
THE  THIRD  CENTURY. 

By  G.  Brown  Goode. 

VIII. 

In  the  address  which  it  was  my  privilege,  one  year  ago,  to  read 
in  the  presence  of  this  Society,  I  attempted  to  trace  the  progress 
of  scientific  activity  in  America  from  the  time  of  the  first  settle- 
ment by  the  English  in  1 5S5  to  the  end  of  the  Revolution — a 
pei-iod  of  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

Resuming  the  subject,  I  shall  now  take  up  the  consideration 
of  the  third  century — from  17S2  to  the  present  time.  For  con- 
venience of  discussion  the  time  is  divided,  approximately,  into 
decades,  while  the  decades  naturally  fall  into  groups  of  three. 
From  1780  to  1810,  from  1810  to  1840,  from  1840  to  1S70,  and 
from  1870  to  the  close  of  the  century,  are  periods  in  the  liistory 
of  American  thought,  each  of  which  seems  to  be  marked  by 
characteristics  of  its  own.  These  must  have  names,  and  it  may 
not  be  inappropriate  to  call  the  first  the  period  of  Jefterson.  the 
second  that  of  Silliman,  and  the  third  that  of  Agassiz. 

The  first  was,  of  course,  an  extension  of  the  period  of  Linn^us, 
the  second  and  third  were  during  the  mental  supremacy  of  Cuvier 
and  Von  Baer  and  their  schools,  and  the  fourth  or  present,  begin- 
ing  in  1870,  belongs  to  that  of  Darwin,  the  extension  of  whose 
influence  to  America  was  delayed  by  the  tumults  of  the  civil  con- 
vulsion which  began  in  1S61  and  ended  in  1S65. 

The  "  beginnings  of  American  science"  do  not  belong  entirely 


*  Annual  Presidential  Address  delivered  at  the  Seventh  Anniversary 
Meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  of  Washington.  January  22,  1887,  in 
the  Lecture  Room  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum. 


10  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY   OF    WASHITSTGTOlSr. 

to  the  past.  Oui*  science  is  still  in  its  youth,  and  in  the  discus- 
sion of  its  history  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  refer  to  institutions  and 
to  tendencies  which  are  of  very  recent  origin. 

It  is  somewhat  unfortunate  that  the  account  book  of  national 
progress  was  so  thoroughly  balanced  in  the  Centennial  year.  It 
is  true  that  the  movement  which  resulted  in  the  birth  of  our  Re- 
public first  took  tangible  form  in  1776,  but  the  infant  nation  was 
not  born  until  17S3,  when  tlie  treaty  of  Paris  was  signed,  and 
lay  in  swaddling  clothes  until  1789,  when  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  by  the  thirteen  States. 

In  those  days  our  forefathers  had  quite  enough  to  do  in  adapt- 
ino-  their  lives  to  the  changed  conditions  of  existence.  The 
masses  were  struggling  for  securer  positions  near  home,  or  were 
pushing  out  beyond  the  frontiers  to  find  dwelling-places  for  them- 
selves and  their  descendants.  The  men  of  education  were  in- 
volved in  political  discussions  as  fierce,  uncandid,  and  unphilo- 
sophical  in  spirit  as  those  which  preceded  the  French  revolution 
of  the  same  period. 

The  master  minds  were  absoi-bed  in  political  and  administra- 
tive problems,  and  had  little  time  for  the  peaceful  pursuits  of 
science,  and  many  of  the  men  who  were  prominent  in  science — 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  Rush,  Mitchill,  Seybert,  Williamson,  Mor- 
gan, Clinton,  Rittenhouse,  Patterson,  Williams,  Cutler,  Ma- 
clure,  and  others — were  elected  to  Congress  or  called  to  other 
positions  of  official  responsibility. 

IX. 

The  literary  and  scientific  activities  of  the  infant  nation  were 
for  many  years  chiefly  concentrated  in  Philadelphia,  until  1800 
the  federal  capital  and  largest  of  American  cities.  Here,  after 
the  return  of  Franklin  from  France  in  1785,  the  meetings  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  were  resumed.  Franklin  con- 
tinued to  be  its  president  until    his  death  in   1790,  at  the  same 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  11 

time  holding  the  presidency  of  the  commonwealth  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  a  seat  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  The  pres- 
tige of  its  leader  doubtless  gave  to  the  Society  greater  promi- 
nence than  its  scientific  objects  alone  would  have  secured. 

In  the  reminiscences  of  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler  there  is  to  be 
found  an  admirable  picture  of  Franklin  in  17S7.  As  we  read  it 
we  arc  taken  back  into  the  very  presence  of  the  philosopher  and 
statesman,  and  can  form  a  very  clear  appreciation  of  the  scien- 
tific atmosphere  which  surrounded  the  scientific  leaders  of  the 
post-Revolutionary  period. 

Dr.  Cutler  wrote  : 

'•  Dr.  Franklin  lives  on  Market  street.  His  house  stands  up  a 
court  at  some  distance  from  the  street.  We  found  him  in  his 
garden  sitting  upon  a  grass-plot,  under  a  large  mulberry  tree, 
with  several  gentlemen  and  two  or  three  ladies.  When  Mr. 
Gerrv  introduced  me  he  rose  from  his  chair,  took  me  bv  the 
hand,  expressed  his  joy  at  seeing  me,  welcomed  me  to  the  city, 
and  begged  me  to  seat  myself  close  by  him.  His  voice  was  low, 
his  countenance  open,  frank,  and  pleasing.  I  delivered  to  him 
mv  letters.  After  he  had  read  them  he  took  me  again  by  the 
hand  and.  with  the  usual  compliments,  introduced  me  to  the 
other  gentlemen,  who  are,  most  of  them,  members  of  the  Con- 
vention. Here  we  entered  into  a  free  conversation,  and  spent  the 
time  most  agreeably  until  it  was  quite  dark.  The  tea-table  was 
spread  under  the  tree,  and  Mrs.  Bache,  who  is  the  only  daughter 
of  the  Doctor  and  lives  with  him,  served  it  to  the  company. 

•'  The  Doctor  showed  me  a  curiosity  which  he  had  just  received 
and  with  which  he  was  much  pleased.  It  was  a  snake  with  two 
heads,  preserved  in  a  large  vial.  It  was  about  ten  inches  long, 
well  proportioned,  the  heads  perfect,  and  united  to  the  body  about 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  below  the  extremities  of  the  jaws.  He 
showed  me  a  drawing  of  one  entirely  similar,  found  near  Lake 
Champlain.  He  spoke  of  the  situation  of  this  snake  if  it  was 
travellins;  amons;^  bushes,  arid  one  head  should  choose  to  so  on  one 
side  of  the  stem  of  a  bush  and  the  other  head  should  prefer  the 
other  side,  and  neither  head  would  consent  to  come  back  or  sfive 
way  to  the  other.  He  was  then  going  to  mention  a  humorous 
matter  that  had  that  day  occurred  in  the  Convention  in  conse- 
quence of  his  comparing  the  snake  to  America  ;  for  he  seemed 
to  forget  that  everything  in  the  Convention  was  to  be  kept  a  pro- 
found secret.  But  this  was  suggested  to  him,  and  I  was  deprived 
of  the  story. 


12  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"  After  it  was  dark  we  went  into  the  house,  and  he  invited  me  to 

his  library,  which  is  likewise  his  study.  It  is  a  very  large  cham- 
ber and  high-studded.  The  walls  are  covered  with  shelves  filled 
with  books  ;  beside  these,  four  large  alcoves,  extending  two-thirds 
the  length  of  the  chamber,  filled  in  the  same  manner.  I  presume 
this  is  the  largest  and  by  far  the  best  private  library  in  America. 
He  showed  me  a  glass  machine  for  exhibiting  the  circulation  of 
the  blood  in  the  arteries  and  veins  of  the  human  body.  The  cir- 
culation is  exhibited  by  the  passing  of  a  red  fluid  from  a  reservoir 
into  numerous  capillary  tubes  of  glass,  ramified  in  every  direction, 
and  then  returning  in  similar  tubes  to  the  reservoir,  which  was 
done  with  great  velocity,  and  without  any  power  acting  visibly 
upon  the  fluid,  and  had  the  appearance  of  perpetual  motion. 
Another  great  curiosity  was  a  rolling  press  for  taking  copies  of 
letters  or  other  writing.  A  sheet  of  paper  is  completely  copied 
in  two  minutes,  the  copy  as  foir  as  the  original,  and  without  de- 
facing it  in  the  smallest  degree.  It  is  an  invention  of  his  own, 
extremely  useful  in  many  circumstances  of  life.  He  also  showed 
us  his  long  artificial  liand  and  arm  for  taking  down  and  puttino- 
up  books  on  high  shelves,  out  of  reach,  and  his  great  arm-chair, 
with  rockers  and  a  large  tan  placed  over  it,  with  which  he  fans 
himself,  while  he  sits  i-eading,  with  only  a  slight  motion  of  the 
foot,  and  many  other  curiosities  and  inventions,  all  his  own,  but 
of  lesser  note.  Over  his  mantel  he  has  a  prodigious  number  of 
medals,  busts,  and  casts  in  wax  or  plaster  of  Paris,  which  are  the 
effigies  of  the  most  noted  characters  of  Europe.  But  what  the 
Doctor  wished  especially  to  show  me  was  a  huge  volume  on  bot- 
any, which  indeed  aftbrded  me  the  greatest  pleasure  of  any  one 
thing  in  his  library.  It  was  a  single  volume,  but  so  large  that  it 
was  with  great  difficulty  that  he  was  able  to  raise  it  from  a  low 
shelf  and  lift  it  to  the  table  ;  but,  with  that  senile  ambition  which 
is  common  to  old  people  (Dr.  Franklin  was  eighty-one),  he  in- 
sisted on  doing  it  himself,  and  would  permit  no  one  to  assist  him, 
merely  to  show  how  much  strength  he  had  remaining.  It  coti- 
tained  the  whole  of  Linnaeus's  Systema  Vegetabilium,"vvith  laroe 
cuts  colored  from  nature  of  every  plant.  It  was  a  feast  to  me, 
and  the  Doctor  seemed  to  enjoy  it  as  well  as  myself.  We  spent 
a  couple  of  hours  examining  this  volume,  while  the  other  gentle- 
men amused  themselves  with  other  matters.  The  Doctor  is  not 
a  botanist,  but  lamented  he  did  not  in  early  life  attend  to  this 
science.  He  delights  in  natural  history,  and  expressed'an  earnest 
wish  that  I  should  pursue  a  plan  I  had  begun,  and  hoped  this 
science,  so  much  neglected  in  America,  would  be  pursued  with 
as  much  ardor  here  as  it  is  now  in  every  part  of  Europe.  I 
wanted,  for  three  months  at  least,  to  have  devoted  myself  entirelv 
to  this  one  volume,  but,  fearing  lest  I  should  become  tedious  to 
him,  I  shut  the  book,  though  he  urged  me  to  examine  it  longer. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  13 

He  seemed  extremely  fond,  through  the  course  of  the  visit,  of 
dwelling  on  philosophical  subjects,  and  particularly  that  of  natu- 
ral history,  while  the  other  gentlemen  were  swallowed  up  in  poli- 
tics. This  was  a  favorable  circumstance  to  me,  for  almost  all  his 
conversation  v/as  addressed  to  me,  and  I  was  highly  delighted 
with  the  extensive  knowledge  he  appeared  to  possess  of  every 
subject,  the  brightness  of  his  faculties,  the  clearness  and  vivacity 
of  his  mental  powers,  and  the  strength  of  his  memory,  notwith- 
standing his  age.  His  manners  are  perfectly  easy,  and  everything 
about  him  seems  to  diffuse  an  unrestrained  freedom  and  happi- 
ness. He  has  an  incessant  vein  of  humor,  accompanied  with  an 
uncommon  vivacity  that  seems  as  natural  and  involuntary  as  his 
breathing." 

To  Franklin,  as  President  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  suc- 
ceeded David  Rittenhouse  [b.  1732,  d.  1796],  a  man  of  world-wide 
reputation,  known  in  his  day  as  "  the  American  Philosopher."* 

He  was  an  astronomer  of  repute,  and  his  observatory  built  at 
Norriton  in  preparation  for  the  transit  of  Venus  in  1769  seems  to 
have  been  the  lirst  in  America.  His  orrery,  constructed  upon  an 
original  plan,  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  land.  His  most 
important  contribution  to  astronomy  was  the  introduction  of  the 
use  of  spider  lines  in  the  focus  of  transit  instruments.! 

He  was  an  amateur  botanist,  and  in  177^  made  interesting 
physiological  experiments  upon  the  electric  eel.  J 

He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  and  the 
first  Director  of  the  United  States  Mint. 

Next  in  prominence  to  Franklin  and  Rittenhouse  were  doubt- 
less the  medical  professors,  Benjamin  Rush,  William  Shippen, 
John  Morgan,  Adam  Kuhn,  Samuel  Powell  Griffiths,  and  Cas- 
par Wistar,  all  men  of  scientific  tastes,  but  too  busy  in  pub- 
lic aflairs  and  in  medical  instruction  to  engage  deeply  in  research, 
for   Philadelphia,    in  those  days  as  at    present,  insisted  that  all 


*  See  obituary  in  the  European  Magazi)ic,  July,  1796;  also  Memoiis 
of  Rittenhouse,  by  William  Barton,  1813,  and  Eulogium  by  Benjamin 
Rush,  1796. 

t  Von  Zach  :  Monatliche  Correspondenz,  ii,  p.  215. 

J  Phila.  Medical  Repository,  vol.  i. 


14  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOT*r. 

lior  naturalists  should  be  medical  professors,  and  the  active  inves- 
tigators, outside  of  medical  science,  w^ere  not  numerous.  Rush, 
however,  was  one  of  the  earliest  American  writers  upon  eth- 
nology, and  a  pathologist  of  the  highest  rank.  He  is  generally 
referred  to  as  the  earliest  professor  of  chemistry,  having  been 
appointed  to  the  chair  of  chemistry  in  the  College  of  Philadel- 
phia in  1769;  it  seems  certain,  however,  that  Dr.  John  Morgan 
lectured  on  chemistry  as  early  as  1765.* 

Dr.  Shippen  [b.  1735^  cb  180S],  the  founder  of  the  first 
medical  school  [1765]  ;md  its  professor  of  anatomy  for  forty- 
three  years,  was  still  in  his  prime,  and  so  ^vas  Dr.  Morgan 
[b.  1735,  d.  17S9],  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  a  co-founder 
of  the  medical  school,  and  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions.  Morgan  was  an  eminent  pathologist, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  the  one  to  originate  the  theory  of  the 
formation  of  pus  by  the  secretory  action  of  the  vessels  of  the 
part.f  He  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  attempted  to 
form  a  museum  of  anatomy,  having  learned  the  methods  of 
preparation  from  the  Hunters  and  from  Siie  in  Paris.  The 
beginning  was  still  earlier  known,  for  a  collection  of  anatomical 
models  in  wax,  obtained  by  Dr.  Abraham  Chovet  in  Paris,  was 
in  use  by  Philadelphia  medical  students  before  the  Revolution.  J 

Anotlier  of  the  physicians  of  colonial  days  who  lived  until 
after  the  i-evolution  was  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwallader  [b.  1707, 
d.  1779],  whose  dissections  are  said  to  have  been  among  the 
earliest  made  in  America,  and  whose  "  Essay  on  the  West 
India  Dry  Gripes,"  1775,  was  one  of  the  earliest  medical  trea- 
tises in  America. 

Dr.   Caspar  Wistar   [b.    1761,   d.    1818]   was   also    a    leader, 

*  Barton's  Memoirs  of  Rittenhouse,  p.  614. 
IThacher.     American  Medical  Biography,  i.  p.  408. 
X  This  eventually  became  the  property  of  the  University.     See  Barton's 
Rittenhouse,  p.  377.     Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc,  ii,  p.  36S. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  15 

and  was  at  various  times  professor  of  chemistry  and  anatomy. 
His  contributions  to  natural  history  were  descriptions  of  bones  of 
Megalonyx  and  other  mammals,  a  study  of  the  human  ethmoid, 
and  experiments  on  evaporation.  He  was  long  Vice-President  of 
the  Philosophical  Society,  and  in  1S15  succeeded  Jefferson  in  its 
presidency.  The  Wistar  Anatomical  Museum  of  the  University 
and  the  beautiful  climbing  shrub  Wistaria  are  among:  the  me- 
morials  to  his  name.* 

Still  another  memorial  of  the  venerable  naturalist  mav  per- 
haps be  worthy  of  mention  as  an  illustration  of  the  social  condi- 
tions of  science  in  Philadelphia  in  early  days.  A  traveller  visit- 
ing the  city  in  1S39  thus  described  this  institution,  which  was 
continued  until  the  late  war,  and  then  discontinued,  but  has  been 
resumed  within  the  last  year  : 

"  Dr.  Wistar  in  his  lifetime  had  a  party  of  his  literary  and  sci- 
entific friends  at  his  house,  one  evening  in  each  week,  and  to  this 
party  strangers  visiting  the  city  were  also  invited.  When  he  died, 
the  same  party  was  continued,  and  the  members  of  the  Wistar 
party,  in  their  turn,  each  have  a  meeting  of  the  club  at  his  house, 
on  some  Saturday  night  in  the  year.  This  club  consists  of  the 
men  most  distinguished  in  science,  art,  literature,  and  wealth  in 
the  c\\.y.  It  opens  at  early  candle-light,  when  not  only  the  mem- 
bers themselves  appear,  but  they  bring  with  them  all  the  strangers 
of  distinction  in  the  city."| 

The  '•'  Wistar  parties  "  were  continued  up  to  the  beginning  of 
the  civil  war  in  1S61,  and  have  been  resumed  since  1887.  A 
history  of  these  gatherings  would  cover  a  period  of  three-quarters 
of  a  century  at  the  least,  and  could  be  made  a  most  valuable  and 
entertaining  contribution  to  scientific  literature. 

Packard,  in  his  History  of  Zoology, J  states  that  zoology,  the 
world  over,   has  sprung  from  the  study  of  human  anatomy,  and 

*  Hosack:  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Wistar,  New  York,  1818. 
t  Atwater  :  Remarks  made  on  a  tour  to  Prairie  du  Chien ;  thence  to 
Washington  City,  in  1S29.     Columbus,  1831,  p.  238. 
%  Standard  Natural  History,  pp.  Ixii-lxxii. 


16  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY   OF    WASHINGTOX. 

that  American  zoology  took  its  rise,  and  was  fostered  chiefly, 
in     Philadelphia,  by   the    professors    in    the    medical     schools. 

It  was  fully  demonstrated,  I  think,  in  my  former  address,  that 
there  were  good  zoologists  in  America  long  before  there  were 
medical  schools,  and  that  Philadelphia  was  not  the  cradle  of 
American  natural  history;  although,  during  its  period  of  polit- 
ical pre-eminence,  immediately  after  the  Revolution,  scientific 
activities  of  all  kinds  centred  in  that  city.  As  for  the  medical 
schools  it  is  at  least  probable  that  they  have  spoiled  more  nat- 
uralists than  they  have  fostered. 

Dr.  Adam  Kuhn  [b.  1741,  d.  1817]  was  the  professor  of 
botany  in  1768* — the  first  in  America — and  was  labeled  by  his 
contemporaries  "  the  favorite  pupil  of  Linnseus."  Professor 
Gray,  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  w^riter,  refers  to  this  saying  as  a 
"  myth ;"  and  it  surely  seems  strange  that  a  disciple  be- 
loved by  the  great  vSwede  could  have  done  so  little  for  botany. 
Barton,  in  a  letter,  in  1792,  to  Thunberg,  who  then  occupied 
the  seat  of  Linnaeus  in  the  University  of  Upsala,   said  : 

''  The  electricity  of  your  immortal  Linne  has  hardly  been  felt 
in  this  Ultima  Thule  of  science.  Had  a  number  of  the  pupils  of 
that  great  man  settled  in  North  America  its  riches  would  have 
been  better  known.  But,  alas  !  the  only  one  pupil  of  your  prede- 
cessor that  has  made  choice  of  America  as  the  place  of  his  resi- 
dence has  added  nothing  to  the  stock  of  natural  knowledge."! 

The  Rev.  Nicholas  Collin,  Rector  of  the  Swedisii  Churches 
in  Pennsylvania,  was  a  fellow-countryman  and  acquaintance  of 
Linnaeus  \  and  an  accomplished  botanist,  having  been  one  of  the 
editors  of  Muhlenberg's  work  upon  the  grasses  and  an  early 
writer  on  American  linguistics.  He  read  before  the  Philo- 
sophical   Society,    in    1789,   "An    Essay    on    those    inquiries  in 

*  See  p.  99,  nutt. 

fB.  S.  Barton,  in  Transactions  American   Philosophical  Society,    iii, 

P-  339- 

J  "  I  often  heard  the  great  Linnaeus  wish  that  he  could  have  explored 
the  continent  of  North  America."     Collin:  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc,  iii, 

p.  XV. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  17 

Natural  Philosophy  which  at  present  are  most  beneficial  to  the 
Uni'od  States  of  North  America."  which  was  the  first  attempt 
to  lay  out  a  systematic  plan  for  the  direction  of  scientific  re- 
search in  America.  One  of  the  most  interesting  suggestions  he 
made  was  that  the  Mammoth  was  still  in  existence. 

•'  Tiie  vast  Mahmot,"  said  he,  "  is  perhaps  yet  stalking  through 
the  western  Vv^ilderness  ;  but  if  he  is  no  more  let  us  carefully 
gather  his  remains,  and  even  try  to  find  a  new  skeleton  of  this 
giant,  to  whom  the  elephant  was  but  a  calf."  * 

Gen.  Jonathan  Williams,  U.  S.  A.  [b.  1750,  d.  1S15],  was  first 
superintendent  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  and 
"  father  of  the  corps  of  engineers."  He  was  a  nephew  of 
Franklin,  and  his  secretary  of  legation  in  France,  and,  after 
his  return  to  Philadelphia,  was  for  many  years  a  judge  of  the 
court  of  common  pleas,  his  military  career  not  beginning  till 
1 801.  This  versatile  man  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Phil- 
osophical Society  and  one  of  its  Vice-Presidents.  His  paper 
'•  On  the  Use  of  the  Thermometer  in  Navigation"  was  one  of  the 
first  American  contributions  to  scientific  seamanship. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Ewing  [b.  1732,  d.  1802],  also  a  Vice- 
President,  was  Provost  of  the  University.  He  had  been  one  of 
the  observers  of  the  transit  in  1769,  of  which  he  published  an 
account  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Philosophical  Society.  He 
early  printed  a  volume  of  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  and 
was  the  strongest  champion  of  John  Godfrey,  the  Philadelphian, 
in   his  claim  to  the  invention  of  the  reflecting  quadrant. f 

*  Id.,  p.  xxiv. 

t"  Thomas  Godfrey,"  says  a  recent  authority,  "was  born  in  Bristol. 
Pcnn.,  in  1704,  and  died  in  Philadelphia  in  December,  1749.  He  followed 
the  trade  of  a  glazier  in  the  metropolis,  and,  having  a  fondness  for  mathe- 
matical studies,  marked  such  books  as  he  met  with,  subsequently  acquir- 
ing Latin,  that  he  might  become  familiar  with  the  mathematical  work  in 
that  language.  Having  obtained  a  copy  of  Newton's  '  Principia,'  he  de- 
scribed an  improvement  he  had  made  in  Davis'  quadrant  to  James  Logan, 


18  BIOLOOTCAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Dr.  James  Woodhouse  [b.  1770,  d.  1809]  was  author  and  ed- 
itor of  several  chemical  text-books  and  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
the  University,  a  position  which  he  took'after  it  had  been  refused 
by  Priestley.  He  made  experiments  and  observations  on  the 
vegetation  of  plants,  and  investigated  the  chemical  and  medical 
properties  of  the  persimmon  tree.  He  it  was  who  first  demon- 
strated the  superiority  of  anthracite  to  bituminous  coal  by  reason 
of  its  intensity  and  regularity  of  heating  power.* 

The  Rev.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley  [b.  in  Gloucester,  England, 
Nov.  30,  171 1,  d.  in  Philadelphia,  July  4,  177S]  survived  the 
Revolution,  though,  in  his  latter  years,  not  a  contributor  to 
science.  The  associate  of  Franklin  in  "  the  Philadelphia  Ex- 
periments "  in  electricity,  his  discoveries  were  famous  in  Europe 
as  well  as  in  America. f  It  is  claimed  that  he  originated  the 
theory  of  the  positive  and  negative  in  electricity ;  that  he  first 
demonstrated  the  passage  of  electricity  through  water ;  and  that 
he  first  discovered  that  heat  could  be  produced  by  electricity  ; 
besides  inventing  numerous  mechanical  devices  of  scientific 
interest.  From  i753  to  177-^  '^^  ^^^  connected  with  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  where  there  may  still  be  seen  a 
window  dedicated  to  his  memory. 

Having  already  referred  to  the  history  of  scientific  instruction 
in  America, J  and  shown  tliat  Hunter  lectured  on  comparative 
anatomy  in  Newport  in  1754;  Kuhn  on  Botany,  in  Philadel- 
phia, in  1768,  Waterhouse  on  natural  history  and  botany,  at 
Cambridge,  in  1788  ;  and  some  unidentified  scholars  upon  chem- 
istry and  natural  history,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1785,  it  would 
seem  unjust  not  to  speak  of  Kinnersley's  career-  as  a   lecturer. 


who  was  so  impressed  that  he  at  once  addressed  a  letter  to  Edmund  Hallej 
in  England,  giving  a  full  description  of  the  construction  and  uses  of  God- 
frey's instrument." 

*  SiLLiMAN :  American  Contributions  to  Chemistry,  p.  13. 

t  See  Priestley's  History  of  Electricity. 

f  P.  99,  attte. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  19 

He  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  deliver  public  scientific  lec- 
tures in  America,  occupying  the  platform  in  Philadelphia,  New- 
port, New  York,  and  Boston,  from  1751  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution.  The  following  advertisement  was  printed  in 
the  "Pennsylvania  Gazette"  for  April   11,  175*1: 

Notice  is  hereby  given  to  the  Curious  that  Wednesday  next 
Mr.  Kinnersley  proposes  to  begin  a  Course  of  Experiments  on  the 
newly-discovered  Electrical  Fire,  containing  not  only  the  most 
curious  of  those  that  have  been  made  and  published  in  Europe, 
but  a  considerable  Number  of  New  Ones  lately  made  in  this  Citv, 
to  be  accompanied  with  methodical  Lectures  on  the  Nature  and 
Properties  of  that  Wonderful  Element. 

Fi-ancis  Hopkinson  [b.  1737,  d.  1791],  signer  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  was  treasurer  of  the  Philosophical 
Society,  and  among  other  papers  communicated  by  him  was 
one  in  17S3,  calling  attention  to  the  peculiar  worm  parasitic  in 
the  eve  of  a  horse.  The  "■  horse  with  a  snake  in  its  eve  "  was 
on  public  exhibition  in  Philadelphia  in  1782,  and  was  the 
object  of  much  attention,  for  the  nature  and  habits  of  this  peculiar 
Filaria  wei"e  not  so  well  understood  then  as  now. 

The  father  of  Francis,  Thomas  Hopkinson  [b.  in  London, 
1709,  d.  in  Philadelphia,  1751],  who  was  overlooked  in  mv 
previous  address,  deserves,  at  least,  a  passing  mention.  Coming 
to  Philadelphia  in  1731  he  became  lawyer,  prothonotary,  Judge' 
of  the  Admiralty,  and  member  of  the  Provincial  Council.  As 
an  incorporator  of  the  Philadelphia  Library  Company,  and  origi- 
nal trustee  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  first  President 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  in  1743,  his  public  spirit 
is  worthy  of  our  admiration.  He  was  associated  with  Kin- 
nersley and  Franklin  in  the  •' Philadelphia  Experiments;"  and 
Franklin  said  of  him  : 

"  The  power  of  points  to  tlyow  off  the  electrical  fire  was  first 
communicated  to  me  by  my  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  Thomas  Hop- 
kinson."* 

*  Wilson  &  Fiske  :  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,  iii,  260. 


20  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOlSr. 

The  name  of  Philip  Syng  is  also  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  Philadelphia  experiments,  and  it  would  be  well  if  some 
memorials  of  his  work  could  be  placed  upon  record. 

William  Bartram  [b.  i739i  d.  1833]  was  living  in  the  famous 
botanical  garden  at  Kingsessing,  which  his  father,  the  old  King's 
botanist,  had  bequeathed  him  in  1777.  He  was  for  some  years 
professor  of  botany  in  the  Philadelphia  college,  and  in  1791 
printed  his  charming  volume  descriptive  of  his  travels  in  Flor- 
ida, the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia.  The  latter  years  of  his  life 
appear  to  have  been  devoted  to  quiet  observation.  William 
Bartram  has  been,  perhaps,  as  much  underrated  as  John  Bar- 
tram  has  been  unduly  exalted.  He  was  one  of  the  best  observ- 
ers America  has  ever  produced,  and  his  book,  which  rapidly 
passed  through  several  editions  in  English  and  French,  is  a 
classic  and  should  stand  beside  White's  "  Selborne  "  in  every 
naturalist's  library.  Bartram  was  doubtless  discouraged  early 
in  his  career  by  the  failure  of  his  patrons  in  Loudon  to  make  any 
scientific  use  of  the  immense  botanical  collections  made  by  him  in 
the  South  before  the  Revolution,  which,  many  years  later,  was 
lying  unutilized  in  the  Banksian  herbarium.  Cones  has  called 
attention  very  emphatically  to  the  merits  of  his  bird  work,  which 
he  pronounces  "  the  starting-point  of  a  distinctly  American 
school  of  ornithology."  Two  of  the  most  eminent  of  our  early 
zoologists,  Wilson  and  Say,  were  his  pupils  ;  the  latter  his  kins- 
man, and  the  former  his  neighbor,  were  constantly  with  him  at 
Kingsessing  and  drew  much  of  their  inspiration  from  his  conver- 
sation. "  Many  birds  which  Wilson  first  fully  described  and 
figured  were  really  named  and  figured  by  Bartram  in  his 
Travels,  and  several  of  his  designations  were  simply  adopted 
by  Wilson."* 

Bartram's  "  Obsei'vations  on  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians  "f 

*  CouES  :  Key  to  North  American  Birds,  p.  xvi 
t  Trans.  Am.  Ethnological  Society,  iii,  1851. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  21 

was  an  admirable  contribution  to  ethnography,  and  his  general 
observations  were  of  the  highest  value. 

In  the  introduction  to  his  •'  Travels,"  and  interspersed  through 
this  volume,  are  reflections  which  show  him  to  have  been  the 
possessor  of  a  very  philosophic  and  original  mind. 

His  "Anecdotes  of  an  American  Crow  "  and  his  "  Memoirs 
of  John  Bartram  "*  were  worthy  products  of  his  pen,  while  his 
illustrations  to  Barton's  "  Elements  of  Botany  "  show  how 
facile  and  truthful  was  his  pencil. 

His  love  for  botany  was  such,  we  are  told,  that  he  wrote  a 
description  of  a  plant  only  a  few  minutes  before  his  death,  a 
statement  which  will  be  readily  believed  by  all  who  know  the 
nature  of  his  enthusiasm.  Thus,  for  instance,  he  wrote  of  the 
Venus's  Fly  Trap  : 

"Admirable  are  the  properties  of  the  extraordinary  Dioncea  mus- 
cipula  !  See  the  incarnate  lobes  expanding  ;  hov\^  gay  and  sportive 
they  appear  !  read}'  on  the  spring  to  entrap  incautious,  delude  J  in- 
sects !  What  artifice  !  There  I  behold  one  of  the  leaves  just  closed 
upon  a  struggling  fly  ;  another  has  gotten  a  worm  ;  its  hold  is  sure  ; 
its  prey  can  never  escape — carnivorous  vegetable  !  Can  we,  after 
viewing  this  object,  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  confess  that  vegeta- 
ble beings  are  endowed  with  some  sensible  faculties  or  attributes 
similar  to  those  that  dignify  animal  nature.?  They  are  living,  or- 
ganical,  and  self-moving  bodies  ;  for  we  see  here  in  this  plant 
motion  and  volition. "| 

Moses  Bartram,  a  cousin  of  William,  and  also  a  botanist,  was 
also  living  near  Philadelphia,  and  in  1S79  published  "Observa^ 
tions  on  the  Native  Silk  Worms  of  North  America,"  and  Hum- 
phrey Marshall  [1722-1S01],  the  farmer-botanist,  had  a  botanical 
garden  of  his  own,  and  in  17S5  published  "  The  American 
Grove — Arbustrium  Americanum  " — -a  treatise  on  the  forest  trees 
and   shrubs   of  the   United   States,  which  was   the   first   strictly 


*  Nicholson's  Journal,  1805. 
t  Travels,  1793,  p.  xiv. 


22  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASnUSTOTON. 

American  botanical  book,  and  which  was  republished  in  France 
a  few  3'ears  later  in  1789. 

Gotthilf  Muhlenberg  [b.  1753,  d.  1815],  a  Lutheran  clergy- 
man, living  at  Lancaster,  was  an  eminent  botanist,  educated  in 
Germany,  though  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  His  "  Flora  of  Lan- 
caster" was  a  pioneer  work  In  1813  he  published  a  full  cata- 
logue of  the  Plants  of  North  America,  in  which  about  2,800 
species  were  mentioned.  He  supplied  Hedwig  with  many  of  the 
rare  American  mosses,  which  were  published  either  in  "  Stirpes 
Cryptogamicas  "  of  that  author  or  in  the  "  Species  Muscorum." 
To  Sir  J.  E.  Smith  and  Mr.  Dawson  Turner  he  likewise  sent 
many  plants.  He  made  extensive  preparations,  writing  a  gen- 
eral flora  of  North  America,  but  death  interfered  with  his  pro- 
ject. The  American  Philosophical  Society  preserves  his  her- 
barium, and  the  moss  Funeria  Muhlenbergii^  the  violet,  Viola 
Muhlcnbergii^  and  the  grass  MuJilenbei'gia^  are  among  the 
memorials  to  his  name.* 

To  Pennsylvania,  but  not  to  Philadelphia,  came,  in  i794' 
Joseph  Priestley  (1733-1S04),  the  philosopher,  theologian,  and 
chemist.  Although  his  name  is  more  famous  in  the  history 
of  chemistry  than  that  of  any  living  contemporar3^  American 
or  European,  his  work  was  nearly  finished  before  he  left  Eng- 
land. He  never  entered  into  the  scientific  life  of  the  country 
which  he  sought  as  an  exile,  and  of  which  he  never  became 
a  citizen,  and  he  is  not  properly  to  be  considei'ed  an  element 
in  the  history  of  American  science. 

His  coming,  however,  was  an  event  of  considerable  political 
importance  ;  and  William  Cobbett's  "  Observations  on  the  Em- 
igration of  Doctor  Joseph  Priestley.  By  Peter  Porcupine,"  was 
followed  by  several  other  pamphlets  equally  vigorous  in  ex- 
pression.     McMaster  is  evidently  unjust  to  some  of  the  public 

*  Hooker:  On  the  Botany  of  America.  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science, 
iii,  p.  103,  et  seq. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  23 

men  who  welcomed  Priestley  to  America,  though  no  one  will 
deny  that  there  were  unprincipled  demagogues  in  America  in 
the  year  of  grace  1794.  Jefferson  was  undoubtedly  sincere  when 
he  wrote  to    him    the   words  quoted  elsewhere  in  this  address. 

Another  eminent  exile,-  welcomed  by  Jefferson,  and  the  writer, 
at  the  President's  request,  of  a  work  on  national  education  in  the 
United  States,  was  M.  Pierre  Samuel  Dupont  de  Nemours  [b.  in 
Paris,  1799,  d.  1S17].  He  was  a  member  of  the  Institute  of 
France,  a  statesman,  diplomatist,  and  political  economist,  and 
author  of  many  important  works.  He  lived  in  the  United  States 
at  various  times,  from  i799  to  iSi7',  wlien  he  died  near 
Wilmington,  Delaware.  Like  Priestley,  he  wafe  a  member  of  the 
American  Pliilosophical  Society,  and  affiliated  with  its  leading 
members. 

The  gunpowder  works  near  Wilmington,  Delaware,  founded 
by  his  son  in  1798,  are  still  of  great  importance,  and  the  statue 
of  one  of  his  grandsons,  an  Admiral  in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  adorns 
one  of  the  principal  squares  in  the  National  Capital. 

Among  other  notable  names  on  the  roll  of  the  society,  in  the 
last  century,  were  those  of  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  and  Thomas 
Payne.  His  Excellency  General  Washington  was  also  an  active 
member,  and  seems  to  have  taken  sufficient  interest  in  the  society 
to  nominate  for  foreign  membership  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society  of  Scottish  Antiquarians,  and  Dr.  James  An- 
derson, of  Scotland. 

The  following  note  written  by  Washington  is  published  in  the 
Memoirs  of  Rittenhouse  : 

"  The  President  presents  his  compliments  to  Mr.  Rittenhouse, 
and  thanks  him  for  the  attention  he  has  given  to  the  case  of  Mr. 
Anderson  and  the  Earl  of  Buchan. 

"  Sunday  Afternoon,  loth  Aprils  i794-" 

Of  all  the  Philadelphia  naturalists  of  those  early  days,  the  one 
who  had  the  most  salutary  influence  upon  the  progress  of  science 


24  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTGTOlSr. 

was,  perhaps,  Benjamin  Smith  Barton  [b.  1766,  d.  1815.] 
Barton  was  the  nephew  of  Rittenhouse,  and  the  son  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Barton,  a  learned  Episcopal  Clergyman  of  Lancaster, 
who  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  Philosophical  Society, 
and  a  man  accomplished  in  science. 

He  studied  at  Edinburgh  and  Gottingen,  and  at  the  age  of  19, 
in  178^,  he  was  the  assistant  of  Rittenhouse  and  Ellicott,  in 
the  work  of  establishing  the  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  soon  after  was  sent  to  Europe,  whence,  having  pursued  an 
extended  course  of  scientific  and  medical  study,  he  returned  in 
17S9,  and  was  elected  professor  of  natural  history  and  botany  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  leader  in  the  Philo- 
sophical Society,  and  the  founder  of  the  Linnaean  Society  of 
Philadelphia,  before  which,  in  1S07,  he  delivered  his  famous 
*•'  Discourse  on  some  of  the  Principal  Desiderata  in  Natural  His- 
tory, "  which  did  much  to  excite  an  intelligent  popular  interest 
in  the  subject.  His  essays  upon  natural  history  topics  were  the 
first  of  the  kind  to  appear  in  this  country.  He  belonged  to  the 
school  of  Gilbert  White  and  Benjamin  Stillingfleet,  and  was 
the  first  in  America  of  a  most  useful  and  interesting  group  of 
writers,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  John  D.  Godman, 
Samuel  Lock  wood,  C.  C.  Abbott,  Nicholas  Pike,  John  Bur- 
roughs, Wilson  Flagg,  Ernest  Ingersoll.  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCook, 
Hamilton  Gibson,  Maurice  Thompson,  and  W.  T.  Hornaday,  as 
well  as  Matthew  Jones,  Campbell  Hardy,  Charles  Waterton, 
P.  H.  Gosse,  and  Grant  Allen,  to  whom  America  and  England 
both  have  claims. 

Barton  published  certain  descriptive  papers,  as  well  as  manuals 
of  botany  and  materia  medica,  but  in  latter  life  had  become  so 
absorbed  in  medical  affairs  that  he  appears  to  have  taken  no 
interest  in  the  struggles  of  the  infant  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
which  was  founded  three  years  before  his  death,  but  of  which  he 
never  became  a  member. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  25 

His  nephew  and  successor  in  the  Presidency  o£  the  Linnaean 
Society  and  the  University  Professorship,  William  P.  C.  Barton 
[b.  1786,  d.  i8^6],  was  a  man  of  similar  tendencies,  who  in 
early  life  published  papers  on  the  flora  of  Philadelphia  [Florae 
Philadelphiae  Prodromus,  1S15].  but  later  devoted  himself  chiefly 
to  professional  affairs,  writing  copiously  upon  materia  medica  and 
medical  botany. 

The  admirers  of  Benjamin  Smith  Barton  have  called  him  "the 
father  of  American  Natural  History,"  but  I  cannot  see  the  pro- 
priety of  this  designation,  which  is  equally  applicable  to  Mitchill 
or  Jefferson,  and  perhaps  still  more  so  to  Peter  Collinson,  of 
London.  The  praises  of  Barton  have  been  so  well  and  so  often 
sung  that  I  do  not  feel  guilty  of  injustice  in  passing  him  briefly  by.* 
The  most  remarkable  naturalist  of  those  days  was  Rafinesque, 
[b.  17S4,  d.  1872],  a  Sicilian  by  birth,  who  came  to  Philadel- 
phia in  1802. 

Nearly  fifty  years  ago  this  man  died,  friendless  and  impover- 
ished, in  Philadelphia.  His  last  words  were  these  :  "  Time  ren- 
ders justice  to  all  at  last."  Perhaps  the  day  has  not  yet  come 
when  full  justice  can  be  done  to  the  memory  of  Constantine 
Rafinesque,  but  his  name  seems  yearly  to  grow  more  prominent 
in  the  history  of  American  zoology.  He  was  in  many  respects 
the  most  gifted  man  who  ever  stood  in  our  ranks.  When  in  his 
priuie  he  far  surpassed  his  American  contemporaries  in  versa- 
tility and  comprehensiveness  of  grasp.  He  lived  a  centur)'  too 
soon.  His  spirit  was  that  of  the  present  period.  In  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  soured  by  disappointments,  he  seemed  to  become 
unsettled  in  mind,  but  as  I  read  the  story  of  his  life  his  eccen- 
tricities seem  to  me  the  outcome  of  a  boundless  enthusiasm  for 
the    study  of  nature.     The   picturesque   events   of  his   life  have 


*  \V.  P.  C.  Barton  :    Biography  of  Benjamin  S.  Barton,  Philadelphia, 
1815 


26  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHI]SrGTOTir. 

boon  so  well  desci-ibcd  by  Jordan,*  Chase, f  and  AudubonJ  that 
they  need  not  be  referred  to  here.  The  most  satisfactory  gauge 
of  his  abilities  is  perhaps  his  masterly  "  Survey  of  the  Progress 
and  Actual  State  of  Natural  Sciences  in  the  United  States  of 
America,"  printed  in  iSi7.§  His  own  sorrowful  estimate  of 
the  outcome  of  his  mournful  career  is  very  touching : 

"I  have  often  been  discouraged,  but  have  never  despaired 
long.  I  have  lived  to  sei've  mankind,  but  have  often  met  with 
ungrateful  returns.  I  have  tried  to  enlarge  the  limits  of  knowl- 
edge, but  have  often  met  with  jealous  rivals  instead  of  friends. 
With  a  greater  fortune  I  might  have  imitated  Humboldt  or 
Linnaeus." 

Dr.  Robert  Hare  [b.  1 781 ,  d.  1S58]  began  his  long  career  of  use- 
fulness in  1801,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  by  the  invention  of  the  0x3^- 
hydrogen  blow-pipe.  This  was  exhibited  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Chemical  Society  of  Philadelphia  in  i8oi.|| 

This  apparatus  was  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  his  orig- 
inal contributions  to  science,  which  he  continued  without  inter- 
ruption for  more  than  fifty  years.  It  belongs  to  the  end  of  the 
post-revolutionary  period,  and  is  therefore  noticed,  although  it  is 
not  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to  consider  in  detail  the  work  of 
the  specialists  of  the  present  century. 

Dr.  Hugh  Williamson  [b.  Dec.  5,  1735,  d.,  in  New  York,  May 
33,  1719]  was  a  prominent  hut  not  particularly  useful  promoter 
of  science,  a  writer  rather  than  a  thinker.  His  work  has  already 
been  referred  to.  The  names  of  Maclure,  who  came  to  Phila- 
delphia about  1797,  the  Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  and  Albert 
Gallatin  [b.  1761,  d.  in  1849],  a  native  of  Switzerland,  a  states- 
man and  financier,  subsequently  identified  with  the'  scientific  cir- 

*  Jordan  :  Bulletin  xv,  U.  S.  National  Museum  :  Science  Sketches,  p.  143. 

t  Chase  :  Potter's  American  Monthly,  vi,  pp.  97-101. 

J  Audubon  :    The   Eccentric  Naturalist    <C  Ornithological    Biography, 

P-  455- 
§  Amer.  Monthly  ISIagazine,  ii,  81. 
II  Amer.  Month.  Mag.,  i,  80. 


PEESIDEISTTIAL    ADDRESS.  27 

cles  of  New  York,  complete  the  list  of  the  Philadelphia  savans 
of  the  last  century. 

There  is  not  in  all  American  literature  a  passage  which  illus- 
trates the  peculiar  tendencies  in  the  thought  of  this  period  so 
thoroughly  as  Jefferson's  defense  of  the  country  against  the 
charges  of  Buffbn  and  Raynal,  which  he  published  in  1783, 
which  is  particularly  entertaining  because  of  its  almost  pettish 
depreciation  of  our  motherland. 

"  On  doit  etre  etonne  "  (says  Raynal)  ''que  I'Amerique  n'ait 
pas  encore  produit  un  bon  poete,  un  habile  mathematicien,  un 
homme  de  genie  dans  un  seul  art  ou  un  seule  science." 

"  When  we  shall  have  existed  a  people  as  long  as  the  Greeks  did 
before  they  produced  a  Homer,  the  Romans  a  Virgil,  the  French 
a  Racine  and  Voltaire,  the  English  a  Shakespeare  and  ^lilton, 
should  this  reproach  still  be  true,  we  will  inquire  from  what 
unfriendly  causes  it  has  proceeded  that  the  other  countries  of 
Europe  and  quarters  of  the  earth  shall  not  have  inscribed  any 
name  on  the  role  of  poets. 

"  In  war  we  have  produced  a  Washington  whose  name  will  in 
future  ages  assume  its  just  station  among  the  celebrated  worthies 
of  the  world,  when  that  wretched  philosophy  shall  be  forgotten 
which  would  have  arranged  him  among  the  degeneracies  of  na- 
ture. 

"  In  physics  we  have  produced  a  Fra7iklin,  than  whom  no  one 
of  the  present  age  has  made  more  important  discoveries,  nor  has 
enriched  philosophy  with  more,  or  more  ingenious,  solutions  of 
the  phenomena  of  nature. 

"  We  have  supposed  Mr.  RIttcnhouse  second  to  no  astronomer 
living ;  that  in  genius  he  must  be  the  first  because  he  is  self- 
taught.  He  has  not  indeed  made  a  world  ;  but  he  has  by  imita- 
tion approached  nearer  its  Maker  than  anv  man  who  has  lived 
from  the  creation  to  this  day.  There  are  various  ways  of  keeping 
the  truth  out  of  sight.  Mr.  Rittenhouse's  model  of  the  planetary 
system  has  the  plagiary  appellation  of  an  orrery  ;  and  the  quadrant 
invented  by  Godfrey,  an  American  also,  and  with  the  aid  of  which 
the  European  nations  traverse  the  globe,  is  called  Hadley's  quad- 
rant. 

''  We  calculate  thus  :  The  United  States  contain  three  millions 
of  inhabitants  ;  France  twenty  millions  ;  and  the  British  Islands 
ten.  We  produce  a  Washington,  a  Franklin,  a  Rittenhouse. 
France  then  should  have  half  a  dozen  in  each  of  these  lines,  and 
Great  Britain  half  that  number,  equally  eminent.     It  may  be  true 


28  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHmOTOlST. 

that  France  has  ;  we  are  but  just  becoming  acquainted  with  her, 
and  our  acquaintance  so  far  gives  us  high  ideas  of  the  genius 
of  her  inhabitants. 

•'  Tlie  present  war  having  so  long  cut  oft'  all  communications 
witii  Great  Britain,  we  are  not  able  to  make  a  fair  estimate 
of  the  state  of  science  in  that  country.  The  spirit  in  which  she 
wages  war  is  tlie  only  sample  before  our  eyes,  and  that  does  not 
seem  the  legitimate  oflspring  either  of  science  or  civilization. 
The  sun  of  her  glorj-  is  fast  descending  to  the  horizon.  Her  phi- 
losophy has  crossed  the  channel,  her  freedom  the  Atlantic,  and 
herself  seems  bearing  to  that  awful  dissolution  whose  issue  is  not 
given  human  forethought  to  scan."* 

This  was  one  phase  of  public  sentiment.  Another,  no  less 
instructive,  is  that  shown  forth  in  the  publications  of  Jefferson's 
fierce  political  opponents  in  1790,  paraphrased,  as  follows,  by 
McMaster  in  his  "  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States  :" 

"  Why,  it  was  asked,  should  a  philosopher  be  made  President.? 
Is  not  the  active,  anxious,  and  responsible  station  of  Executive  illy 
suited  to  the  calm,  retired,  and  exploring  tastes  of  a  natural  phi- 
losopher.? Ability  to  impale  liutterflies  and  contrive  turn-about 
chairs  may  entitle  one  to  a  college  professorship,  but  it  no  more 
constitutes  a  claim  to  the  Presidency  than  the  genius  of  Cox,  the 
great  bridge-builder,  or  the  feats  of  Ricketts,  the  equestrian.  Do 
not  the  pages  of  history  teem  with  evidence  of  the  ignorance  and 
mismanagement  of  philosophical  politicians.?  John  Locke  was  a 
philosopher,  and  framed  a  constitution  for  the  colony  of  Georgia, 
but  so  full  was  it  of  whimsies  that  it  had  to  be  thrown  aside. 
Condorcet,  in  1793,  made  a  constitution  for  France,  but  it  con- 
tained more  absurdities  than  were  ever  before  piled  up  in  a  system 
of  government,  and  was  not  even  tried.  Rittenhouse  was  another 
philosopher;  but  the  only  proof  he  gave  of  political  talents  was 
suffering  himself  to  be  wheedled  into  the  presidency  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Society  of  Philadelplffa.  But  suppose  that  the  title  of  phi- 
losopher is  a  good  claim  to  the  Presidency,  what  claim  has  Thomas 
JeiTcrson  to  the  title  of  philosopher .?     Why,  forsooth  ! 

"•  He  has  refuted  Moses,  dishonored  the  story  of  the  Deluge, 
made  a  penal  code,  drawn  up  a  report  in  weights' and  measures, 
and  speculated  profoundly  on  the  primary  causes  of  the  difference 
betv\^een  the  whites  and  blacks.  Think  of  such  a  man  as  Presi- 
dent!  Think  of  a  foreign  minister  surprising  him  in  the  act  of 
anatomizing  the  kidneys  and  glands  of  an  African  to  find  out  why 
the  negro  is  black  and  odoriferous  ! 

*  Notes  on  Virginia,  1788,  pp.  69-71. 


PKESIDEXTIAL    ADDRESS.  29 

"  He  has  denied  that  shells  found  on  the  mountain  tops  are  parts 
of  the  great  flood.  He  has  declared  that  if  the  contents  of  the 
whole  atmosphere  were  water,  the  land  would  only  be  overflowed 
to  the  depth  of  fifty-two  and  a  half  feet.  He  does  not  believe 
the  Indians  emigrated  from  Asia. 

"  Everv  mail  from  the  South  brought  accounts  of  rumblings  and 
quakes  in  the  Alleghanies,  and  strange  lights  and  blazing  meteors 
in  the  sky.  These  disturbances  in  the  natural  world  might  have 
no  connection  with  the  troubles  in  the  political  world  ;  neverthe- 
less it  was  impossible  not  to  compare  them  with  the  prodigies  all 
writers  of  the  day  declare  preceded  the  fatal  Ides  of  March." 

X. 

In  New  York,  although  a  flourishing  medical  school  had  been 
in  existence  from  1769,  there  was  an  astonishing  dearth  of  natu- 
ralists until  about  1790.  Governor  Golden,  the  botanist  and 
ethnologist,  had  died  in  1776,  and  the  principal  medical  men 
of  the  city,  the  Bards,  Glossy,  Jones,  Middleton.  Dyckman, 
and  others,  confined  their  attention  entii'ely  to  professional 
studies.  A  Philosophical  Society  was  born  in  17S7,  but  died 
before  it  could  speak.  A  .Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Agri- 
culture, Arts,  and  Manufactures,  organized  in  1791,  was  more 
successful,  but  not  in  the  least  scientific.  Up  to  the  end  of 
the  centur}'  New  York  .State  had  but  six  men  chosen  to  mem- 
bership in  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and,  up  to  1S09, 
but  five  in  the  American  Academy.  Leaders,  however,  soon 
arose  in  Mitchill,  Glinton,  and  Hosack. 

Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  the  son  of  a  Quaker  farmer  [b.  1764, 
d.  1S31],  was  educated  in  the  medical  schools  of  New  York 
and  Edinburgh,  and  in  1792  was  appointed  Professor  of  Ghem- 
istry.  Natural  History,  and  Philosophy  in  Golumbia  GoUege. 
Although  during  most  of  his  long  life  a  medical  professor  and 
editor,  and  for  many  years  representative  and  senator  in  Gongress, 
he  continued  active  in  the  interests  of  general  science.  He  made 
many  contributions  to  systematic  natural  history,  notably  a  His- 
tory of  the  Fishes  of  New   York,    and   his   edition  of  Bewick's 


30  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

"  General  Histoiy  of  Qiiadrupeds,"  published  in  New  York  in 
1804,  with  notes  and  additions,  and  some  figures  of  American 
animals,  was  the  earliest  American  work  of  the  kind.  He  was  the 
first  in  America  to  lecture  upon  geology,  and  published  several 
papers  upon  this  science.  His  "  Mineralogical  Exploration  of 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  River"  in  1796,  under  the  "  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Agriculture,  Manufactures,  and  Useful 
Ai'ts,"  founded  by  himself,  was  our  earliest  attempt  at  this 
kind  of  research,  and  in  1794  be  published  an  essay  on  the 
"■  Nomenclature  of  the  New  Chemistry,"  the  first  American 
paper  on  chemical  philosophy,  and  engaged  in  a  controversy 
with  Priestley,  in  defence  of  the  nomenclature  of  Lavoisier, 
which  he  was  the  first  American  to  adopt. 

His  discourse  on  ''  The  Botanical  History  of  North  and  South 
America "  was  also  a  pioneer  eftbrt.  He  was  an  early  leader 
in  ethnological  inquiries  and  a  vigorous  writer  on  political  topics. 
His  "•  Life  of  Tammany,  the  Indian  Chief"  (New  Yoi^k,  1795), 
is  a  classic,  and  he  was  well  known  to  our  grandfathers  as  the 
author  of  '*  An  Address  to  the  Fredes  or  People  of  the  United 
States,"  in  which  he  proposed  that ''  Fredonia"  should  be  adopted 
as  the   name  of  the    nation. 

Dr.  Mitchill  was  a  poet,*  and  a  humorist,  and  a  member  of  the 
literary  circles  of  his  day.  In  *•' The  Croakers  "  Rodman  Drake 
thus  addressed  him  as  "  The  Surgeon  General  of  New  York :" 

"  It  matters  not  how  high  or  low  it  is 
Thou  knowest  each  hill  and  vale  of  knowledge, 
Fellow  of  forty-nine  societies 
And  lecturer  in  Hosack's  College." 

Fitz-Greene  Halleck  also  paid  his  compliments  tn  the  following 

terms  : 

"  Time  was  when  Dr.  Mitchill's  word  was  law, 
When  Monkeys,  Monsters,  Whales  and  Esquimaux, 
Asked  but  a  letter  from  his  ready  hand. 
To  be  the  theme  and  wonder  of  the  land." 

'"Examples  of  his  verses  may  be   found   in   Duyckinck's   Cyclopaedia  of 
American  Literature. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  31 

These  and  other  pleasantries,  of  which  many  are  quoted  in 
Fairchild's  admirable  •'  History  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Sciences,"  gives  us  an  idea  of  the  provinciality  of  New  York 
sixty  years  ago,  when  every  citizen  would  seem  to  have  known 
the  principal  local  representatives  of  science,  and  to  have  felt  a 
sense  of  personal  proprietorship  in  him  and  in  his  projects. 

Mitchill  was  a  leader  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society ; 
founder  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  and  of  its 
successor,  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  of  which  he  was  long 
president.  He  was  also  President  of  the  New  York  Branch  of 
the  Linnaean  Society  of  Paris,  and  of  the  N.  Y.  State  Medical 
Society,  and  Surgeon-General  of  the  State  Militia  ;  a  man  of  the 
widest  influence  and  universally  beloved.  He  served  four  terms 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  five  years  a  member 
of  the  U.  S.  Senate.* 

DeWitt  Clinton  [b.  1769,  d.  182S],  statesman  and  philan- 
thropist, U.  S.  Senator,  and  Governor  of  New  York,  was  a 
man  of  similar  tastes  and  capacities.  What  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin was  to  Philadelphia  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
DeWitt  Clinton  was  to  New  York  in  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth. He  was  the  author  of  the  Hibernicus  ''  Letters  on 
the  Natural  History  and  Internal  Resources  of  the  State  of  New 
York"  (New  York,  1823),  a  work  of  originality  and  merit.  As 
President  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  he  delivered 
in  1814  an   '•  Introductory  Discourse,"  which,   like   Barton's   in 

*  See  Fraxcis,  John  W.  Life  of  Dr.  Mitchill,  in  Williams's  American 
Medical  Biography,  pp.  401-41 1,  and  eulogy  in  Discourse  in  Commemora- 
tion of  53d  Anniversary  of  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc,  1857,  56-60;  and  in  his  Old 
New  York;  also — 

Sketch  by  H.  L.  Fairchild  in  History  of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, 1887,  pp.  57-67;  also  Dr.  Mitchill's  own  pamphlet:  Some  of  the 
Memorable  Events  and  Occurrences  in  the  Life  of  Samuel  S.  Mitchill,  of 
New  York,  from  the  year  1786  to  1827. 

A  biography  by  Akerly  was  in  existence,  but  has  never  been  printed. 

Numerous  portraits  are  in  existence,  which  are  described  by  Fairchild. 


32  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOIS". 

Philadelphia,  ten  years  before,  was  productive  of  great  good.  It 
was,  moreover,  laden  with  the  results  of  original  and  important 
observations  in  all  depailments  of  natural  history.  Another  im- 
portant paper  was  his  "Memoirs  on  the  Antiquities  of  Western 
New  York  "  printed  in  iSiS. 

Clinton's  attention  was  devoted  chiefly  to  public  affairs,  and 
especicllly  to  the  organization  of  the  admirable  school  system  of 
New  York  and  other  internal  improvements.  He  did  enough  in 
science,  however,  to  place  him  in  the  highest  ranks  of  our  eaidy 
naturalists.* 

Hosack  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere  as  a  pioneer  in  miner- 
alogy and  the  founder  of  the  first  botanic  garden.  He  was  long 
president  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  exercised  a  commanding 
influence  in  every  direction.  His  researches  were,  however, 
chiefly  medical. 

Samuel  Akerly  [b.  1785,  d.  1845],  the  bi-other-in-law  of 
Mitchill,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  1S07,  was  an  in- 
dustrious worker  in  zoology  and  botany  and  the  author  of  the 
"  Geology  of  the  Hudson  River."  John  Griscom  [b.  1774,  d. 
1853],  one  of  the  earliest  teachers  of  chemistry,  began  in  1806  a 
career  of  great  usefulness.  "  For  thirty  years,"  wrote  Francis, 
"  he  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  all  other  teachers  of  chem- 
istry  among  us  (in  New  York),  and  he  kept  pace  with  the  flood 
of  light  which  Davy,  Murray,  Gaylussac,  and  Thenard,  and 
others  shed  on  the  progress  of  chemical  philosophy  at  that  day." 
About  1820  he  went  abroad  to  study  scientific  institutions,  and  his 
charming  book,  'A  Year  in  Europe,'  supplemented  by  his  regu- 
lar contributions  to  Sillimaii's  Joiirua/.,  commenting  on  scientific 
affairs  in  other  countries,  did  much  to  stimulate  the  growth  of 
scientific  and  educational  institutions  in  America. 

♦Hosack:  Memoirs  of  DeWitt  Clinton.  New  York,  1829.  Renwick  : 
Life  of  DeWitt  Clinton.  New  York,  1S40.  Campbell  :  Life  and  Writings 
of  DeWitt  Clinton.     New  York,  1849. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  33 

Francis  tells  us  that  he  was  for  thirty  years  the  acknowledged 
head  of  the  teachers  of  chemistry  in  New  York.* 

A  zealous  promoter  of  zodlogy  in  those  days  was  F.  Adrian 
Vanderkemp,  of  Oldenbarnavelt,  New  York,  who  in  1795,  we 
are  told,  delivered  an  address  before  an  Agricultural  vSociety  in 
Whitesburg,  N.  Y.,  in  which  he  offered  premiums  for  essays 
upon  certain  subjects,  among  which  was  one  "  for  the  best  ana- 
tomical and  historical  account  of  the  moose,  fifty  dollars,  or  for 
bringing  one  in  alive,  sixty  dollars."! 

Having  mentioned  sevei^al  American  naturalists  of  foreign 
birth,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  to  the  American  origin 
of  an  English  zoologist  of  high  repute,  Dr.  Thomas  Horsfield, 
born  in  Philadelphia  in  1773,  and  after  many  years  in  the  East 
became,  in  1S20,  a  resident  of  London,  where  he  died  in  1S59. 
His  name  is  prominent  among  those  of  the  entomologists,  bota- 
nists, and  ornithologists  of  this  century,  especially  in  connection 
with  Java. 

XI. 

In  New  England,  science  was  more  highly  appreciated  than  in 
New  York.  Massachusetts  had  in  John  Adams  a  man  who,  like 
Franklin  and  Jefferson,  realized  that  scientific  institutions  were 
the  best  protection  for  a  democratic  government,  and  to  his  efforts 
America  owes  its  second  scientific  society — the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Arts  and  Sciences,  founded  in  1780.  When  Mr.  Adams 
travelled  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  in  the  days  just  before 
the  Revolution,  he  several  times  visited  at  Norwalk,  we  are  told, 
a  curious  collection  of  American  birds  and  insects  made  by  Mr. 
Arnold.  '"This  was  afterwards  sold  to  Sir  Ashton  Lever,  in 
whose  apartments  in  London  Mr.  Adams  saw  it  again,  and  felt 
a  new  regret  at  our  imperfect  knowledge  of  the   productions  of 

*  Griscom,  John  H.:  Memoir  of  John  Griscom.    New  York,  1859. 
t  De\Mtt  Clinton,  in  Trans.  Lt.  Pliil.  Soc.  N.  Y.,  p.  59. 


34  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON". 

the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  in  our  land.  In  France  his  visits 
to  the  museums  and  other  establishments,  with  the  inquiries  of 
Academicians  and  other  men  of  science  and  letters  respecting 
this  country,  and  their  encomiums  on  the  Philosophical  Society 
of  Philadelphia,  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  engaging  his  native 
State  to  do  something  in  the  same  good  but  neglected  cause."* 

The  Academy,  from  the  first,  w^as  devoted  chiefly  to  the  physi- 
cal sciences,  and  the  papers  in  its  memoirs  for  the  most  part 
relate  to  astronomy  and  meteorology. 

Among  its  early  members  I  find  the  names  of  but  two  natural- 
ists :  The  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  pastor  of  Ipswich  Hamlet,  one 
of  the  earliest  botanists  of  New  England,!  and  William  Dan- 
dridge  Peck  [b.  1763,  d.  1882],  the  author  of  the  first  paper  on 
systematic  zoology  ever  published  in  America,  a  "  Description 
of  four  remarkable  fislies,  taken  near  the  Piscataqua  in  New 
Hampshire,"  published  in  1794.I  Peck,  after  graduating  at 
Harvard,  lived  at  Kittery,  N.  H.,  and  first  became  interested  in 
natural  history  by  reading  a  wave-worn  copy  of  Linn^'s  "  vSys- 
tem  of  Nature,"  which  he  obtained  from  the  ship  which  was 
wrecked  near  his  house.  He  became  a  good  entomologist,  and 
communicated  much  valuable  material  to  Kirby  in  England,  and 
was  also  one  of  our  first  writers  on  the  fungi.  He  was  the  first 
to  occupy  the  chair  of  natural  history  in  Harvard  University,  to 
which  he  was  appointed  in  rSoo. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jedediah  Morse  [b.  1761,  gi-ad.  Yale,  1783, 
d.  1826]  was  the  earliest  of  American  geographers,  and  appears, 
especially  in  the  later  gazetteers  published  by  him,  to  have  printed 
important  facts  concerning  the  number  and  geographical  distribu- 
tion of  the  various  Indian  tribes. 

The  Connecticut  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  was  founded 


*Kirtland:  Mem.  Amer.  Acad.     New  Series,  vol.  i,  p.  xxii. 

t  See  previous  address,  p.  95. 

J  Mem.  Amer.  Acad.  Sci.,  ii,  Part  ii,  p.  46.     1797. 


PKESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  35 

in  1799,  one  of  the  chief  promoters  being  President  D wight 
[b.  1753.  tl.  1S17],  whose  "'Travels  in  New  England  and 
New  York,"  printed  in  1S21 ,  abounds  with  scientific  observations. 

Another  was  E.  C.  Herrick  [b.  181 1,  d.  1862],  for  many 
years  librarian  and  subsequently  treasurer  of  Yale  College, 
whose  observations  upon  the  aurora,  made  in  the  latter  years  of 
the  last  century,  are  still  frequently  quoted  ;  and  later  an  active 
investigator  of  volcanic  phenomena,  and  the  author  of  a  treatise 
on  the  Hessian  fly  and  its  parasites,  the  results  of  nine  years' 
study ;  and  of  another  on  tlie  existence  of  a  planet  between 
ISIercury  and  the  sun. 

Benjamin  Silliman  [b.  in  Trumbull,  Conn.,  Aug.  8,  i779'  ^' 
in  New  Haven,  Nov.  37,  1S69],  who,  in  1802,  became  Professor 
of  Chemistry  at  Yale,  began  there  his  career  of  usefulness  as 
an  organizer,  teacher,  and  critic.  One  of  his  introductions  to 
popular  favor  was  the  paper  which  he.  in  conjunction  with 
Prof.  Kingsley,  published,  '"An  account  of  the  meteor  which 
burst  over  Weston,  in  Connecticut,  in  December,  1807."  This 
paper  attracted  attention  evervwhere,  for  the  nature  of  meteors 
was  not  well  understood  in  those  days.  Jefferson  was  reputed  to 
have  said  in  reference  to  it,  "  that  it  was  easier  to  believe  that 
two  Yankee  professors  could  lie  than  to  admit  that  stones  could 
fall  from  heaven  ;"  but  I  think  this  must  be  pigeon-holed  with 
the  millions  of  other  slanders  to  which  Jefferson  was  subjected 
in  those  days.  I  find  in  the  papers  by  Rittenhouse  and  Madison, 
published  twenty  years  before,  by  the  Philosophical  Society, 
matter-of-fact  allusions  to  the  falling  of  meteors  to  the  earth. 

Silliman  was  the  earliest  of  American  scientific  lecturers  who 
appeared  before  popular  audiences,  and,  as  founder  and  editor  of 
the  Journal  of  Science,  did  a  service  to  science,  the  value  of 
which    is  beyond  estimate  or  computation. 

Benjamin  Waterhouse,  Professor  of  tlie  Theory  and  Practice 
of   Medicine  in  Harvard,    1783-1812,    was    one   of   the   earliest 


36  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON, 

teachers  of  natural  botany  in  America,  and  the  author  of  a  poem 
entitled  "  The  Botanist."  *  The  Rev.  Jeremy  Belknap  [b.  1744, 
d.  1798],  in  his  "History  of  New  Hampshire,"  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Williams  [b.  1743,  d.  1S17],  in  his  "Natural  and  Civil 
History  of  Vermont,"!  made  contributions  to  local  natural  his- 
tory, and  Capt.  Jonathan  Carver  [b.  1732,  d.  1780],  in  his 
"  Travels  through  the  Interior  Parts  of  America,"  J  gave  some 
meagre  information  as  to  the  zoology  and  botany  of  regions 
previously  unknow^n. 

In  the  South  the  prestige  of  colonial  days  seemed  to  have  de- 
parted. Except  Jeflerson,  the  only  naturalist  in  Virginia  was 
Dr.  James  Greeriway,  of  Dinwiddie  Co.,  a  botanist  of  some 
merit.  Mitchell  returned  to  England  before  the  Revolution,  and 
Garden  followed  in  17S4.  H.  B.  Latrobe,  of  Baltimore,  was 
an  amateur  ichthyologist,  and  Dr.  James  MacBride,  of  Pine- 
ville,  S.  C.  [b.  1784,  d.  1817],  was  an  active  botanist.  Dr. 
Lionel  Chalmers  [b.  1715,  d.  1777],  who  was  for  many  years 
the  leader  of  scientific  activity  in  South  Carolina,  was  omitted 
in  the  previous  address.  A  graduate  of  Edinburgh,  he  was  for 
forty  years  a  physician  in  Charleston.  He  recorded  observations 
on  meteorology  from  1750  to  1760,  the  foundation  of  his  "  Trea- 
tise on  the  Weather  and  Diseases  of  South  Carolina  "  [London, 
1776],  and  published  also  valuable  papers  on  pathology.  He 
was  the  host  and  patron  of  many  naturalists,  such  as  the  Bar- 
trams. 

There  was  no  lack  of  men  in  the  South  who  were  capable  of 
appreciating  scientific  work.  Virginia  had  fourteen  members 
in  the  American  Philosophical  Society  from  1780  to  1800,  while 
Massachusetts  and  New  York  had  only  six  each,  the  Carolinas 
had  eight,  and  Maryland  six.  The  population  of  the  South 
was,  however,  widely  dispersed  and  no  concentration  of  effort 

♦Biography  in  Polyanthus,  vol.  ii. 
t  Walpole,  N.  H.,  1794,  8vo,  p.  416. 

X  1778. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  37 

was  possible.  To  this  was  due,  no  doubt,  the  speedy  dissohi- 
tion  of  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  founded  in  Richmond 
in   17S8.* 

A  name  which  should,  perhaps,  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  this  is  that  of  Dr.  William  Charles  Wells,  whom  it  has 
been  the  fashion  of  late  to  claim  as  an  American.  It  would 
be  sfratifvinsr  to  be  able  to  vindicate  this  claim,  for  Wells  was 
a  man  of  whom  any  nation  might  be  proud.  He  was  the  orig- 
inator of  the  generally-accepted  theory  of  the  origin  of  dew,  and 
was  also,  as  Darwin  has  shown,  the  first  to  recognize  and  an- 
nounce the  theory  of  evolution  by  natural  selection. f  Unfor- 
tunately Wells's  science  was  not  American  scifence.  We  might 
with  equal  propriety  claim  as  American  the  art  of  James 
Whistler,  the  politics  of  Parncll.  the  fiction  of  Alexandre 
Dumas,  the  essays  of  Grant  Allen,  or  the  science  of  Rumford 
and  Le  Vaillant. 

Wells  was  the  son  of  an  English  painter,  who  emigrated,  in 
^753'  to  South  Carolina,  where  he  remained  until  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  when,  with  other  loyalists,  he  returned  to 
Ensfland.  He  was  born  during  his  father's  residence  in  Charles- 
ton,  but  left  the  country  in  his  minority  ;  was  educated  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  though  he,  as  a  young  physician,  spent  four  years  in 
the  United  States,  he  was  permanently  established  in  London 
practice  fully  twenty-eight  years  before  he  read  his  famous  letter 
before  the  Royal  Society. 

The  first  American  naturalist  who  held  definite  views  as  to 
evolution  was,  undoubtedly,  Rafinesque.  In  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Torrey,  Dec.   i,   1S33,  he  wrote: 

"  The  truth  is  that  species,  and  perhaps  genera  also,  are  form- 
ing in  organized  beings  bv  gradual  deviations  of  shapes,  forms, 
and  organs  taking  place  in  the  hqDse  of  time.     There  is  a  tendency 


*  See  previous  discourse,  p.  98. 

t Darwin:  Origin    of  species,   6th   Amer.    Ed.,   p    xv.     Morse:  Proc. 
Amer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Science,  xxv,  p.  141.. 


38  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHLNGTON. 

to  deviation  and  mutation  in  plants  and  animals  by  gradual  steps, 
at  remote,  irregular  periods.  This  is  a  part  of  the  great  universal 
law  oi perpetual  mutability  in  everything." 

It  is  pleasant  to  remember  that  both  Darwin  and  Wallace 
owed  much  of  their  insight  into  the  processes  of  nature  to  their 
American  explorations.  It  is  also  interesting  to  recall  the  clos- 
ing lines,  almost  prophetic  as  they  seem  to-day,  of  the  "Epistle 
to  the  Author  of  the  Botanic  Garden,"*  written  in  179S  by 
Elihu  Hubbard  Smith,  of  New  York,  and  prefixed  to  the  Amer- 
ican editions  of  "  The  Botanic  Garden  :" 

"  Where  Mississippi's  turbid  waters  glide 
And  white  Missouri  pours  its  rapid  tide; 
Where  vast  Superior  spreads  its  inland  sea 
And  the  pale  tribes  near  icy  empires  sway; 
Where  now  Alaska  lifts  its  forests  rude 
And  Nootka  rolls  her  solitary  flood. 
Hence  keen  incitement  prompt  the  prying  mind 
By  treacherous  fears,  nor  palsied  nor  confined; 
Its  curious  search  embrace  the  sea  and  shore 
And  mine  and  ocean,  earth  and  air  explore. 

"  Thus  shall  the  years  proceed, — till  growing  time 
Unfold  the  treasures  of  each  different  clime; 
Till  one  vast  brotherhood  mankind  unite 
In  equal  bonds  of  knowledge  and  of  right; 
Thus  the  proud  column,  to  the  smiling  skies 
In  simple  majesty  sublime  shall  rise. 
O'er  ignorance  foiled,  their  triumph  loud  proclaim, 
And  bear  inscribed,  immortal,  Darwin's  name." 

XII. 

During  the  three  decades  which  made  up  the  post-revolution- 
arv  period  there  were  several  "beginnings"  which  may  not 
well  be  referred  to  in  connection  with  individuals  or  localities. 

The  first  book  upon  American  insects  was  published  in  1797, 
a  sumptuously-illustrated  work,  in  two  volimnes,  with  104  col- 
ored plates,  entitled  "  The  Natural  History  of  the  rarer  Lepi- 
dopterous  Insects  of  Georgia."  This  was  compiled  by  Sir 
James  E.  Smith  from  the  notes  and  drawings  of  John  Abbot 

♦Erasmus,  grandfather  of  Charles  Darwin. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  39 

[b.  about  1760],  living  in  England  in  1840,  an  accomplished 
collector  and  artist,  who  had  been  for  several  years  a  resident 
of  Georgia,  gathering  insects  for  sale  in  Europe.  Mr.  vScudder 
characterizes  him  as  "  the  most  prominent  student  of  the  life  his- 
tories of  insects  we  have  ever  had."* 

There  had,  however,  been  creditable  work  previously  done  in 
what  our  entomologists  are  pleased  to  call  the  biological  side  of 
the  science.  As  early  as  176S,  Col.  Landon  Carter,  of  "  Sabine 
Hall,''  Virginia,  prepared  an  elaborate  paper  '•  On  the  Habits  of 
the  Fly-Weevil  that  destroys  the  Wheat."  which  was  printed  by 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,!  accompanied  by  an  ex- 
tended report  by  "  The  Committee  of  Husbandry."  In  the  same 
year  Moses  Bartram  presented  his  ••  Observations  on  the  native 
Silk-Worms  of  North  America. "| 

Organized  effort  in  economic  entomology  appears  to  date  from 
the  year  1792,  when  the  American  Philosophical  Society  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  collect  materials  for  a  natural  history  of 
the  Hessian  Fly,  at  that  time  making  frightful  ravages  in  the 
wheat-fields,  and  so  much  dreaded  in  Great  Britain  that  the 
import  of  wheat  from  the  United  States  was  forbidden  by  law. 
The  Philosophical  Society's  committee  was  composed  of  Thomas 
Jefl^erson,  at  that  time  Secretary  of  State  in  President  Washing- 
ton's cabinet,  Benjamin  Smith  Barton,  James  Hutchinson,  and 
Caspar  Wistar.  In  their  report,  which  was  accompanied  by 
large  drawings,  the  history  of  the  little  marauder  was  given  in 
considerable  detail. 

The  publication  of  Wilson's  American  Ornithology,  begin- 
ning in  180S,  was  an  event  of  great  importance.     It  was  in  1804 

♦There  is  a  whole  series  of  quarto  or  folio  volumes  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum done  bv  him,  and  a  few  volumes  are  extant  in  this  country.  Be- 
sides, all  the  biological  material  in  Smith-Abbot's  Insects  of  Georgia  is 
his." — Letter  of  S.  H.  Scudder. 

t  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Soc,  i,  274. 

X  Ibid.,  p.  294. 


40  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHTT^GTOX. 

that  the  author,  a  schoolmaster  near  Philadelphia,  decided  upon 
his  plan.     In  a  letter  to  Lawson  he  wrote  : 

"  I  am  most  earnestly  bent  on  pursuing  my  plan  of  making  a 
Collection  of  all  the  Birds  of  North  America.  Now,  I  don't 
want  vou  to  throw  cold  water  on  this  notice,  Qiiixotic  as  it  may 
appear.  I  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  the  building  of  Airy 
Castles  and  brain  Windmills  that  it  has  become  one  of  my  com- 
forts of  life,  a  sort  of  rough  Bone,  that  amuses  me  when  sated 
w'ith  the  dull  drudgery  of  Life." 

I  need  not  eulogize  Wilson.  Every  one  knows  how  well  he 
succeeded.  He  has  had  learned  commentators  and  elo- 
quent biographers.  Our  children  pore  over  the  narrative  of 
the  adventurous  life  of  the  weaver  naturalist,  and  we  all  are 
sensible  of  the  charms  which  his  graceful  pen  has  given  to  the 
life-histories  of  the  birds. 

His  poetical  productions  are  immortal,  and  his  lines  to  the 
Blue  Bird  and  the  Fisherman's  Hymn  are  worthy  to  stand  by 
the  side  of  Bryant's  Waterfowl,  Trowbridge's  Wood  Pewee, 
Emerson's  Titmouse,  Thaxter's  Sandpiper,  and,  possibly  best 
of  all.  Walt.  Whitman's  Mocking-Bird  in  •'  Out  of  the  Cradle 
endlessly  Rocking." 

Ichthyology  in  America  dates  also  from  these  last  years  of 
the  century.  Garden  was  our  only  resident  ichthyologist  until 
Peck  and  Mitchill  began  their  work,  but  Schoepf,  the  Hessian 
military  surgeon,  printed  a  paper  on  the  Fishes  of  New  York 
in  1787,  and  William  Bryant,  of  New  Jersey,  and  Henry  Col- 
lins Flagg,  of  South  Carolina,  made  observations  upon  the  elec- 
tric eel,  in  addition  to  those  w^hich  Williamson,  of  North  Car- 
olina, laid  before  the  Royal  Society  in  1775- 

Paleontology  had  its  beginning  at  about  the  same  time  in  the 
publication  of  Jefferson's  paper  on  the  Megalonyx  or  "Great 
Claw  "  in  1797.* 

*  The  first  vertebrate  fossils  were  found  in  Virginia.  Samuel  Maverick, 
of  Massachusetts,  reported  to  the  colony  at  Boston  in  1836  that,  at  a  place 


PEESIDEXTIAL    ADDRESS.  41 

This  early  study  of  a  fossil  vertebrate  was  followed  20  years 
later  by  the  first  paper  which  touched  upon  invertebrates — that 
by  vSay  on  ■•  Fossil  Zoology,"  in  the  first  volume  of  Silliman's 
Journal.  Lesueur  seems  to  have  brought  from  France  some 
knowledge  of  the  names  of  fossils,  and  identified  many  species 
for  the  early  American  geologists. 

Stratigraphical  and  physical  geology  also  came  in  at  this  time, 
and  will  be  referred  to  later. 

The  science  of  mineralogy  was  brought  to  America  in  its 
infancy.  The  first  course  of  lectures  upon  this  subject  ever 
given  in  London  was  in  the  winter  of  1793-4.  by  Schmeisser, 
a  pupil  of  Werner.  Dr.  David  Hosack.  then  a  student  of 
medicine  at  Edinburgh,  was  one  of  his  hearers,  and  inspired  bv 
his  enthusiasm  began  at  once  to  form  the  collection  of  minerals 
which  he  brought  to  America  on  his  return  in  1794,  which  was 
the  first  mineralogical  cabinet  ever  seen  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  This  collection  was  exhibited  for  many  years  in  Xew 
York  (and  in  1S21  was  given  to  Princeton  College).  Howard 
soon  after  obtained  a  select  cabinet  from  Europe,  and  the 
museum  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  acquired  the 
Smith  collection.  In  1S02,  Mr.  B.  D.  Perkins,  a  New  York 
bookseller,  brought  from  London  a  fine  collection,  which  soon 
passed  into  the  possession  of  Yale  College,  and  in  1803  Dr.  Arch- 
ibald Bruce  brought  over  one  equally  fine.  ^^  aich  was  made  the 
basis  of  lectures  Avhen  in  1S06  he  became  professor  of  miner- 
alogy in  Columbia  College.  George  Gibbs.  in  1S05,  imported 
the  magnificent  collection  which  was  long  in  the  custody  of  the 
American  Geological  Society.  Seybert,  about  the  same  time, 
brought  to  Philadelphia  the  cabinet  which  in  1813  was  bought 
by  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  and  was  lectured  upon  bv 
Troost  in  1814. 

on  the  James  River,  about  sixty  miles  above  its  mouth  the  colonists  had 
tbund  shells  and  bones,  among  these  bones  that  of  a  whale,  eigiiteen  teet 
below  the  surface.  —  Neill's   Virginia  Carolorum.  p.  131. 


42  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY   OF    WASHINGTOK 

Much  of  the  early  botanical  exploration  was,  however,  carried 
out  by  European  botanists  :  Andre  Michaux  [b.  near  Versailles, 
1746,  d.  Madagascar,  1S02],  a  pupil  of  the  Jussiens  and  an  ex- 
perienced explorer,  was  sent  by  this  government,  in  1785,  to 
collect  useful  trees  and  shrubs  for  naturalization  in  France.  He 
remained  eleven  years ;  made  extensive  explorations  in  the 
regions  then  accessible,  and  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  ;  sent 
home  immense  numbers  of  living  plants;  and,  after  his  return, 
in  1796,  published  his  treatise  on  the  American  Oaks,*  and  pre- 
pared the  materials  for  his  posthumous  "Flora  Boreali-Ameri- 
canas." 

Fran9ois  Andre  Michaux  [b.  near  Versailles,  1770,  d.  at 
Vaureal,  1855]  was  his  father's  assistant  in  these  early  travels, 
and  in  1S02  and  1806  himself  made  botanical  explorations  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  His  botanical  works  were  of  great  impor- 
tance,! especially  that  known  in  its  English  translation  as  the 
"  North  American  Sylva,"  afterward  completed  by  Nuttall,  and 
still  the  only  work  of  the  kind,  though  soon  to  be  supplemented, 
we  hope,  by  Professor  Sargent's  projected  monographs. 

Frederick  Pursh  [b.  1774,  in  Tobolsk,  Siberia,  d.  June  11, 
1820,  in  Montreal,  Canada]  carried  on  botanical  explorations 
between  1799  and  1819  ;  living,  from  iSo3  to  1S05,  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  from  1807  to  1810  in  New  York.  In  1814  he  pub- 
lished in  London  his  "Flora  Americse  Septemtrionalis."  Pursh's 
Flora  was  largely  based  .upon  the  labors  of  the  American  bot- 
anists Barton,  Hosack,  LeConte,  Peck,  Clayton,  Walter,  and 
Lyon,  and  the  botanical  collection  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and 
enumerated  about  3,000  species  of  plants,  while  Michaux's, 
printed  eleven  years  before,  had  only  about  half  that  number. 

A.  von  Enslen  collected  plants  at  this  time,  in  the  South  and 
West,  for  the  Imperial  Cabinet  in  Vienna.     C.    C.    Robin,  who 


*  Histoire  des  chines  de  TAmenque  Septentrionale,  1801 ;  36  plates, 
i' Voyage  a  I'ouest  des  monte  Alleghany,  &c.  8vo,  pp.  684      Paris,  i8o8. 
Histoire  des  arbres  for^stiferes  de  FAmerique,  Septentrionale. 


PKESLDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  43 

travelled  from  i8o3  to  1806  in  what  are  now  the  Gulf  States. 
wrote  a  botanical  appendix  to  his  Travels,  published  in  1807.  on 
which  Rafinesque  founded  his  "•  Florula  Ludoviciana "  (New 
York,  1817). 

Thaddeus  Hsenke  [b.  1761,  d.  in  Cochabamba,  Bolivia,  1817] 
visited  Western  North  America  with  the  Spaniards  late  in  the 
last  century,  and  made  lai'ge  collections  of  plants,  which  were 
sent  to  the  National  Museum  of  Bohemia,  at  Prague,  and  in 
part  described  in  Presl's  ••  Reliquiae  Hsnkianie."  72  plates. 

Archibald  Menzies  [b.  1754,  d.  1842],  an  English  naval  sur- 
geon, also  collected  on  our  Pacific  coast,  under  Vancouver,  in 
1780-95,  and  his  plants  found  their  way  to  Edinburgh  and  Kew. 

Captain  Wangenheim,  Surgeon  Schoepf,  of  the  Hessian 
contingent  of  the  British  army.  Olaf  Swartz,  a  Swedish  botan- 
ical explorer,  and  others,  also  gathered  plants  in  these  early  days, 
and,  in  some  instances,  published  in  Europe  their  botanical 
observations. 

Other  collectors  of  this  same  class  were  L.  A.  G.  Bosc  [i759~ 
1828],  who  made  botanical  i-esearches  in  the  Carolinas  during 
the  last  two  years  of  the  century,  and  returned  to  France  in  1800 
with  a  herbarium  of  1,600  species.  He  also  collected  fishes, 
and  his  name  is  perpetuated  in  connection  with  at  least  two 
well-known  American  fauna.  Another  was  jNI.  Milbert,  who 
collected  for  Cuvier  in  New  York,  Canada,  the  Great  Lake 
region,  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  from  1S17  to  1823. 

The  Baron  Palisot  de  Beauvois  [b.  1755,  d.  1820]  came  from 
Santo  Domingo  to  iVmerica  in  1791.  He  travelled  extensively, 
and  being-  a  zoologist  as  well  as  a  botanist,  made  observations 
upon  our  native  animals,  particularly  the  reptiles. 

It  is  to  him  that  we  owe  the  most  carefully  recorded  of 
existing  observations  of  young  rattlesnakes  crawling  down  their 
parent  snakes'  throats  for  protection  from  enemies. 

Most  of  these  men  did  not  contribute  largely  to  the  advance- 


44  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOIST. 

ment  of  American  scientific  institutes  or  affiliate  with  the  natu- 
ralists of  the  day. 

Of  quite  another  type  was  the  Count  Luigi  Castiglioni,  who 
travelled,  soon  after  the  Revolution,  throughout  the  Eastern 
States,    and    published    in    1790    two    volumes    of  his    ti'avels.* 

The  Count  Volney  [b.  at  Craon  Feb.  3,  i757'  ^^-  '^^  Paris 
April  25,  1820],  traveller,  statesman,  and  historian,  travelled 
in  this  country  from  i795  to  17981  ''^iicl  hi  1S03,  while  a  Senator 
of  the  French  Republic,  published  his  famous  work  upon  the 
United  States,  containing  his  observations  upon  its  soil  and  its 
climate,  and  upon  the  Indians,  together  with  the  first  doctrines 
of  the  language  of  the  Miamis,t  and  also  giving  a  description 
of  the  physical  and  botanical  features  of  the  country.  Volney 
was  an  admirer  and  intimate  friend  of  Franklin,  and  it  was  in  his 
home  atPassy,  we  are  told,  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  his  most 
famous  book  "  Les  Ruines."f 

Among  the  traditions  of  Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  is  one 
which  is  of  interest  to  naturalists,  since  it  relates  to  an  incident 
showing  the  interest  of  our  first  President  in  science  : 

"About  the  year  1796,"  runs  the  story,  "  at  the  close  of  a  long 
summer's  day,  a  stranger  entered  the  village  of  Warrenton.  He 
was  alone,  and  on  foot,  and  his  appearance  was  anything  but 
prepossessing.  His  garments,  coarse  and  dust-covered,  indicated 
an  individual  in  the  humble  walks.  From  a  cane  across  his 
shoulders  was  suspended  a  handkerchief  containing  his  clothing. 
Stopping  in  front  of  Turner's  tavern,  he  took  from  his  hat  a  paper 
and  handed  it  to  a  gentleman  standing  on  the  steps  ;  it  read  as 
follows  : 

"  The    celebrated    historian    and    naturalist 
Volney    needs    no    recommendation    from 

"•  G.  Washingo-on." 


*  Viaggio  negli  Stati  Uniti  del  America  Settentrionali. 

t  Tableau  dii  climat  et  du  sol  des  Etats-Unis  d'Ameriqiie,  suivi  d'eclair- 
cissements  sur  la  Floride,  sur  la  colonic  fran9aise  a  Scioto  sur  quelques 
colonies  canadiennes,  et  sur  les  savages.  Paris,  1803.  Svo,  2  vols.  2d 
edition.     Paris.    Svo,  i  vol.,  pp.  494.     Map. 

J  BiGELOW,  John:  Franklin's  Home  and  Host,  in  France.  T/ic  Ceu/ury, 
'Slay,  18SS,  p.  743 


PEESIDEN^TIAL    ADDRESS.  45 

In  iSoi  Jefferson  began  his  ei.G^ht  years  of  presidency.  Since  he 
was  the  only  man  of  science  who  has  ever  occupied  the  chief  magis- 
tracy, he  has  a  right  to  a  high  phice  in  the  esteem  of  such  a  society 
as  ours,  and  I  only  regret  that,  having  spoken  of  him  at  length 

a  year  ago,  I   cannot  now  discuss  his  scientific  cai'eer  in  all  its 
aspects. 

I  then  spoke  of  tiie  credit  which  was  due  to  him  for  beginning 
so  early  as  1780  to  agitate  the  idea  of  a  government  exploring 
expedition  to  the  Pacific,  which  culminated  in  the  sending  out 
by  Congress  of  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  in  1S03. 
Captain  Lewis  [b.  1774,  d.  1809],  the  leader  of  this  expedition, 
was  a  young  Virginian,  the  neighbor,  and  for  some  years  the 
private  secretary,  of  President  Jefterson.  He  set  out  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1S03,  accompanied  by  his  associate.  Captain  Clarke,  and 
twenty-eight  men.  They  entered  the  Missouri,  May  14,  1804, 
before  the  middle  of  the  following  July  had  reached  the  great 
falls,  and  by  October  were  upon  the  western  slope,  where,  em- 
bai-king  in  canoes  upon  the  Kouskousky,  a  branch  of  the  Colum- 
bia, they  descended  to  its  mouth,  where  they  arrived  on  the  i^th 
of  November,  1805.  The  following  spring  they  retraced  their 
course,  arriving  at  St.  Louis  in  September.*  The  results  of  the 
expedition  were  first  made  known  in  Jefferson's  message  to  Con- 
gress, read  February  19,  1806. 

The  statue  of  Meriwether  Lewis  is  one  of  those  at  the  base 
of  the  Washington  Monument  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  is 
worthy  of  the  man  and  his  career. 

Dr.  Asa  Gray  in  a  recent  letter  says : 

"  I  have  reason  to  think  that  Michaux  suggested  to  Jefferson 
the  expedition  which  the  latter  was  active  in  sending  over  to  the 
Pacific.  I  wonder  if  he  put  oft'  Michaux  for  the  sake  of  having 
it  in  American  hands .''  "| 

The  idea  of  an  expedition  to  the  Pacific  was  one  which  was  likely 

*  See  a  complete  bibliography  of  the  various  reports  of  this  expedition, 
by  Elliott  Coues,  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey, 
t  See  Amer.  Journ.  Sci. ,  xii,  No.  1. 


46  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOIST. 

to  occur  to  any  thoughtful  American,  and  was,  after  all,  simply 
the  continuing  of  a  plan  as  old  as  the  Spanish  days  of  discovery. 
Jefferson,  at  all  events,  was  an  active  promoter  of  all  such  enter- 
prises, and  after  a  quarter  of  a  century's  effort  the  expedition  was 
dispatched,  while  in  1805  Gen.  Z.  M.  Pike  was  sent  to  explore 
'  the  sou'-ces  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  western  parts  of 
"  Louisiana,"  penetrating  as  far  west  as  "  Pike's  Peak,"  a  name 
which  still  remains  as  a  memento  of  this  enterprise. 

The  organization  of  these  early  expeditions  marked  the  begin- 
ning of  one  of  the  most  important  portions  of  the  scientific  work 
of  our  government  —  the  investigation  of  the  resources  and 
natural  history  of  the  public  domain.  The  expeditions  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke,  and  of  Pike,  were  the  precursors  and  prototyjDes  of 
the  magnificent  organization  now  accomplishing  so  much  for 
science  under  the  charge  of  Major  J.  W.  Powell. 

As  early  as  1806,  Jefferson,  inspired  by  Patterson  and  Hassler, 
urged  the  establishment  of  a  national  Coast  Sui"vey,  and  in  this 
was  earnestly  supported  by  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Albert 
Gallatin,  who  drew  up  a  learned  and  elaborate  project  for  its 
organization,  and  an  act  authorizing  its  establishment  was  passed 
in  1807.  During  his  administration,  in  1802,  the  first  scientific 
school  in  this  country  was  established,  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point.  The  Militar}^  Academy  .was  a  favorite  project  of 
General  Washington,  who  is  said  to  have  justified  his  anxiety  for 
its  establishment  by  the  remark  that  "  an  army  of  asses  led  by  a 
lion  is  vastly  superior  to  an  army  of  lions  led  by  an  ass." 

Jefferson  has  been  heartily  abused  for  not  gratifying  Alexander 
Wilson's  request  to  be  appointed  naturalist  to  Pike's  expeditions. 
It  is  possible  that  even  in  those  days  administrators  were  ham- 
pered by  lack  of  financial  resources.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  in  1S04  Wilson  was  simply  an  enthusiastic  projector 
of  ornithological  undertakings,  and  had  done  nothing  whatever 
to  establish  his  reputation  as  an  investigator. 


PEESIDENTLAL    ADDEESS.  47 

One  of  Jefferson's  first  official  acts  was  to  throw  his  presidential 
mantle  over  Priestley.  Two  weeks  after  he  became  President  of 
tlie  United  States  he  wrote  these  words  : 

"  It  is  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  that,  in  the  first  moments  of 
my  public  action,  I  can  hail  you  with  welcome  to  our  land, 
tender  to  3'ou  the  homage  of  its  respect  and  esteem,  cover  you 
under  the  protection  of  those  laws  which  were  made  for  the  wise 
and  good  like  you,  and  disclaim  the  legitimacv  of  that  libel  on 
legislators  which,  under  the  form  of  a  law,  was  for  some  time 
placed  among  them." 

*  *  *  ''  Yours  is  one  of  the  few  lives  precious  to  mankind, 
and  for  the  continuance  of  which  every  thinking  man  is  solicitous. 
Bigots  may  be  an  exception.  What  an  effort,  mv  dear  sir,  of 
bigotry  in  politics  and  religion  have  we  gone  through.  *  *  * 
All  advances  in  science  were  prescribed  as  innovations.  They 
pretended  to  praise  and  encourage  education,  but  it  was  to  be  the 
education  of  our  ancestors.  We  were  to  look  backwards,  not 
forwards  for  improvement;  the  President  (Washington)  himself 
declaring  in  one  of  his  answers  to  addresses  that  we  were  never 
to  expect  to  go  beyond  them  in  real  science.  This  was  the  real 
ground  of  all  the  attacks  on  vou  ;  those  who  live  bv  mystery  and 
charlatanerie  fearing  you  would  render  them  useless  by  simpli- 
fying the  Christian  philosophv.  the  most  sublime  and  benevo- 
lent, but  most  perverted  system  that  ever  shone  on  man,  en- 
deavored to  crush  your  well-earned  and  well-desei"ved  fame."* 

xm. 

With  the  close  of  the  third  decade  ended  the  first  third  of  a 
century  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  We  have  now 
passed  in  review  a  considerable  number  of  illustrious  names  and 
have  noted  the  inception  of  many  worthy  undertakings. 

"  Still,  however,"  in  the  words  of  Silliman,  "  although  indi- 
viduals were  enlightened,  no  serious  impression  was  produced 
on  the  public  mind  ;  a  few  lights  were,  indeed,  held  out,  but 
they  were  lights  twinkling  in  an  almost  impervious  gloom. "f 

This  was  a  state  of  affairs  not  peculiar  to  America.  A  gloom 
no  less  oppressive  had  long  obscured  the  intellectual  atmosphere 

♦Jefferson's  Works  (T.  J.  Randolph  ed.),  1830,  iii,  461. 
t  Silliman,  i,  37. 


48  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINaTON. 

of  the  old  world.  There  were  a  goodly  number  of  men  of 
science,  and  many  important  discoveries  were  being  made,  but 
no  bonds  had  yet  been  formed  to  connect  the  interests  of  the  men 
of  science  and  the  men  of  affairs. 

Speculative  science,  in  the  nature  of  things,  can  only  interest 
and  attract  scholaidy  men.  and  though  its  results,  concisely  and 
attractively  stated,  may  have  a  passing  interest  to  a  certain  por- 
tion of  every  community,  it  is  only  by  its  practical  applications 
that  it  secures  the  hearty  support  of  the  community  at  large. 

Huxley,  in  his  recent  discourse  upon  *•'  The  Advance  of  Science 
in  the  Last  Half  Century,"*  has  touched  upon  this  subject  in  a 
most  suggestive  and  instructive  manner,  and  has  shown  that  Bacon, 
with  all  his  wisdom,  exerted  little  direct  beneficial  influence  upon 
the  advancement  of  natural  knowledge,  which  has  after  all  been 
chiefly  forwarded  by  men  like  Galileo  and  Harvey,  Boyle  and 
Newton,  "who  would  have  done  their  work  quite  as  well  if 
neither  Bacon  nor  Descartes  had  ever  propounded  their  views 
respecting  the  manner  in  which  scientific  investigation  should  be 
pursued." 

I  think  we  should  look  upon  Bacon  as  the  prophet  of  modern 
scientific  thought,  rather  than  its  founder.  It  is  no  doubt  true, 
as  Huxley  has  said,  that  his  "  scientific  insight  "  was  not  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  shape  the  future  course  of  scientific  philosophy, 
but  it  is  scarcely  true  that  he  attached  any  undue  value  to  the 
practical  advantages  which  the  world  as  a  whole,  and  incident- 
ally science  itself,  were  to  reap  from  the  applications  of  scientific 
methods  to  the  investigation  of  nature. 

Even  though  the  investigations  of  Descartes,  Newton,  Leibnitz, 
Boyle,  Torricelli,  and  Malpighi,  had  directly  helped  no  man  to 
either  wealth  or  comfort,  the  cumulative  results  of  their  labors, 
and  those  of  their  pupils  and  associates,  resulted  in  a  condition 


*  Wood,  T.  H.  :  The  Reign  of  Victoria;  a  survey  of  Fifty  Years  of  Pro- 
gress.    London,  18S7. 


PKESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  49 

of  scientific  knowledge  from  which,  sooner  or  later,  utilitarian 
results  must  necessarily  have  sprung. 

It  is  true,  as  Huxley  tells  us,  that  at  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury weaving  and  spinning  were  still  carried  on  with  the  old 
appliances  ;  true  that  nobody  could  travel  faster  by  sea  or  by  land 
than  at  any  previous  time  in  the  world's  history,  and  true  that 
King  George  could  send  a  message  from  London  to  York  no 
faster  than  King  John  might  have  done.  Metals  were  still 
worked  from  their  ores  by  immemorial  rule  of  thumb,  and  the 
centre  of  the  iron  trade  of  these  islands  was  among  the  oak  for- 
ests of  Sussex,  while  the  utmost  skill  of  the  British  mechanic  did 
not  get  beyond  the  production  of  a  coarse  watch. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  although  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  illuminated  by  a  host  of  great  names  in  science, 
chemists,  biologists,  geologists,  English,  French,  German,  and 
Italian,  the  deepening  and  broadening  of  natural  knowledge  had 
produced  next  to  no  immediate  practical  benefits.  Still  I  cannot 
believe  that  Bacon,  the  prophet,  would  have  been  so  devoid  of 
'*  scientific  insight"  as  to  have  failed  to  foresee  at  this  time  the 
ultimate  results  of  all  this  intellectual  activity. 

But  Huxley  says  : 

"  Even  if,  at  this  time,  Francis  Bacon  could  have  returned  to 
the  scene  of  his  greatness  and  of  his  littleness,  he  must  have  re- 
garded the  philosophic  world  which  praised  and  disregarded  his 
precepts  with  great  disfavor.  If  ghosts  are  consistent,  he  would 
have  said,  "  these  people  are  all  wasting  their  time,  just  as  Gil- 
bert, and  Kepler,  and  Galileo,  and  my  worthy  physician  Harvey 
did  in  my  day.  Where  are  the  fruits  of  tlie  restoi'ation  of  science 
which  I  promised.'*  This  accumulation  of  bare  knowledge  is  all 
very  well,  but  ciii  bono?  Not  one  of  these  people  is  doing  what  I 
told  him  specially  to  do,  and  seeking  that  secret  of  the  cause  of 
forms,  which  will  enable  him  to  deal  at  will  with  matter  and 
superinduce  new  nature  upon  old  foundations." 

As  Huxley,  however,  proceeds  himself  to  show,  in  the  dis- 
cussion which  immediately  follows  this  passage,  a  "  new  nature. 


50  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

begotten  by  science  upon  fact,"  has  been  born  within  the  past 
few  decades,  and  pressing  itself  daily  and  hourly  upon  our  atten- 
tion, has  worked  miracles  which  have  not  only  modified  the  whole 
future  of  the  lives  of  mankind,  but  has  reacted  constantly  upon 
the  progress  of  science  itself. 

It  is  to  the  development  of  this  new  nature,  then  in  its  very- 
infancy,  that  we  must  look  for  the  revival  of  interest  in  science 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  second  decade  of  the  century  was  marked  by  a  great 
accession  of  interest  in  the  sciences.  The  second  war  with 
Great  Britain  having  ended,  the  country,  for  the  first  time  since 
colonial  days,  became  sufficiently  tranquil  for  peaceful  attention 
to  literatui-e  and  philosophy.  The  end  of  the  Napoleonic  wars 
and  the  restoration  of  tranquillity  to  Europe  tended  to  scientific 
advances  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  the  results  of  the 
labors  of  Cuvier,  whose  glory  was  now  approaching  its  zenith, 
of  Brongniart,  of  Blainville,  of  Jussieu,  of  Decandolle,  of  Werner, 
of  Hutton,  of  Buckland,  of  De  la  Beche,  of  Magendie,  of  Hum- 
boldt, Daubuisson,  Berzelius,  Von  Buch,  of  Herschel,  of  Laplace, 
of  Young,  of  Fresnel,  of  Oersted,  of  Cavendish,  of  Lavoisier,  Wol- 
laston,  Davy,  and  Sir  William  Hooker,  were  eagerly  welcomed 
by  hundreds  in  America. 

"  In  truth,"  wrote  one  who  was  among  the  most  active  in 
promoting  these  tendencies,  "  in  truth,  a  thirst  for  the  Natural 
Sciences  seemed  already  to  pervade  the  United  States  like  the 
progress  of  an  epidemic." 

The  author  of  these  enthusiastic  words  was  Amos  Eaton 
[b.  in  Chatham,  N.  Y.,  1776,  d.  May  6,  1843],  one  of  the  most 
interesting  men  of  his  day.  In  1816,  at  the  age  of  forty,  he 
abandoned  the  practice  of  law  and  went  to  New  Haven  to 
attend  Silliman's  lectures  on  Mineralogy  and  Geology.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  force  and  untiring  energy,  and  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  American  geology  ;  though  the  name,  ''  father  of  Amer- 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  51 

ican  geology,"  sometimes  applied  to  him,  would  seem  to  belong 
more  appropriately  to  Maclure,  or,  perhaps,  to  Mitchill.  He 
was,  however,  only  some  eight  years  later  than  Maclure  in 
beginning  geological  field-work.  Eaton's  "  Index  to  the  Geology 
of  the  Northern  States  of  America,"  printed  in  1S17,  was  the  first 
strictly  American  treatise,  and  seems  to  have  had  a  very  stimu- 
lating effect.  He  was  pre-eminently  an  agitator  and  an  educator. 
He  travelled  many  thousands  of  miles  on  foot  throughout  New 
England  and  New  York,  delivering,  in  the  meantime,  at  the 
principal  towns,  short  courses  of  lectures  on  natural  history. 
In  March,  1817,  having  received  an  invitation  to  aid  in  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Natural  Sciences  in  Williams  College,  his  Alina 
Mater,  he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  in  Williamstown. 
''  Such,"  he  remarks,  "  was  the  zeal  at  this  institution  that  an 
uncont^llable  enthusiasm  for  natural  history  took  possession  of 
every  mind  ;  and  other  departments  of  learning  were,  for  a  time, 
crowded  out  of  the  college.  The  authorities  allowed  twelve 
students  each  day  (seventy-two  per  week)  to  devote  their  whole 
time  to  the  collection  of  minerals  and  plants,  in  lieu  of  all  other 
exercises."* 

In  April,  181 8,  he  went  to  Albany  on  the  special  invitation 
of  Gov.  DeWitt  Clinton  and  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on 
Natural  History.  "In  Albany  I  found,"  wrote  he,  "  Dr.  T. 
Romeyn  Beck,  and  in  Troy,  Doctors  Burrett,  Robbins,  and 
Dale,  zealous  beyond  description  in  the  cause  of  Natural  Science. 
By  the  exertions  of  these  gentlemen  a  taste  for  the  study  of 
Nature  was  strongly  excited  in  those  two  cities,  especially  for 
that  of  geology.  They,  together  with  several  others,  had  become 
members  of  the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  and,  in 
the  fall  of  1818,  established  a  society  of  the  same  name  and 
upon  a  similar  plan  in  Troy.  Collections  were  made  with 
such  zeal  that,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  Troy  could  boast 

*  Geological  Text-Book,  2d  ed.,  1832,  p.  16. 


52  BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTOlSr. 

of  a  more  extensive  collection  of  American  geological  specimens 
than  Yale  College,  or  any  other  institution  upon  this  continent."* 

"  In  this  period,"  remarked  Bache,  "  the  prosecution  of  matlie- 
matics  and  physical  science  was  neglected  ;  indeed  barely  kept 
alive  by  the  calls  for  boundary  and  land  surveys  of  the  more  ex- 
tended class,  by  the  exertions  necessary  in  the  lecture-room,  or  by 
isolated  volunteer  efforts. 

"As  the  country  was  explored  and  settled  the  unworked  mine 
of  natural  history  was  laid  open,  and  the  attention  of  almost  all 
the  cultivators  of  science  was  turned  toward  the  development  of 
its  riches. 

"  Descriptive  natural  history  is  the  pursuit  which  emphatically 
made  that  period.  As  its  experiment  may  be  taken  the  admira- 
ble descriptive  mineralogy  of  Cleaveland,  which  seemed  to  fill  the 
measures  of  that  day  and  be,  as  it  were,  its  chief  embomment, 
appearing  just  as  the  era  was  passing  away."t 

The  leading  spirits  of  the  day  seem  to  have  been  Silliman, 
Hare,  Maclure,  Mitchill,  Gibbs,  Cleaveland,  DeWitt  Clinton, 
and  Caspar  Wistar. 

Names  familiar  to  us  of  the  present  generation  began  now  to 
appear  in  scientific  literature :  Isaac  Lea  began  to  print  his 
memoirs  on  the  Union  idee ;  Edward  Hitchcock,  principal  of  the 
Deerfield  Academy,  was  writing  his  first  papers  on  the  geology 
of  Massachusetts ;  Prof.  Chester  Dewey,  of  Williams  College, 
[b.  1781,  d.  1867],  afterwards  known  to  us  all  from  his  excellent 
work  upon  the  Carices,  was  discussing  the  mineralogy  and  geol- 
ogy of  Massachusetts  ;  Dr.  John  Torrey,  also  to  be  famous  as  a 
botanist,    was    then    devoting    his    attention    to    mineralogy  and 

*  The  Troy  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  was  incorporated  in  tSig,  and  a 
lectureship  was  created,  filled  by  Mr.  Eaton  (^Sillima/i's  yoiirnal,  ii,  173). 
In  1820  a  similar  association,  "  The  Hudson  Association  for  Improvement 
in  Science,"  was  founded  in  the  city  of  Hudson,  and  in  1821  the  Delaware 
Chemical  and  Geological  Society. 

t  Presidential  Address  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  1851,  pp.  vi,  xlvi. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  53 

chemistry  ;  Dr.  Jacob  Porter  was  making  botanical  observations 
in  central  jNIassachusetts  ;  quaint  old  Caleb  Atwater,  at  that  time 
almost  the  only  scientific  observer  w^est  of  the  Alleghanies,  was 
discussing  the  origin  of  prairies,  meteorology,  botany,  geology, 
mineralogy,  and  scenery  of  the  Ohio  country,  and  a  little  later 
the  remains    of  mammoths. 

Prof,  J.  W.  Webster,  of  Boston,  was  making  general  studies 
in  oreoloo-v  ;  the  Rev.  Elias  Cornelius  and  Mr.  John  Grammer 
were  writing  of  the  geology  of  Virginia  ;  ]Mr.  J.  A.  Kain,  upon 
that  of  Tennessee,  I.  P.  Brace,  that  of  Connecticut,  and  James 
Pierce,  that  of  New  Jersey. 

To  this  period  belonged  the  brilliant  Constantine  Rafinesque, 
with  Torrey,  Silliman,  Cleaveland,  Gibbs,  James,  Schoolcraft, 
Gage,  Akerly,  Mitchill,  Dana,  Beck,  and  Featherstonhaugh. 

Dr.  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  afterwards  prominent  in  ethnology, 
printed,  in  1S19,  his '"View  of  the  Lead  Mines  of  Missouri," 
the  first  from  American  contributors  to  economic  geology  ;  and 
in  the  same  year  his  '•  Transallegania,"  a  mineralogical  poem, 
probably  the  last  as  well  as  the  first  of  its  kind  written  in 
America.  In  1821  he  published  a  scholarrly  "Account  of  the 
Native  Copper  on  the  Southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior."* 

Mineralogy  and  geology  were  the  most  popular  of  the  sciences. 

American  Geology  dated  its  beginning  from  this  previous 
decade.  Prof.  S.  L.  Mitchill  was  one  of  the  first  to  call 
attention  to  the  teachings  of  Kirwan  and  the  pioneers  of  Eu- 
ropean geology,  and  very  early  in  the  century  began  to 
instruct  the  students  of  Columbia  College  in  the  principles 
of  geology  as  then  understood.  He  published  Observations 
on  the  Geology  of  America,  and  also  edited  a  New  York  edition 
of  Cuvier's  "  History  of  the  Earth,"  contributing  to  this  work 
an  appendix  which  was  constantly  quoted  by  early  writers. 

The  first  geological  explorer  was  William  Maclure  [b.  in  Ayr, 


*Amer.  Jour.  Science,  iii,  pp.  201-210. 


54  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Scotland,  1763,  d.  in  San  Angel,  Mexico,  Mar.  23,  1840],  a 
Scotch  merchant  who  amassed  a  large  fortune  by  commercial 
connections  with  this  country,  and  became  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  about  1796.  His  most  important  service  to  American 
science  was  that  of  a  patron,  for  he  was  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
infant  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Philadelphia,  and  for  twenty-two 
years  its  president,  besides  being  an  upholder  of  other  important 
enterprises. 

The  publication  in  1S09  of  his  "Observations  on  the  Geology 
of  the  United  States"  marks  the  beginning  of  American  geo- 
graphical geologv  and  the  first  attempt  at  a  geological  survey  of 
the  United  States.  This  had  long  been  the  object  of  his  ambi- 
tion, and,  in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  the  task,  he  had  spent 
several  years  in  travel  throughout  Europe,  making  observations 
and  collecting  objects  in  natural  history,  which  he  forwarded  to 
the  country  of  his  adoption. 

His  undertaking  was  undoubtedly  a  remarkable  one.  "  He 
went  forth  with  his  hammer  in  his  hand  and  his  wallet  on  his 
shoulder,  pursuing  his  researches  in  every  direction,  visiting 
almost  every  State  and  Territory,  wandering  often  amidst  path- 
less tracts  and  di^eary  solitudes  until  he  had  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  the  Alleghany  mountains  not  less  than  fifty  times.  He 
encountered  all  the  privations  of  hunger,  thirst,  fatigue,  and  ex- 
posure, month  after  month  and  year  after  year,  until  his  indom- 
itable spirit  had  conquered  every  difficulty  and  crowned  his 
enterprise  with  success,"*  and  after  the  publication  of  his  me- 
moir he  devoted  eight  years  more  to  collecting  materials  for  a 
second  and  revised  addition. 

The  geological  map  of  the  United  States,  published  in  1809, 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  attempted  for  an 
entire  country.  Smith's  geological  map  of  England  was  six 
years  later,  and  Greenough's  still  subsequent  in  date. 

♦Martin:  Memoir  of  William  Maclure,  p.  11. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  55 

The  publication  in  London  in  1813  of  Bakewell's  "  Introduc- 
tion to  Geology"  seems  to  have  given  a  great  stimulus  to  geo- 
logical researches  in  this  country,  as  may  be  judged  from  the 
publication  of  an  American  edition  a  year  or  two  later. 

Mitchill,  Bruce,  and  Maclure  soon  had  a  goodly  band  of  asso- 
ciates. Naturalists  were  not  confined  to  limited  specialties  in 
those  days,  and  we  find  all  the  chemists,  botanists,  and  zoolo- 
gists absorbed  in  the  consideration  of  geological  problems. 
Maclure  and  most  of  the  Americans  were  disciples  of  Werner. 

Silliman,  writing  in  1818,  said: 

"A  grand  outline  has  recently  been  drawn  by  Air.  Maclure 
with  a  masterly  hand  and  with  a  vast  extent  of  personal  oliser- 
vation  and  labour;  but,  to  fill  up  the  detail,  both  observation  and 
labour  still  more  extensive  are  demanded  ;  nor  can  the  object  be 
efiected  till  more  good  geologists  are  formed  and  distributed  over 
our  extensive  territory." 

On  the  6th  of  September,  1819,  the  American  Geological 
Society  was  organized  in  the  philosophical  room  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, an  event  of  great  importance  in  the  history  of  science, 
hastening,  as  it  seems  to  have  done,  the  establishment  of  State 
surveys  and  stimulating  observation  throughout  the  country. 
This  Society,  which  continued  in  existence  until  about  1826, 
may  fairly  be  considered  the  nucleus  of  the  Association  of  Ameri- 
can Geologists  and  Naturalists,  and,  consequently,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Members 
appended  to  their  names  the  symbols,  M.  A.  G.  S.,  and  it  was 
for  a  time  the  most  active  of  American  scientific  societies. 

The  characteristics  of  the  leading  spirits  were  summed  up  by 
Eaton  at  the  time  of  its  beginning : 

"  The  President,  William  Maclure,  has  already  struck  out  the 
grand  outline  of  North  American  geographical  geology.  The 
first  Vice-President,  Col.  G.  Gibbs,  has  collected  more  facts  and 
amassed  more  geological  and  mineralogical  specimens  than  any 
other  individual  of  the  age.  The  second  Vice-President.  Pro- 
fessor Silliman,  gives  the  true  scientific  dress  to  all   the   naked 


56  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTaTON". 

mineralog'ical  subjects  which  are  furnished  to  his  hand.  The 
third  Vice-President,  Professor  Cleaveland,  is  successfully  em- 
ployed in  elucidating  and  familiarizing  those  interesting  scenes  ; 
and  thus  smoothing  the  rugged  paths  of  the  student.  Professor 
Mitchill  has  amassed  a  large  store  of  materials  and  annexed  them 
to  the  labors  of  Cuvier  and  Jameson.  The  drudgery  of  climbing 
cliffs  and  descending  into  fissures  and  caverns,  and  of  traversing 
in  all  directions  our  most  rugged  mountainous  districts,  to  ascer- 
tain the  distinctive  characters,  number,  and  order  of  our  strata, 
has  devolved  upon  me."* 

Eaton  has  very  fairly  defined  his  own  position  among  the  early 
geologists,  which  was  that  of  an  explorer  and  pioneer.  The  epi- 
thet, "  Father  of  American  Geology,"  which  has  sometimes  been 
applied  to  him,  might  more  justly  be  bestowed  upon  Maclure,  or 
even  upon  Mitchill.  The  name  of  Amos  Eaton  [b.  1776,  d. 
1873]  will  always  be  memorable,  on  account  of  his  connection 
with  the  geological  survey  of  New  York,  which  was  begun  in 
1820,  at  the  private  expense  of  Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer; 
also  as  the  founder,  in  1834,  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, the  first  of  its  class  on  the  continent. 

The  vState  of  New  York  was  not  pre-eminently  prompt  in 
establishing  an  olficial  survey,  but  the  liberality  of  Van  Rensse- 
laer and  the  energy  of  Eaton  gave  to  New  York  the  honor  of 
attaching  the  names  of  its  towns  and  counties  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  geological  formations  of  North  America. 

In  these  early  surveys  Eaton  was  associated  with  Dr.  Theo- 
dore Romeyn  Beck  and  Mr.  H.  Webster,  naturalist  and  collec- 
tor, one  of  the  first  being  a  survey  of  the  countv  of  Alban}',  un- 
der the  special  direction  of  a  County  Agricultural  Society,  fol- 
lowed by  similar  surveys  of  Rensselaer  county  and  Saratoga 
county  and  others  along  the  Erie  Canal. 

In  July,  1818,  Professor  Sill i man  began  the  publication  of  the 
Americait  Journal  of  Science^  which  has  been  for  more  than 
two-thirds  of  a  century  the  most  prominent  register  of  the  scien- 


■•■■"  Index  to  the  Geology  of  the  Northern  States.     2d  ed.     1820.    p.  viii. 


PRESroETsTTIAL    ADDEESS.  57 

tific  progress  of  this  continent.  Silliman's  journal  succeeded, 
and  far  more  than  replaced,  the  Atnerican  Mineralogical  Jour- 
nal^ the  earliest  of  American  scientific  periodicals,  which  was 
established  in  New  York  1810  by  Dr.  Archibald  Bruce,  and 
which  was  discontinued  after  the  close  of  the  first  volume,  in 
1S14,  on  account  of  the  illness  and  untimely  death  of  its  pro- 
jector.* Tlie  Mineralogical  Jojwnal  was  not  so  limited  in 
scope  as  in  name,  and  was  for  a  time  the  principal  organ  of 
our  scientific  specialists. f 

We  can  but  admire  the  spirit  of  Silliman,  who  remarks  in  the 
preface  to  the  third  volume  : 

"  It  must  require  several  years  from  the  commencement  of  the 
work  to  decide  the  question  [whether  it  is  to  be  supported],  and 
the  editor  (if  God  continues  his  life  and  healtli)  will  endeavour 
to  prove  himself  neither  impatient  nor  querulous  during  the  time 
that  his  countrymen  hold  the  question  undecided,  xvhether  there 
shall  be  a7i  Atnerican  Journal  of  Scietice  and  Arts." 

In  the  fall  of  1822  he  announced  that  a  trial  of  four  years  had 
decided  the  point  that  the  American  public  would  support  this 
journal. 

Prior  to  the  establishing  of  Silliman's  journal,  the  principal 
organs  of  American  science  were  the  Medical  Repository, 
commenced  in  179S,  of  which  Dr.  Mitchill  was  the  chief 
proprietor ;  the  JVexv  York  Aledical  and  Physical  Journal, 
conducted  chiefly  by  Dr.  Hosack  ;  the  Boston  Journal  of  Phi- 
losophy and  the  Arts,  and  other  similar  periodicals.  Our 
students  looked  chiefly,  however,  to  the  English  journals  — 
Tilloch's  Philosophical  Magazine  and  Nicholson's  Journal  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  and  later,  Thomson's  Annals  of  Phil- 
osophy, the  Annates  de   Chimie. 

*"No  future  historian  of  American  science  will  fail  to  commemorate 
this  work,  us  our  earliest  purely  scientific  journal,  supported  bv  original 
American  communications''  said  Silliman  in  his  prospectus,  1817. 

xThe  only  copies  of  this  journal  known  to  he  in  existence  are  in  the  N. 
Y.  State  Library  and  the  Harvard  Library. 


58  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOlSr. 

The  American  Monthly  Magazine^  established  in  1S14  by 
Charles  Brockden  Brown,  was  fully  as  much  devoted  to  science 
as  to  literature,  and  an  examination  of  this  and  other  journals 
of  the  early  portion  of  the  century  will,  I  think,  satisfy  the  student 
tliat  scientific  subjects  were  more  seriously  considered  by  our 
ancestors  than  by  the  Americans  of  to-day.  The  American 
Monthly  published  elaborate  reviews  of  technical  works,  sucli  as 
Cleaveland's  Mineralogy,  and  summaries  of  the  world's  progress 
in  science,  as  well  as  the  monthly  proceedings  of  all  the  scientific 
societies  in  New  York,  and  papers  on  systematic  zoology  and 
botany  by  Rafinesque. 

In  181 2  the  American  Antiquarian  vSociety  was  established  at 
Worcester,  and  before  1820,  when  its  first  volume  of  transactions 
appeared,  had  collected  6,000  books  and  ''a  respectable  cabinet." 
This  was  a  pioneer  effort  in  ethnological  science.  Archceologia 
Americana  contained  papers  by  Mitchill,  Atwater,  and  others, 
chiefly  relating  to  the  aboriginal  population  of  America.  The 
name  of  Isaiah  Thomas,  LL.  D.  [b.  in  Boston  1749,  d.  in  Wor- 
cester 1831],  the  founder  and  first  president  of  the  society,  who 
at  his  own  expense  erected  a  building  for  its  accommodation  and 
endowed  its  first  researches,  should  be  remembered  with  grati- 
tude by  American  naturalists.  He  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  American  printers,  and  styled  by  DeWarville  ^' the  Didot  of 
America." 

In  181 2  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia 
W3S  founded,  the  outgrowth  of  a  social  club,  whose  members, 
we  are  told,  had  no  conception  of  the  importance  of  the  work 
they  were  undertaking  when,  in  a  spirit  of  burlesque,  they 
assumed  the  title  of  an  academy  of  learning. 

In  1 81 6  the  Coast  Survey,  after  years  of  discussion,  was  placed 
in  action  under  the  supervision  of  Hassler  (who  had  been  ap- 
pointed its  head  as  early  as  181 1),  but,  two  years  later,  the  work 
going  on  too  slowly  to  please  tli?  Government,  it  was  stopped. 


PRESTDETSTTIAL    ADDRESS.  59 

The  Linnsean  Society  of  New  England,  established  in  Boston 
about  this  time,  was  the  precursor  of  the  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  Science. 

The  publication  of  an  American  edition  of  Rees's  Cyclopaedia, 
In  Philadelphia,  was  begun  in  1810,  and  the  47th  volume  com- 
pleted in  1824.  This  was  an  event  in  the  history  of  American 
science,  for  it  furnished  employment  and  thus  fostered  the  inves- 
tigations of  several  eminent  naturalists,  among  whom  wei'e  Alex- 
ander Wilson,  Thomas  Say,  and  Ord  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it 
fostered  a  taste  for  science  in  the  United  States  and  gave  currency 
to  several  rather  epoch-making  articles,  such  as  Say's  upon 
Conchology  and  Entomology. 

Mr.  Bradbury,  the  publisher  of  this  Cyclopaedia,  was  the  first 
of  a  goodly  company  of  liberal  and  far-seeing  publishers  who 
have  done  much  for  science  in  this  country  by  their  patronage  of 
important  scientific  publications. 

In  1817  Josiah  Meigs,  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Ofiice,  issued 
a  circular  to  the  several  Registers  of  the  Land  Offices  of  the 
United  States  requiring  them  to  keep  daily  meteorological  obser- 
vations, and  also  to  report  upon  such  phenomena  as  the  times  of 
the  unfolding  of  leaves  of  plants  and  the  dates  of  flowering,  the 
migrations  of  birds  and  fishes,  the  dates  of  spawning  of  fishes, 
the  hibernation  of  animals,  the  history  of  locusts  and  other  in- 
sects in  large  numbers,  the  falling  of  stones  and  other  bodies  from 
the  atmosphere,  the  direction  of  meteors,  and  discoveries  rela- 
tive to  the  antiquities  of  the  country. 

It  does  not  appear  that  anything  ever  resulted  from  this  step, 
but  it  is  referred  to  as  an  indication  that,  seventy  years  ago,  our 
Government  was  willing  to  use  its  civil  service  officials  in  the 
interest  of  science.  A  few  years  later  the  same  idea  was  carried 
into  effect  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

In  those  early  days  each  of  the  principal  cities  had  public  mu- 
seums founded  and  supported  by  private  enterprise.       Their  pio- 


60  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOlSr. 

prietors  were  men  of  scientific  tastes,  who  affiliated  with  the  nat- 
uralists of  the  day  and  placed  their  collections  freely  at  the  dis- 
posal of  investigators. 

The  earliest  was  the  Philadelphia  Museum,  established  by 
Charles  Wilson  Peale,  and  for  a  time  housed  in  the  buildine  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society.  In  iSoo  it  was  full  of  pop- 
ular attractions. 

"  There  were  a  mammoth's  tooth  from  the  Ohio,  and  a  woman's 
shoe  from  Canton  ;  nests  of  the  kind  used  to  make  soup  of,  and  a' 
Chinese  fan  six  feet  long;  bits  of  asbestos,  belts  of  wampum, 
stuffed  birds  and  feathers  from  the  Friendly  Islands,  scalps,  tom- 
ahawks, and  long  lines  of  portraits  of  great  men  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  To  visit  the  Museum,  to  wander  through  the  rooms, 
play  upon  the  organ,  examine  the  rude  electrical  machine,  and 
have  a  profile  drawn  by  the  physiognomitian,  were  pleasures 
from  which  no  stranger  to  the  city  ever  refrained." 

Dr.  Hare's  oxyhydrogen  blow-pipe  was  shown  in  this  Museum 
by  Mr.  Rubens  Peale  as  early  as  1810. 

The  Baltimore  Museum  was  managed  by  Rembrandt  Peale, 
and  was  in  existence  as  early  as  1815  and  as  late  as  1830.* 

Earlier  efforts  were  made,  however,  in  Philadelphia.  Dr. 
Chovet,  of  that  city,  had  a  collection  of  wax  anatomical  models 
made  by  him  in  Europe,  and  Prof.  John  Morgan,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  who  learned  his  methods  from  the  Hunters 
in  London  and  Su6  in  Paris,  was  also  forming  such  a  collection 
before  the  Revolution. f 

The  Columbian  Museum  and  Turrell's  Museum,  in  Boston, 
are  spoken  of  in  the  annals  of  the  day,  and  there  was  a  small 
collection  in  the  attic  of  the  State  House  in  Hartford. 


*"  Baltimore  has  a  handsome  museum  superintended  by  one  of  the 
Peale  family,  well  known  for  their  devotion  to  natural  science  and  to 
works  of  art.  It  is  not  their  fault  if  the  specimens  which  they  are  enabled 
to  display  in  the  latter  department  are  very  inferior  to  their  splendid  ex- 
hibitions in  the  former."— Mrs.  Trollope,  Domestic  Manners  of  the 
Americans.     London,  1831. 

t  Trans.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc,  ii,  p.  366. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  61 

The  Western  Museum,  in  Cincinnati,  was  founded  about  1815? 
by  Robert  Best,  M.  D.,  afterwards  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  who  seems 
to  have  been  a  capable  collector,  and  who  contributed  matter  to 
Gcnlman's  "  American  Natural  History."  In  iSiS  a  society  styled 
tie  Western  Museum  Society  was  organized  among  the  citizens, 
which,  though  scarcely  a  scientific  organization,  seems  to  have 
taken  a  somewhat  liberal  and  public-spirited  view  of  what  a  mu- 
seum should  be.  To  the  naturalist  of  to-day  there  is  something 
refreshing  in  such  simple  appeals  as  the  following : 

'•  In  collecting  the  fishes  and  reptiles  of  the  Ohio  the  managers 
will  need  all  the  aid  which  their  fellow-citizens  may  feel  disposed 
to  give  them.  Although  not  a  very  interesting  department  of 
zoology,  no  object  of  the  Society  offers  so  great  a  prospect  of 
novelty  as  that  which  embraces  these  animals. 

*••  The  obscure  and  neglected  race  of  insects  will  not  be  over- 
looked, antl  any  specimen  sufficiently  perfect  to  be  introduced 
into  a  cabinet  of  entomology  will  be  thankfully  received."* 

Major  John  Eatton  LeConte,  U.S.  A.  [b.  i7S4,d.  1S60],  was 
a  very  successful  student  of  botany  and  zoology.  He  published 
many  botanical  papers  and  contributions  to  descriptive  zoology, 
and  also  in  Paris,  in  conjunction  with  Boisduval,  the  first 
instalment  of  a  work,  of  which  he  was  really  sole  author,  upon  the 
Lepidoptera  of  North  America,  j 

The  elder  brother.  Dr.  Lewis  LeConte  [b.  1783.  d.  1S38J, 
was  equally  eminent  as  an  observer,  and  was,  for  forty  years,  one 
of  the  most  prominent  naturalists  in  the  South.  On  his  planta- 
tion in  Liberty  county,  Ga.,  he  established  a  botanical  garden 
and  a  chemical  laboratory.  His  zoological  manuscripts  were  de- 
stroyed in  the  burning  of  Columbia  just  at  the  close  of  the  civil 
war,  but  his  observations,  which  he  was  averse  to  publishing  in 
his  own  name,  were,  we  are  told,  embodied  in  the  writings  of  his 

*An  Address  to  the  people  of  the  Western  Country,  dated  Cincinnati, 
Sept.  15,  iSiS,  and  signed  by  Elijah  Slack,  James  Findlay,  William  Steele, 
Jesse  Embrees,  and  Daniel  Drake,  Managers. 

+  Histoire  Generale  et  Iconographie. 


62  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF   WASHINGTON. 

brother,  of  Stephen  Elliott,  of  the  Scotch  botanist  Gordon,*  of 
Dr.  William  Baldwin,  and  others. f  J 

Stephen  Elliott,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina  [b.  i7ii,d. 
1830],  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the  class  of  1791,  and,  while 
prominent  in  the  political  and  financial  circles  of  his  State,  found 
time  to  cultivate  science.  He  founded  in  1S13  the  Literary  and 
Philosophical  Society  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  its  first  presi- 
dent;  and  in  1S29  was  elected  Professor  of  Natural  History  and 
Botany  in  the  South  Carolina  Medical  College,  which  he  aided 
to  establish.  He  published  "  The  Botany  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia"  (Charleston,  1821-27),  having  been  assisted  in  its 
preparation  by  Dr.  James  McBride ;  and  had  an  extensive 
museum  of  his  own  gathering.  The  Elliott  Society  of  Natural 
History,  founded  in  1853,  or  before,  and  subsequently  con- 
tinued under  the  name  of  the  Elliott  Society  of  Science  and 
Art,  1859-75,  was  named  in  memory  of  this  public-spirited 
man. 

Jacob  Green  [b.  1790,  d.  1S41],  at  different  times  professor 
in  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  in  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
was  one  of  the  old  school  naturalists,  equally  at  home  in  all 
of  the  sciences.  His  paper  on  Trilobites  (1833)  was  our  first 
formal  contribution  to  invertebrate  paleontology  ;  his  "•Account  of 
some  new  species  of  Salamanders, "§  one  of  the  earliest  steps  in 
American  herpetology  ;  his  "  Remarks  on  the  Unios  of  the  United 
States,"  II  the  beginning  of  studies  subsequently  extensively  prose- 
cuted by  Lea  and  some  other  entomologists.  He  also  wrote  upon 
the  crystallization  of  snow,  and  was   the  author  of  "  Chemical 

*  Loudon's  Gardeners'  Magazine. 

t  A.  H.  Stephens  in  yoltnson's  Cyclopcsdia,  p.  1702. 

J  The  LeConte  family  deserves  a  phice  in  Galto's  "Hereditary  Ge- 
nius." Prof.  John  LeConte,  the  physicist,  and  Prof.  Joseph  LeConte, 
the  geologist,  were  sons  of  Dr.  Lewis  LeConte ;  while  Dr.  J.  L.  LeConte 
is  the  son  of  his  brother,  Major  LeConte. 

§  Contributions  of  the  Maclurian  Lyceum,  i,  Jan.,  1827,  p.  3. 

IJ  Ibid,  i,  ii,  41. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  63 

Philosophy,"    "Astronomical   Researches,"    and    a   work    upon 
Botany  of  the  United  States, 

The  earlier  volumes  of  Silliman's  Journal  were  filled  with  notes 
of  his  observations  in  all  departments  of  natural  history. 

Jose  Francisco  Correa  da  Serra,  secretary  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Lisbon,  was  resident  in  Philadelphia  in  1813,  in  the 
capacity  of  Portuguese  minister,  and  affiliated  with  our  men  of 
science  in  botanical  and  geological  interests.  In  1S14  he  lectured 
on  botany  in  the  place  of  B.  S.  Barton,  and  also  published  sev- 
eral botanical  papers,  as  well  as  one  upon  the  soil  of  Kentucky. 

Alire  Raffenau  Delile,  formerly  a  member  of  Napoleon's 
scientific  expedition  to  Egypt,  and  the  editor  of  the  *■'  Flora  of 
Egypt,"  was  in  New  York  about  this  time,  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  his  medical  education,  and  seems  to  have  clone  much 
to  stimulate  interest  in  botanical  studies. 

To  this  as  well  as  to  the  subsequent  period  belonged  Dr. 
Gerard  Troost  [b.  in  Holland,  Mar.  15,  1776,  ed.  at  Leyden,  d. 
at  Nashville.  Aug.  17,  1S50],  a  naturalist  of  Dutch  birth  and  edu- 
cation, who  came  to  Philadelphia  in  iSio,  and  was  a  founder 
and  the  first  President  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy.  In  1826 
he  founded  a  Geological  Survey  of  the  environs  of  Philadelphia  ; 
in  1837  became  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Mineralogy  and  Ge- 
ology in  the  University  of  Nashville.  As  State  geologist  of 
Tennessee  from  1831-49  he  published  some  of  the  earliest  State 
geological  repoils. 

Another  expedition,  well  worthy  of  mention,  though  not  ex- 
ceedingly fruitful,  was  one  made  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Maclure,  President  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  to  the  Sea 
Islands  of  Georgia  and  the  Florida  peninsula.  The  party  con- 
sisted of  Maclure,  Say,  Ord,  and  Titian  R.  Peale,  and  its  re- 
sults, though  not  embodied  in  a  formal  report,  may  be  detected 
in  the  scientific  literature  of  the  succeeding  years.  This  was 
early  in    i8i8,  while   Florida  was   still   under  the  dominion  of 


(J 4  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Spain,  and   the  expedition  was  finall}^  abandoned,  owing  to  the 
hostile  attitude  of  the  Seminole  Indians  in  that  territory. 

XIV. 

The  third  decade  of  the  century,  beginning  with  1820,  was 
marked  by  a  continuation  of  the  activities  of  that  which  pre- 
ceedcd.  In  1S26  there  were  in  existence  twenty-five  scientific 
societies,  more  than  half  of  them  especially  devoted  to  natural 
history,*  and  nearly  all  of  very  recent  origin. 

The  leading  spirits  were  Mitchill,  Maclure,  Webster,  Torrey, 
Silliman,  Gibbs,  LeConte,  Dewey,  Hare,  Hitchcock,  Olmstead, 
Eliot,  and  T.  R.  Beck. 

Nathaniel  Bowditch  [b.  1773,  d.  1838],  who,  in  1829,  began 
the  publication  of  his  magnificent  translation  of  the  "Mecanique 
Celeste"  of  La  Place,  with  those  scholarly  commentations  which 
secured  him  so  lofty  a  place  among  the  mathematicians  of  the 
woi'ld. 

vStill  more  important  was  the  lesson  of  his  noble  devotion  of 
his  life  and  fortune  to  science.  The  greater  part  of  his  monu- 
mental work  was  completed,  we  are  told,  in  181 7,  but  he  found 
that  to  print  it  would  cost  $12,000,  a  sum  far  beyond  his  means. 
A  few  years  later,  however,  he  began  its  publication  from  his 
own  limited  means,  and  the  work  was  continued,  after  his  death, 
by  his  wife.  The  dedication  is  to  his  wife,  and  tells  us  that 
'■'  without  her  approbation  the  work  would  not  have  been  under- 
taken." 

Another  person  was  W.  C.  Redfield  [b.  1789,  d.  1857],  who, 
in  1S27,  promulgated  the  essential  portions  ef  the  theory  of 
storms,  which  is  now  pretty  generally  accepted,  and  which  was 
subsequently  extended  by  Sir  William  Reid  in  Barbadoes  and 
Bermuda,  and  greatly  modified  by  Professor  Loomis,  of  New 
Haven.      An  eloquent  eulogy  of  Redfield   was  pronounced    by , 


Amer.  Journ.  Sci.,  x,  p.  368.    (Cut). 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  65 

Professor  Denison  Olmsted  at  the  Montreal  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  in  1857.* 

Among  the  rising  young  investigators  appear  the  names  of 
Joseph  Henry,  A.  D.  Bache,  C.  U.  Shepard,  the  younger  Silli- 
man,  Henry  Seybert,  William  Mather,  Ebenezer  Emmons, 
Percival,  the  poet  geologist,  DeKay,  Godman,  and  Harlan. 

The  organization,  in  1824,  of  the  Rensselaer  School,  after- 
wards the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  at  Troy,  marked  the 
beffinninsf  of  a  new  era  in  scientific  and  technological  education. 
Its  principal  professoi's  were  Amos  Eaton  and  Dr.  Lewis  C. 
Beck. 

In  1820  an  expedition  was  sent  by  the  General  Government 
to  explore  the  Northwestern  Territory,  especially  the  region 
around  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
was  under  charge  of  Gen.  Lewis  Cass,  at  that  time  Governor  of 
Michigan  Territory.  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  accompanied  this 
expedition  as  mineralogist,  and  Capt.  D.  B.  Douglass,  U.  S.  A., 
as  topographical  engineer  ;  and  both  of  these  sent  home  consider- 
able collections  reported  upon  by  the  specialists  of  the  day.  Cass 
himself,  though  better  known  as  a  statesman,  was  a  man  of  scien- 
tific tastes  and  ability,  and  his  ''  Inquiries  respecting  the  History, 
Traditions,  Languages,  &c.,  of  the  Indians,"  published  at  Detroit 
in  1833,  is  a  work  of  high  merit. 

Long's  expeditions  into  the  far  West  were  also  in  progress  at 
this  time,  under  the  direction  of  the  General  Government ;  the 
first,  or  Rocky  Mountain,  exploration  in  1819-20;  the  second  to 
the  sources  of  the  St.  Peter's,  in  1823.  In  the  first  expedition 
Major  Long  was  accompanied  by  Edwin  James  as  botanist  and 
geologist,  who  also  wrote  the  Narrative  published  in  1823.  The 
second  expedition  was  accompanied  by  William  H.  Keating, 
Professor  of  Mineralogy  and  Chemistry  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  was  its   geologist  and  historiographer.      Say 

*  See  History  of  N.  Y.  Academy  of  Science,  p.  76. 


66  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOlSr. 

was  the  zoologist  of  both  explorations.  De  Schweinitz  worked 
up  the  botanical  material  which  he  collected. 

The  English  expeditions  sent  to  Arctic  North  America  under 
the  command  of  Sir  John  Franklin  were  also  out  during  these 
yeai's,  the  first  from  1819  to  1S22,  the  second  from  1825  to  1S27, 
and  yielded  many  important  results.  To  naturalists  they  have 
an  especial  interest,  because  Sir  John  Richardson,  who  accom- 
panied Franklin  as  surgeon  and  naturalist,  Avas  one  of  the  most 
eminent  and  successful  zoological  explorers  of  the  century,  and 
had  more  to  do  with  the  development  of  our  natural  history  than 
any  other  man  not  an  American. 

His  natural  history  papers  in  Franklin's  reports,  1823  and 
1828,  his  ''  Fauna  Boreali  Americana,"  published  between  1827 
and  1836,  his  report  upon  the  ''Zoology  of  North  America,"  are 
all  among  the  classics  of  our  zoological  literature.* 

The  third  decade  was  somewhat  mai^ked  by  a  renewal  of  in- 
terest in  zoology  and  botany,  which  had,  during  the  few  preced- 
ing years,  been  rather  overshadowed  by  geology  and  mineralogy. 

Rafinesque  had  retired  to  Kentucky,  where,  from  his  profes- 
sor's chair  in  Transylvania  University,  he  was  issuing  his  An- 
nals  of  Nature  and  his  Western  Minerva ;  and  his  brilliancy 
being  dimmed  by  distance,  other  students  of  animals  had  a 
chance  to  work. 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  the  workers  was  Thomas  Say 
[b.  1787'  ^-  ^834],  who  was  a  pioneer  in  several  departments  of 
systematic  zoology.  A  kinsman  of  the  Bartrams,  he  spent  many 
of  his  boyhood  days  in  the  old  botanic  garden  at  Kingsessing, 
in  company  with  the  old  naturalist,  William  Bartram,  and  the 
ornithologist  Wilson.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  having  been 
unsuccessful  as  an  apothecary,  he  gave  his  whole  time  to 
zoology.       He    slept    in    the    hall    of  the   Academy   of  Natural 

*  See  Rev.  John  McIlwraith's  Life  of  Sir  John  Richardson,  C.  B., 
LL.  D.     London,  186S.      Also  Obituary  in  London  Reader,  1865,  p.  707. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  67 

Sciences,  where  he  made  his  bed  beneath  die  skeleton  of  a 
horse,  and  fed  himself  upon  bread  and  milk.  He  was  wont,  we 
are  told,  to  regard  eating  as  an  inconvenient  interruption  to  sci- 
entific pursuits,  and  to  wish  that  he  had  been  created  with  a  hole 
in  his  side,  through  which  his  food  might  be  introduced  into  his 
system.  He  built  up  the  museum  of  the  society,  and  made 
extensive  contributions  to  biological  science. 

His  article  on  conchology,  published  in  1816  in  the  American 
edition  of  Nicholson's  Cyclopaedia,  was  the  foundation  of  that 
science  in  this  country,  and  was  republished  in  Philadelphia  in 
1S19,  with  the  title,  "A  Description  of  the  Land  and  Fresh- 
water Shells  of  the  United  States." 

"  This  work,"  remarked  a  contemporary,  "  ought  to  be  in  the 
possession  of  every  American  lover  of  Natural  Science.  It  has 
been  quoted  by  M.  Lamarck  and  adopted  by  J/,  de  Fei-riisac^ 
and  has  thus  taken  its  place  in  the  scientific  world." 

Such  was  fame  in  America  in  the  year  of  grace  1820. 

In  1817  he  did  a  similar  service  for  systematic  entomology, 
and  his  contributions  to  herpetology,  to  the  study  of  marine 
invertebrates,  especially  the  Crustacea,  and  to  that  of  invertebrate 
paleontology,  were  equally  fundamental. 

As  naturalist  of  Long's  expeditions  he  described  many  Western 
vertebrates,  and  also  collected  Indian  vocabularies,  and  it  is 
said  that  the  narrative  of  the  expeditions  was  chiefly  based  upon 
the  contents  of  his  note-books. 

In  1S25  he  removed  from  Philadelphia  to  New  Harmony,  In- 
diana, and,  in  company  with  Maclure  and  Troost,  became  a 
member  of  the  community  founded  there  by  Owen  of  Lanark. 
Comparatively  little  was  thenceforth  done  by  him,  and  we  can 
only  regret  the  untimely  close  of  so  brilliant  a  career.* 


*  See  Memoirs  by  B.  H.  Coates,  read  before  American  Philosophical 
Society.  Dec.  16,  1834.  Memoirs  by  George  Ord  ;  also  a  tribute  to  his 
memory  in  Ball's  presidential  address  before  the  Society  in  January,  18SS. 


68  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY   OF    WASHESTGTON. 

Charles  Alexander  Lesueur  [b.  at  Havre-de-Grace,  France, 
Jan.  I,  1778,  d.  at  Havre,  Dec.  12,  1846],  the  friend  and  associate 
of  Macliu'e  and  Say,  accompanied  them  to  New  Harmony.  The 
i-omantic  life  of  this  talented  Frenchman  has  been  well  narrated 
in  his  biography  by  Ord.*  He  was  one  of  the  staff'  of  the  Bau- 
din  expedition  to  Australia  in  1800,  and  to  his  efforts,  seconding 
those  of  Peron,  his  associate,  were  due  most  of  the  scientific 
results  wdiich  France  obtained  from  that  ill-fated  enterprise. 
Lesueur,  though  a  naturalist  of  considerable  ability,  was,  above 
all,  an  artist.  The  magnificent  plates  in  the  reports  prepared  by 
Peron  t  and  Freycinet  J  were  all  his.  He  was  called  "the 
Raffaelle  of  zoological  painters,"  and  his  removal  to  America  in 
1S15  was  greatly  deplored  by  European  naturalists.  He  travelled 
for  three  years  with  Maclure,  exploring  the  West  Indies  and  the 
eastern  United  vStates,  making  a  magnificent  collection  of  draw- 
ings of  fishes  and  invertebrates,  and  in  1818  settled  in  Philadel- 
phia, where,  supporting  himself  by  giving  drawing  lessons,  he 
became  an  active  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and 
published  manv  papers  in  its  Journal. 

No  one  ever  drew  such  exquisite  figures  of  fishes  as  Lesueur, 
and  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  he  never  completed  his  pro- 
jected work  upon  North  American  Ichthyology.  He  issued  a 
prospectus,  with  specimen  plates,  of  a  "  Alemoir  on  the  Medusas," 
and  his  name  will  alwavs  be  associated  with  the  earliest  American 
work  upon  marine  invertebrates  and  invertebrate  paleontology, 
because  it  was  to  him  that  Say  undoubtedly  owed  his  first  ac- 
quaintance with  these  departments  of  zoology.  In  1820,  while 
at  Albany  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  and  Canadian 
Boundary  Commission,  he  gave  lessons  to  Eaton  and  identified 
his  fossils,  thus  laying  the  foundations  for  the  future  work  of 
the  rising  school  of  New   York  paleontologists. 

*  Ord  :  Memoir  of  Charles  Alexander  Lesueur.    Atn.  your.  Set'.,  2d  ser., 
viii,  p.  1S9. 
tVoyage  des  Decouvertes  aux  Terres  Australes. 
{Voyage  aux  Terres  Australes. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  69 

Twelve  years  of  his  life  were  wasted  at  New  Harmony,  and 
in  1837,  ^fter  the  death  of  Say,  he  returned  to  France,  aarrying 
his  collections  and  drawings  to  the  Natural  History  Museum  at 
Havre,  of  which  he  became  Curator.  His  period  of  productive- 
ness was  limited  to  the  six  years  of  his  residence  in  Philadelphia. 
But  for  their  sacrifice  to  the  socialistic  ideas  of  Owen,  Say  and 
Lesueur  would  doubtless  be  counted  among  the  most  distin- 
ETuished  of  our  natui-alists,  and  the  course  of  American  zoolosr- 
ical  research  would  have  been  entirely  different. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  H.  Barnes  [b.  17S5,  d.  1S3S],  of  New  York, 
a  graduate  of  Union  College  and  a  Baptist  preacher,  was  one  of 
Say's  earliest  disciples,  and  from  1823  he  published  papers  on 
conchology,  beginning  with  an  elaborate  study  of  the  fresh-vs^ater 
mussels.  This  group  was  taken  up  in  1827  by  Dr.  Isaac  Lea, 
and  discussed  from  year  to  year  in  his  well -known  series  of 
beautifully  illustrated  monographs. 

Mr.  Barnes  published,  also,  papers  on  the  "  Classification  of  the 
Chitonidfe,"'  on  ''  Batrachian  Animals  and  Doubtful  Reptiles," 
and  on  '•  Magnetic  Polarity." 

The  officers  of  the  Navy  had  already  begun  their  contributions 
to  natural  histoiy  which  have  been  so  serviceable  in  later  years. 
One  of  the  earliest  contributions  by  Barnes  was  a  description  of 
five  species  of  Chiton  collected  in  Peru  by  Capt.  C.  S.  Ridgely, 
of  the  "  Constellation." 

In  this  period  (1828-]-)  was  begun  the  publication  of  Audu- 
bon's folio  volumes  of  illustrations  of  North  American  birds — 
a  most  extraordinarv  work,  of  which  Cuvier  enthusiasticallv  ex- 
claimed:  "  C'est  le  plus  magnifique  monument  que  I'Art  ait  en- 
core elev6  a  la  Nature." 

Wilson  was  the  Wordsworth  of  American  naturalists,  but  Au- 
dubon was  their  Rubens.  With  pen  as  well  as  with  brush  he 
delineated  those  wonderful  pictures  which  have  been  the  delight 
of  the  world. 


70  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Born  in  17S1,  in  Louisiana,  while  it  was  still  a  Spanish  colony, 
he  became,  at  an  early  age,  a  pupil  of  the  famous  French  painter 
David,  under  whose  tuition  he  acquired  the  rudiments 
of  his  art.  Returning  to  America,  he  began  the  career  of  an  ex- 
plorer, and  for  over  half  a  century  his  life  was  spent,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  forests  or  in  the  preparation  of  his  ornitholog- 
ical publications — occasionally  visiting  England  and  France, 
where  he  had  many  admirers.  His  devotion  to  his  work  was  as 
complete  and  self-sacrificing  as  that  of  Bowditch,  the  story  of 
whose  translation  of  LaPlace  has  already  been  referred  to.  It 
was  a  great  surprise  to  his  friends  (though  his  own  fervor  did 
not  permit  him  to  doubt)  that  the  sale  of  his  folio  volumes  was 
sufficient  to  pay  his  printer's  bills.  Audubon  was  not  a  very 
accomplished  systematic  zoologist,  and  when  serious  discrimi- 
nations of  species  was  necessary,  sometimes  formed  alliances 
with  others.  Thus  Bachman  became,  his  collaborator  in  the 
study  of  mammals,  and  the  youthful  Baird  was  invited  by  him, 
shortly  before  his  death  in  185 1,  to  join  him  in  an  ornithological 
partnership.  His  relations  with  Alexander  Wilson  form  the 
subject  of  a  most  entertaining  narration  in  the  "■  Ornithological 
Biography."* 

Thomas  Nuttall  [b.  in  Yorkshire,  17S6,  d.  at  St.  Helens,  Lanca- 
shire, Sept.  10,  1859]  was  so  thoroughly  identified  with  Ameri- 
can natural  history  and  so  entirely  unconnected  with  that  of 
England  that,  although  he  I'eturned  to  his  native  land  to  die,  we 
may  fairly  claim  him  as  one  of  our  own  worthies.  He  crossed 
the  ocean  when  about  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  travelled  in 
every  part  of  the  United  States  and  in  the  ^itndwich  Islands 
studying  birds  and  plants.  From  1822  to  182S  he  was  curator 
and  lecturer  at  the  Harvard  Botanical  Garden.  Besides  numer- 
ous papers  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy, 
he  published  in  Philadelphia,    in   1818,  his  •■'  Genera    of  North 

*i.P-  439- 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  71 

American  Plants,"  in  his  "  Geological  Sketch  of  the  Valley  of. 
the  Mississippi,"  in  1S21  ;  his  "  Journal  of  Travels  into  the  Ar- 
kansas Territory,"  a  work  abounding  in  natural  history  obser- 
vations ;  in  1S32-4  his  "  Manual  of  the  Ornithology  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  ;"  and  in  iS43-9his  "  North  American  Sylva," 
a  continuation  of  the  Sylva  of  Michaux.  About  1S50  he  retired 
to  a  rural  estate  in  England,  where  he  died  in  1S59. 

Nuttall  was  not  great  as  a  botanist,  as  a  geologist,  or  a  zoolo- 
gist, but  was  a  man  useful,  beloved,  and  respected. 

Richard  Harlan,  M.  D.  [b.  1796,  d.  1S43].  who,  with  Mitchill, 
Say,  Rafinesque,  and  Gosse,  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  our  herpetolo- 
gists,  and  who  was  one  of  Audubon's  chief  friends  and  supporters, 
published  in  1825  the  first  instalment  of  his  "  Fauna  Americana," 
which  treated  exclusively  of  mammals.  This  was  followed,  in 
1826,  by  a  rival  work  on  mammals,  by  Godman.  Harlan's  book 
was  a  compilation,  based  largely  on  translations  of  portions  of 
Desmarest's  "  Mammalogie,"  printed  three  years  before  in  Paris. 
It  was  so  severely  criticised  that  the  second  portion,  which  was 
to  have  been  devoted  to  reptiles,  was  never  published,  and  its 
author  turned  his  attention  to  medical  literature.  Godman's 
"  North  American  Natural  History,  or  Mastology,"  contained 
much  original  matter,  and,  though  his  contemporaries  received  it 
with  faint  praise,  it  is  the  only  separate,  compact,  illustrated 
treatise  on  the  mammals  of  North  America  ever  published,  and  is 
useful  to  the  present  day.  John  D.  Godman  [b.  in  Annapolis, 
Md.,  Dec.  20,  1794,  d.  in  Germantown,  Pa.,  Apl.  17,  1S30]  died 
an  untimely  death,  but  gave  promise  of  a  brilliant  and  useful 
career  as  a  teacher  and  investigator.  His  •'  Rambles  of  a  Nat- 
uralist "  is  one  of  the  best  series  of  essays  of  the  Selborne  type 
ever  produced  by  an  American,  and  his  "American  Natural  His- 
tory "  is  a  work  of  much  importance,  even  to  the  present  day, 
embodying  as  it  does  a  large  number  of  original  observations. 
Michaux's  Sylva  was,  as  we  have  seen,  continued  by  Nuttall : 


72  BIOLOaiCAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASIIINGTOlSr. 

Wilsons  American  Ornithology  was,  in  like  manner,  continued 
by  Charles  Lucien  Bonaparte  [b.  in  Paris,  May  24,  1S03,  d. 
in  Paris,  July  30,  1857],  Pii^ce  of  Canino,  and  nephew  of 
Napoleon  the  First,  a  master  in  systematic  zoology.  Bonaparte 
came  to  the  United  States  about  the  year  1822,  and  returned  to 
Italy  in  1S28.  His  contributions  to  zoological  science  were  of 
great  importance.  In  1827,  he  published  in  Pisa  his  "  Specchio 
comparativo  delle  ornithologie  di  Roma  e  di  Filadelfia,"  and 
from  1825  to  1S33  his  "  American  Ornithology,"  containing  de- 
scriptions of  over  one  hundred  species  of  birds  discovered  by 
himself. 

The  publication  of  Torrey's  "  Flora  of  the  Middle  and  North- 
ern Sections  of  the  United  States  "  was  an  event  of  importance, 
as  was  also  Dr.  W.  J.  Hooker's  essay  on  the  Botany  of 
America,*  the  first  general  treatise  upon  the  American  flora  or 
fauna,  by  a  master  abroad,  is  pretty  sure  evidence  that  the  work 
of  home  naturalists  was  beginning  to  tell. 

So,  also,  in  a  different  way,  was  the  appearance  in  1829  of 
the  first  edition  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's  "•  Familiar  Lectures  on  Bot- 
any," a  work  which  did  much  toward  swelling  the  army  of 
amateur  botanists. 

Important  work  was  also  in  progress  in  geology.  Eaton  and 
Beck  were  carrying  on  the  Van  Rensselaer  survey  of  New  York, 
and  in  18 18  the  former  published  his  "  Index  to  the  Geology  of 
the  Northern  States."  Prof.  Denison  Olmstead,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  w^as  completing  the  official  survey  of 
that  State — the  first  ever  authorized  by  the  government  of  a  State. 

Prof.  Lai-dner  Vanuxem,  of  North  Carolina,  in  1828,  made  an 
important  advance',  being  the  first  to  avail  himself  successfully  of 
paleontology  for  the  determination  of  the  age  of  several  of  our 
formations,  and  their  approximate  synchronism  with  European 
beds.f 


*  Brewster's  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  iii,  p.  103. 
t  Gill. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  73 

Horace  H.  Hayden,  of  Baltimore  [b.  1769,  d.  1844],  pub- 
lished in  1S30  '-Geological  Essays,  or  an  inquiry  into  some  of 
the  creoloo-ical  phenomena  to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  America 
and  elsewhere,"*  which  was  well  received  as  a  contribution  to 
the  history  of  alluvial  formations  of  the  globe,  and  was  apparentl}- 
the  first  general  work  on  geology  published  in  this  country. 
Silliman  said  that  it  should  be  a  text-book  in  all  the  schools. 
He  published,  also,  a  "  New  Method  of  preserving  x\na- 
tomical  Preparations, "f  "A  Singular  ore  of  Cobalt  and  Manga- 
nese,"J  on  "The  Bare  Hills  near  Baltimore, "||  and  on  "Silk 
Cocoons," §  and  was  a  founder  and  vice-president  of  the  Maryland 
Academy  of  Sciences. 

XV. 

In  the  fourth  decade  (1830-40)  the  leading  spirits  were  Silli- 
man, Hare,  Olmstead,  Hitchcock,  Torrey,  DeKay,  Henry,  and 
Morse. 

Among  the  men  just  coming  into  prominence  were  J.  W. 
Draper,  then  professor  in  Hampden  Sidney  College,  in  Virginia, 
the  brothers  W.  B.  and  H.  D.  Rogers,  A.  A.  Gould  the 
conchologist,  and  James  D.  Dana. 

Henrv  was  just  making  his  first  discoveries  in  physics,  having, 
in  1S29,  pointed  out  the  possibility  of  electro-magnetism  as  a 
motive  power,  and  in  183 1  set  up  his  first  telegraphic  circuit  at 
Albany.  In  1S32  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  discontinued 
in  1818,  was  i^eorganized  under  the  direction  of  its  first  chief, 
Hassler,  now  advanced  in  years. ^ 

The  natural  history  survey  of  New  York  was  organized  by  the 

*  Rev.  Sill.  Journ.,  iii,  47.     Blackwood's  Mag.,  xvi,  420;  xvii,  56. 

t  American  Medical  Record,  1822. 

J  Ibid.  1832.       II  Silliman's  Journal,  1822. 

§  Journ.  Amer.  Silk  Company,  1839. 

H  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  ii,  163. 


74  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHESTOTON", 

State   in    1836,   and  James    Hall    and    Ebenezer  Emmons  were 
placed  upon  its  staff'. 

G.  W.  Featherstonhaugh  [b.  1780,  d.  1866]  was  conducting 
(1834-5)  a  Government  expedition,  exploring  the  geology  of 
the  elevated  country  between  the  Missouri  and  Red  rivers  and 
the  Wisconsin  territories.  He  bore  the  name  of"  United  States 
Geologist,"  and  projected  a  geological  map  of  the  United  States, 
which  now,  half  a  century  later,  is  being  completed  by  the  U.  S. 
geologist  of  to-day.  Besides  his  report  upon  the  survey  just 
referred  to,  Featherstonhaugh  printed  a  "  Geological  Reconnois- 
sance,  in  1S35,  from  Green  Bay  to  Coteau  des  Prairies,"  and  a 
"  Canoe  Voyage  up  the  Minnay  Sotor,"  in  London,  1847. 

In  183S  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition  under  Wilkes 
was  sent  upon  its  voyage  of  circumnavigation,  having  upon  its  staff 
a  young  naturalist  named  Dana,  whose  studies  upon  the  crusta- 
ceans and  radiates  of  the  expedition  have  made  him  a  world-wide 
reputation,  entirely  independent  of  that  which  he  has  since  gained 
as  a  mineralogist  and  geologist.  It  is  customary  to  refer  to  the 
Wilkes  expedition  as  having  been  sent  out  entirely  in  the  inter- 
ests of  science.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  organized  primarily 
in  the  interests  of  the  whale  fishery  of  the  United  States. 

Dana,  before  his  departure  with  Wilkes,  had  published,  in 
1837,  the  first  edition  of  liis  "  System  of  Mineralogy,"  a  work 
which,  in  its  subsequent  editions,  has  become  the  standard  man- 
ual of  the  world. 

The  publication  of  Lyell's  "  Principles  of  Geology  "  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  decade  (1830)  had  given  new  direction  to  the 
thoughts  of  our  geologists,  and  they  were  all  hard  at  work  under 
its  inspiration. 

With  1839  ended  the  second  of  our  thirty -year  periods — the 
one  which  I  have  chosen  to  speak  of  as  the  period  of  Silliman — 
not  so  much  because  of  the  investigations  of  the  New  Haven 
professor,  as  on  account  of  his  influence  in  the  promotion  of 
American  Science  and  scientific  institutions. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  75 

This  was  a  time  of  hard  work,  and  we  must  not  withhold  our 
pi'aisc  trom  the  noble  little  company  of  pioneers  who  were,  in  those 
years,  building  the  foundations  upon  which  the  scientific  institu- 
tions of  to-day  are  resting. 

The  difficulties  and  drawbacks  of  scientific  research  at  this  time 
have  been  well  described  by  one  who  knew  them  :* 

"  The  professedly  scientific  institutions  of  our  c-ountry  issued, 
from  time  to  time,  though  at  considerable  intervals,  volumes  of 
transactions  and  proceedings  unquestionably  not  without  their 
influence  in  keeping  alive  the  scarcely  kindled  flame,  but  whose 
contents,  as  might  be  expected,  were,  for  the  most  part,  rather  in 
conformity  with  the  then  existing  standard  of  excellence  than  in 
advance  of  it.  Natural  history  in  the  United  States  was  the  mere 
sorting  of  genera  and  species.  The  highest  requisite  for  distinc- 
tion in  any  physical  science  was  the  knowledge  of  what  European 
students  had  attained.  Astvononi}'  was,  in  general,  confined  to 
observations,  and  those  not  of  the  most  refined  character,  and  its 
merely  descriptive  departments  were  estimated  far  more  highlv 
than  the  study , of  its  laws.  Astronomical  computation  had  hardlj' 
risen  above  the  ciphering  out  of  eclipses  and  occultations.  Indeed, 
I  risk  nothing  in  saying  that  astronomy  had  lost  ground  in  Amer- 
ica since  those  colonial  times,  w^hen  men  like  Rittenhouse  kept 
up  a  constant  scientific  communication  with  students  of  astronomy 
beyond  the  seas.  And  I  believe  I  may  farther  say,  that  a  single 
instance  of  a  man's  devoting  himself  to  science  as  the  only  earthlv 
guide,  aim,  and  object  of  his  life,  while  unassured  of  a  professor's 
chair  or  some  analogous  appointment  upon  which  he  might  de- 
pend for  subsistence,  was  utterly  unknown. 

'*  Such  was  the  state  of  science  in  general.  In  astronomy  the 
expensive  appliances  requisite  for  all  observations  of  the  higher 
class  were  wanting,  and  there  was  not  in  the  United  States,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Hudson  Obsei'vatory,  to  which  Professor 
Loomis  devoted  such  hours  as  he  could  spare  from  his  duties  in 
the  college,  a  single  establishment  provided  with  the  means  of  mak- 
ing an  absolute  determination  of  the  place  of  any  celestial  body,  or 
even  relative  determinations  at  all  commensurate  in  accuracy  with 
the  demands  of  the  times.  The  only  instrument  that  could  be 
thought  of  for  the  purpose  was  the  Yale  College  telescope,  which, 
although  provided  with  a  micrometer,  was  destitute  of  the  means 
of  identifying  comparison-stars.  A  better  idea  of  American  as- 
tronomy a  dozen  years  ago  can  hardly  be  obtained  than  by  quot- 

*  Gould,  B.  A.  Address    in    commemoration  of  Sears  Cook  Walker. 
<-Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Ad.  Sci'.,  viii,  25 


76  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

ing  from  an  article  published  at  that  time  by  the  eminent  geometer 
who  now  retires  from  the  position  of  President  of  this  Association. 
He  will  forgive  me  the  liberty  for  the  sake  of  the  illustration. 
'  The  impossibility,'  said  he,  '  of  great  national  progress  in  as- 
tronomy, while  the  materials  are,  for  the  most  part,  imported,  can 
hardly  need  to  be  impressed  upon  the  patrons  of  science  in  this 
country.  *  *  *  And  next  to  the  support  of  observers  is  the 
establishment  of  observatories.  Something  has  been  done  for  this 
purpose  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  is  earnestly  to  be 
hoped  that  the  intimations  which  we  have  heard  regarding  the  in- 
tentions of  Government  may  prove  to  be  well  founded  ;  that  we 
shall  soon  have  a  permanent  national  observatory  equal  in  its  ap- 
pointments to  the  best  furnished  ones  of  Europe  ;  and  that  Ameri- 
can ships  will  ere  long  calculate  their  longitudes  and  latitudes  from 
an  American  nautical  almanac.  That  there  is  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  a  sufficient  capacity  for  celestial  observations  is  amply 
attested  by  the  success  which  has  attended  the  efforts,  necessarily 
humble   which  have  hitherto  been  made.'"* 

XVI. 

Just  before  the  middle  of  the  century  a  wave,  or  to  speak  more 
accurately,  a  series  of  weaves  of  intellectual  activity  began  to  pass 
over  Europe  and  America.  There  was  a  renaissance,  quite  as 
important  as  that  which  occurred  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Draper  and  other  historians  have  pointed  out  the 
causes  of  this  movement,  prominent  among  which  were  the  in- 
troduction of  steam  and  electricity,  annihilating  space  and 
relieving  mankind  from  a  great  burden  of  mechanical  drudgery. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  the  "  age  of  science,"  and  political  as  well 
as  social  and  industrial  changes  followed  in  rapid  succession. 

In  Europe  the  great  work  began  a  little  earlier.  Professor 
Huxley,  in  his  address  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1SS5,  took  for  a 
fixed  point  his  own  birthday  in  1S35,  which  ^as  four  months 
before  the  completion  of  the  railway  between  Stockton  and 
Darlington — "  the  ancestral  representative  of  the  vast  reticulated 
fetching  and  carrying  organism  which  now  extends  its  meshes 
over  the  civilized  world."     Since  then,  he  remarked,  "  the  greater 

*  Peirce,  Benjamin,  Cambridge  Miscellanj-,  1842,  p.  25. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  77 

part  of  the  vast  body  of  knowledge  which  constitutes  the  modern 
sciences  of  physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  geology  has  been 
acquired,  and  the  widest  generalizations  therefrom  have  been 
deduced,  and,  furthermore,  the  majority  of  those  applications  of 
scientific  knowledge  to  practical  ends  which  have  brought  about 
the  most  striking  differences  between  our  present  civilization  and 
that  of  antiquity  have  been  made  within  that  period  of  time." 

It  is  within  the  past  half  century,  he  continued,  that  the  most 
brilliant  additions  have  been  made  to  fact  and  theory  and  service- 
able hypothesis  in  the  i-egion  of  pure  science,  for  within  this  time 
falls  the  establishment  on  a  safe  basis  of  the  greatest  of  all  the 
generalizations  of  science,  the  doctrines  of  the  Conservation  of 
Energy  and  of  Evolution.  Within  this  time  the  larger  moiety  of 
our  knowledge  of  light,  heat,  electricity,  and  magnetism  has  been 
acquired.  Our  present  chemistry  has  been,  in  great  part,  created, 
while  the  whole  science  has  been  remodelled  from  foundation  to 
roof. 

''  It  may  be  natural,"  continued  Professor  Huxley,  "■  that 
progress  should  appear  most  striking  to  me  among  those  sciences 
to  which  my  own  attention  has  been  directed,  but  I  do  not  think 
this  will  wholly  account  for  the  apparent  advance  '  by  leaps  and 
bounds'  of  the  biological  sciences  within  my  recollection.  The 
cell  theory  was  the  latest  novelty  when  I  began  to  work  ^vith  the 
microscope,  and  I  have  watched  the  building  of  the  whole  vast 
fabric  of  histology.  I  can  say  almost  as  much  of  embryology, 
since  Von  Baer's  great  work  was  published  in  1S2S.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  morphology  of  the  lower  plants  and  animals 
and  a  great  deal  of  that  of  the  higher  forms  has  very  largely  been 
obtained  in  my  time  ;  while  physiology  has  been  put  upon  a  to- 
tally new  foundation,  and,  as  it  were,  reconstructed,  by  the  thor- 
ough application  of  the  experimental  method  to  the  study  of  the 
phenomena  of  life,  and  bv  the  accurate  determination  of  the 
purely  physical  and  chemical  components  of  these  phenomena. 


78  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  exact  nature  of  the  processes  of  sexual  and  non-sexual  repro- 
duction has  been  brought  to  light.  Our  knowledge  of  geograph- 
ical and  geological  distribution  and  of  the  extinct  forms  of  life 
has  been  increased  a  hundredfold.  As  for  the  progress  of  geo- 
logical science,  what  more  need  be  said  than  that  the  first  volume 
of  Lyell's  '  Principles  '  bears  the  date  of  1830." 

It  cannot  be  expected  that,  within  the  limits  of  this  address,  I 
should  attempt  to  show  what  America  has  done  in  the  last  half 
century.  I  am  striving  to  trace  the  beginnings,  not  the  results,  of 
scientific  work  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  I  will  simply  quote 
what  was  said  by  the  London  Times  in  1S76  : 

''  In  the  natural  distribution  of  subjects,  the  history  of  enter- 
prise, discovery,  and  conquest,  and  the  growth  of  republics,  fell 
to  America,  and  she  has  dealt  nobly  with  them.  In  the  wider 
and  more  multifarious  provinces  of  art  and  science  she  runs  neck 
and  neck  with  the  mother  country  and  is  never  left  behind." 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  exactly  the  year  when  the  first 
waves  of  this  renaissance  reached  the  shores  of  America.  Silli- 
man,  in  his  Priestley  address,  placed  the  date  at  1S45.  I  should 
rather  say  1840,  when  the  first  national  scientific  association  was 
organized,  although  signs  of  awakening  maybe  detected  even  be- 
fore the  beginning  of  the  pi'evious  decade.  We  must,  however, 
caiefully  avoid  giving  too  much  prominence  to  the  influence  of 
individuals.  I  have  spoken  of  this  period  of  thirty  years  as  the 
period  of  Agassiz.  Agassiz,  however,  did  not  bring  the  waves 
with  him  ;  he  came  in  on  the  crest  of  one  of  them  ;  he  was  not 
the  founder  of  modern  American  natural  history,  but,  as  a  public 
teacher  and  organizer  of  institutions,  he  exerted^  a  most  important 
Influence  upon  its  growth. 

One  of  the  leading  events  of  the  decade  was  the  reorganization 
of  the  Coast  Survey  in  1S44,  i^u^der  the  sage  administration  of 
Alexander  Dallas  Bache,*  speedily  followed  by  the  beginning  of 

*Proc.  Ainer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  ii,  164. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  79 

investigations  upon  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  of  the  researches  of 
Count  Pourtales  into  its  fauna,  which  laid  the  foundations  of  mod- 
ern deep-sea  exploration.  Others  were  the  founding  of  the 
Lawrence  Scientific  School,  the  Cincinnati  Observatory,  the 
Yale  Analytical  Laboratory,  the  celebration  of  the  Centennial 
Jubilee  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  in  1S43.  and  the 
enlargement  of  Silliman's  "  American  Journal  of  Science." 

The  Naval  Astronomical  Expedition  was  sent  to  Chili,  under 
Gibbon  (1849),  to  make  observations  upon  the  parallax  of  the 
sun.  Lieut.  Lynch  was  sent  to  Palestine  (in  184S)  at  the  head 
of  an  expedition  to  explore  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea. 

Fremont  conducted  expeditions,  in  1848,  to  explore  the 
Rockv  Mountains  and  the  territory  beyond,  and  Stansbury,  in 
i849-'^o,  a  similar  exploration  of  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake.  David  Dale  Owen  was  heading  a  Government  Geological 
Survey  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  (1848),  and  from  all 
of  these  came  results  of  importance  to  science  and  to  natural 
history. 

In  1849,  Prof.  W.  H.  Harvey,  of  Dublin,  visited  America  and 
collected  materials  for  his  Nereis  Boreali-Afnericana^  which 
was  the  foundation  of  our  marine  botany. 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  ex-President  of  the  Geological  Society 
of  London,  visited  the  United  States  in  1841  and  again  in  1845, 
and  published  two  volumes  of  travels,  which  were,  however,  of 
much  less  importance  than  the  effects  of  his  encouraging  presence 
upon  the  rising  school  of  American  geologists.  His  "  Principles 
of  Geology,"  as  has  already  been  said,  was  an  epoch-making 
work,  and  he  was  to  his  generation  almost  what  Darwin  was  to 
the  one  which  followed. 

Certain  successes  of  our  astronomers  and  physicists  had  a  bear- 
ing upon  the  progress  of  American  science  in  all  its  departments, 
which  was,  perhaps,  even  greater  than  their  actual  importance 
would  seem  to  warrant.     These  were  the  discovery,  by  the  Bards 


80  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHESTOTON. 

of  Cambridge,  of  Bards  comet  in  1846,  of  the  satellite  Hyperion 
in  1S48,  of  the  third  ring  of  Saturn  in  1S50,  the  discovery  by 
Herrick  and  Bradley,  in  1846,  of  the  bi-pai"tition  of  Belas  comet, 
and  the  application  of  the  telegraph  to  longitude  determination 
after  Locke  had  consti^ucted,  in  184S,  his  clock  for  the  registra- 
tion of  time  observations  by  means  of  electro-magnetism. 

It  is  almost  ludicrous  at  this  day  to  observe  the  grateful  senti- 
ments with  which  our  men  of  science  welcomed  the  adoption  of 
this  American  method  in  the  observatory  at  Greenwich. 

Americans  were  still  writhing  under  the  sting  of  Sidnej" 
Smith's  demand  "  Who  reads  an  American  book?"  and  the  nar- 
rations of  those  critical  observers  of  national  customs,  Dickens, 
Basil  Hall,  and  Mrs.  Trollope. 

The  continental  approval  of  American  science  was  like  balsam 
to  the  sensitive  spirits  of  our  countrymen. 

John  William  Draper's  versatile  and  original  researches  in 
physics  were  also  yielding  weighty  results,  and  as  early  as  1S47 
he  had  already  laid  the  foundations  of  the  science  of  spectroscojDy 
which  Kirchhoff  so  boldly  appropriated  many  years  later. 

Most  important  of  all,  by  reason  of  its  breadth  of  scope,  was 
the  foundation  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  which  was  organ- 
ized in  1846  by  the  election  of  Joseph  Henry  to  its  secretaryship. 
Who  can  attempt  to  say  what  the  conditions  of  science  in  the 
United  States  would  be  to-day,  but  for  the  bequest  of  Smithson? 
In  the  words  of  John  Qiiincy  Adams,  "•  Of  all  the  foundations 
or  establishments  for  pious  or  charitable  uses  which  ever  signal- 
ized the  spirit  of  the  age  or  the  comprehensive  beneficence  of  the 
founder,  none  can  be  named  more  deserving  tli^  approbation  of 
mankind." 

Among  the  leaders  of  this  new  enterprise  and  of  the  scientific 
activities  of  the  day  may  be  named :  Silliman,  Hare,  Henry, 
Bache,  Maury,  Alexander,  Locke,  Mitchel,  Peirce,  Walker, 
Draper,    Dana,    Wyman,    Agassiz,    Gray,    Ton-ey,    Haldeman, 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  81 

Morton,  Holbrook,  Gibbes,  Gould,  DeKay,  Storer,  Hitchcock, 
Redfield,  the  brothers  Rogers,  Jackson,  Hays,  and  Owen. 

Among  the  rising  men  were  Baird,  Adams  the  conchologist, 
Bm-nett,  Harris  the  entomologist,  and  the  LeConte  brothers 
among  zoologists;  Lapham,  D.  C.  Eaton,  and  Grant,  among 
botanists;  Sterry  Hunt.  Brush,  J.  D.  Whitney,  Wolcott  Gibbs, 
and  Lesley,  among  chemists  and  geologists,  as  well  as  Schiel, 
of  St.  Louis,  who  had  before  1843  discovered  the  principle  of 
chemical  homology. 

I  have  not  time  to  say  what  ought  to  be  said  of  the  coming  of 
Agassiz  in  1846.  He  lives  in  the  hearts  of  his  adopted  country- 
men. He  has  a  colossal  monument  in  the  museum  which  he 
reared,  and  a  still  greater  one  in  the  lives  and  works  of  pupils 
such  as  Agassiz,  Allen,  Burgess,  Burnett,  Brooks,  Clarke,  Cooke, 
Faxon,  Fewkes,  Gorman,  Hartt,  Hyatt,  Joseph  LeConte,  Lyman, 
McCrady,  Morse,  Mills,  Niles,  Packard,  Putnam,  Scudder,  St. 
John,  Shaler,  Verrill,  Wilder,  and  David  A.  Wells. 

XVIL 

They  were  glorious  men  who  represented  American  science  at 
the  middle  of  the  century.  We  may  well  wonder  whether  the 
present  decade  will  make  as  good  a  showing  forty  years  hence. 

The  next  decade  was  its  continuation.  The  old  leaders  were 
neaidy  all  active,  and  to  their  ranks  were  added  many  more. 

An  army  of  new  men  \vas  rising  up. 

It  was  a  period  of  great  explorations,  for  the  frontier  of  the 
United  States  was  sweeping  westward,  and  there  was  need  of  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  public  domain. 

Sitgreaves  explored  the  region  of  the  Zuiii  and  Colorado  rivers 
in  1852,  and  Marcy  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  The  Mexican 
boundary  survey,  under  Emory,  was  in  progress  from  1S54  to 
1S56.  and  at  the  same  time  the  various  Pacific  railroad  surveys. 
There  was  also  the  Herndon  exploration  of  the  valley  of  the  Am- 


82  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHESTGTOlSr. 

azon,  and  the  North  Pacific  exploring  expedition  under  Rogers. 
These  were  the  days,  too,  when  that  extensive  exploration  of 
British  North  America  was  begun,  through  the  co-operation  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

It  was  the  harvest-time  of  the  museums.  Agassiz  was  building 
up  with  immense  rapidity  his  collections  in  Cambridge,  utilizing 
to  the  fullest  extent  the  methods  which  he  had  learned  in  the 
great  European  establishments  and  the  public  spirit  and  generosity 
of  the  Americans.  Baird  was  using  his  matchless  powers  of 
organization  in  equipping  and  inspiring  the  ofliicers  of  the  various 
surveys,  and  accumulating  immense  collections  to  be  used  in  the 
interest  of  the  future  National  Museum. 

Systematic  natural  history  advanced  with  rapid  strides.  The 
magnificent  folio  reports  of  the  Wilkes  expedition  were  now 
being  published,  and  some  of  them,  particularly  those  by  Dana 
on  the  crustaceans  and  the  zoophytes  and  geology,  that  of  Gould 
upon  the  mollusks,  those  by  Torrey,  Gray,  and  Eaton  upon  the 
plants,  were  of  great  importance. 

The  reports  of  the  domestic  surveys  contained  numerous  papers 
upon  systematic  natural  history,  prepared  under  the  direction  of 
Baird,  assisted  by  Girard,  Gill,  Cassin,  Suckley,  LeConte,  Cooper, 
and  others.  The  volumes  relating  to  the  mammals  and  the  birds, 
prepared  by  Baird's  own  pen,  were  the  first  exhaustive  treatises 
upon  the  mammalogy  and  ornithology  of  the  United  States. 

The  American  Association  was  doing  a  great  work  in  popular 
education  through  its  system  of  meeting  each  year  in  a  difterent 
city.  In  1S50  it  met  in  "Charleston,  and  its  entire  expenses  were 
paid  by  the  city  corporation  as  a  valid  mark  of  public  approval, 
while  the  foundation  of  the  Charleston  museum  of  natural  his- 
tory was  one  of  the  direct  results  of  the  meeting. 

In  1S57  it  met  in  Montreal,  and  delegates  from  the  English 
scientific  societies  were  present ;  this  was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
those  manifestations  of  international  courtesy  upon  scientific 
ground  of  which  there  have  since  been  many. 


PRESLDE^S'TIAL    ADDRESS.  83 

In  the  seventh  decade,  which  began  with  threatenings  of  civil 
war,  the  growth  of  science  was  ahiiost  arrested.  A  meeting  of 
the  American  Association  was  to  have  been  held  in  Nashville  in 
iS6i,  but  none  was  called.  In  1866,  at  Buffalo,  its  sessions  were 
resumed  with  the  old  board  of  officers  elected  in  1S60.  One  of 
the  vice-presidents,  Gibbes,  of  South  Carolina,  had  not  been 
heard  from  since  the  war  began,  and  the  Southern  members 
were  all  absent.  Many  of  the  Northern  members  wrote,  explain- 
ing that  they  could  not  attend  this  meeting  because  they 
could  not  afford  it,  ''  such  had  been  the  increase  of  liv- 
ing expenses,  without  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  salaries 
of  men  of  science."  Few  scientists  were  engaged  in  the  war, 
though  one,  O.  M.  Mitchel,  who  left  the  directorship  of  the 
Dudley  observatory  to  accept  the  command  of  an  Ohio  brigade, 
died  in  service  in  1862,  and  another,  Couthouy,  sacrificed  his 
life  in  the  navy.  Others,  like  Ordway,  left  the  ranks  of  science 
never  to  resume  their  places  as  investigators. 

Scientific  effort  was  paralyzed,  and  attention  was  directed  to 
other  matters.  In  1S64,  when  the  Smithsonian  building  was 
burned,  Lincoln,  it  is  said,  looking  at  the  flames  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  Executive  Mansion,  remarked  to  some  military  offi- 
cers who  were  present:  "Gentlemen,  yonder  is  a  national 
calamity.  We  have  no  time  to  think  about  it  now.  We  must 
attend  to  other  things." 

The  only  important  events  during  the  war  were  two  ;  one 
the  organization  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  which 
soon  became  what  Bache  had  remarked  the  necessity  for  in 
1851,  when  he  said:  "An  institution  of  science,  supplementary 
to  existing  ones,  is  much  needed  to  guide  public  action  in  refer- 
ence to  scientific  matters."* 

The  other  was  the  passage,  in  1862,  of  the  bill  for  the  estab- 
lishment  of  scientific    educational    institutions    in    every    State. 

*  Proc.  Amer.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  vi,  xlviii. 


84  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  agricultural  colleges  were  then,  as  they  still  are,  unpopular 
among  many  scientific  men,  but  the  wisdom  of  the  measure  is 
apparently  before  long  to  be  justified. 

Before  the  end  of  the  decade,  the  Northern  States*  had  begun  a 
.  career  of  renewed  prosperity,  and  the  scientific  institutions  were 
reorganized.  The  leading  spirits  were  such  men  as  Pierce, 
Henry,  Agassiz,  Gray,  Barnard,  the  Goulds,  Newberry,  Lea, 
Whittlesey,  Foster,  Rood,  Cooke,  Newcomb,  Newton,  Wy- 
man,  VVinchell. 

Among  the  rising  men,  some  of  them  very  prominent  before 
1S70,  were  Barker,  Bolton,  Chandler,  Eggleston,  Hall,  Hark- 
ness,  Langley,  Mayer,  Pickering,  Young,  Powell,  Pumpelly, 
Abbe,  CoUett,  Emerson,  Hartt,  Lupton,  Marsh,  Whitfield, 
Williams,  N.  H.  Winchell,  Agassiz,  the  Aliens,  Beale,  Cope, 
Coues,  Canby,  Dall,  Hoy,  Hyatt,  Morse,  Orton,  Perkins,  Rey, 
Riley,  Scudder,   Sidne}^  Smith,   Stearns,   Tuttle,  Verrill,  Wood. 

Soon  after  the  war  the  surve3'S  of  the  West,  which  have  coa- 
lesced to  form  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  were  forming  under 
the  direction  of  Clarence  Cook,  Lieut.  Wheeler,  F.  V.  Hayden, 
and  Major  Powell. 

The  discovery  of  the  nature  of  the  corona  of  the  sun  by  Young 
and  Harkness  in  1S69  was  an  event  encouraging  to  the  rising 
spirits  of  our  workers. 

XVIIL 

With  1869  we  reach  the  end  of  the  third  period  and  the  thresh- 
old of  that  in  which  we  are  living.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  define 
the  characteristics  of  the  natural  history  of  to-day,  though  I  wish 
to  direct  attention  to  certain  tendencies  and  conditions  which 
exist.  Let  me,  however,  refer  once  more  to  the  past,  since  it 
leads  again  directly  up  to  the  present. 

*  See  A   D.  White's  Scientific  and  Industrial  Education  in   the  United 
States     <  Popular  Science  Monthly,  v,  p.  170. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  85 

In  a  retrospect  published  in  1876,*  one  of  our  leaders  stated 
that  American  science  during  the  first  forty  years  of  the  present 
century  was  in  "  a  state  of  general  lethargy,  broken  now  and 
then  by  the  activity  of  some  first-class  man,  which,  however, 
commonly  ceased  to  be  directed  into  purely  scientific  channels." 
This  depiction  was,  no  doubt,  somewhat  true  of  the  physical 
and  mathematical  sciences  concerned,  but  not  to  the  extent  indi- 
cated by  the  %vriter  quoted.  What  could  be  more  unjust  to  the 
men  of  the  last  generation  than  this.?  "It  is,"  continues  he, 
"  strikingly  illustrative  of  the  absence  of  everything  like  an 
eftective  national  pride  in  science  that  two  generations  should 
have  passed  without  America  having  produced  anything  to  con- 
tinue the  philosophical  researches  of  Franklin." 

I  may  not  presume  to  criticise  the  opinion  of  the  writer  from 
whom  these  words  are  quoted,  but  I  cannot  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  repeat  a  paragraph  from  Prof.  John  W.  Draper's  eloquent 
centennial  address  upon  "  Science  in  America  :" 

"  In  many  of  the  addresses  on  the  centennial  occasion,"  he 
said,  "  the  shortcomings  of  the  United  States  in  extending  the 
boundaries  of  scientific  knowledge,  especially  in  the  physical  and 
chemical  departments,  have  been  set  foi'th.  '  We  must  acknowl- 
edge with  shame  our  inferioritv  to  other  people,'  says  one.  '  We 
have  done  nothing,'  says  another.  *  *  *  But  we  must  not 
forget  that  many  of  these  humiliating  accusations  are  made  by 
persons  who  are  not  of  authority  in  the  matter ;  who,  because 
they  are  ignorant  of  what  has  been  done,  think  that  nothing 
has  been  done.  They  mistake  what  is  merely  a  blank  in  their 
own  information  for  a  blank  in  reality.  In  their  alacrity  to  de- 
preciate the  merit  of  their  own  country  they  would  have  us  confess 
that,  for  the  last  century,  we  have  been  living  on  the  reputation 
of  Franklin  and  his  thunder-rod." 

These  are  the  words  of  one  who,  himself  an  Englishman  by 
birth,  could,  with  excellent  grace,  upbraid  our  countrymen  for 
their  lack  of  patriotism. 

The   early  American  naturalists  have  been  reproached  for  de- 

*  North  American  Review. 


8G  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

voting  their  time  to  explorations  and  descriptive  natviral  history, 
and  their  work  depreciated,  as  being  of  a  character  beneath  the 
dignity  of  the  biologists  of  to-day. 

"  The  zoological  science  of  the  country,"  said  the  president  of 
the  Natural  History  Section  of  the  American  Association  a  few 
years  since,  "presents  itself  in  two  distinct  periods:  The  first 
period  may  be  recognized  as  embi'acing  the  lowest  stages  of  the 
science  ;  it  included,  among  others,  a  class  of  men  who  busied 
themselves  in  taking  an  inventory  of  the  animals  of  the  country, 
an  important  and  necessarv  work  to  be  compared  to  that  of  the 
hewers  and  diggers  who  Prst  settle  a  new  country,  but  in  their 
work  demanded  no  deep  knowledge  or  breadth  of  view." 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  defend  systematic  zoology  from  such 
slurs  as  this,  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  writer  quoted  would  really 
defend  the  ideas  whicli  his  words  seem  to  convev,  although,  as 
Professor  Judd  has  regretfully  confessed  in  his  recent  address 
before  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  systematic  zoologists 
and  botanists  have  become  somewhat  rare  and  out  of  fashion  in 
Europe   in  modern  times. 

The  best  vindication  of  the  wisdom  of  our  early  writers  will 
be,  I  think,  the  presentation  of  a  counter-quotation  from  another 
presidential  address,  that  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Bentham  before 
the  Linnaean  Society  of  London,  in  1S67  : 

"It  is  scarcely  half  a  century,"  wrote  Bentham,  "  since  our 
American  bi'ethren  applied  themselves  in  earnest  to  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  natural  productions  and  physical  condition  of 
their  vast  continent ;  their  progress,  especially  during  the  latter 
half  of  that  period,  had  been  very  rapid  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
recent  war,  so  deplorable  in  its  eftbcts  in  the  interests  of  science 
as  well  as  on  the  material  prosperity  of  their  countiy.  The  pe- 
culiar condition  of  the  North  American  Continent  requires  im- 
peratively that  its  physical  and  biological  statistics  should  be  ac- 
curately collected  and  authentically  recorded,  and  that  this  should 
be  speedil}'  done.  It  is  more  than  any  country,  except  our  Aus- 
tralian colonies,  in  a  state  of  transition.  Vast  tracts  of  land  are 
still  in  what  may  be  called  almost  a  primitive  state,  unmodified 
by  the  effects  of  civilization,  uninhabited,  or  tenanted  only  by  the 
remnants  of  ancient  tribes,  whose  unsettled  life  never  exercised 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  87 

much  influence  over  the  natural  productions  of  the  country.  But 
this  state  of  things  is  rapidly  passing  away  ;  Ihe  invasion  and 
steady  progress  of  a  civilized  population,  whilst  changing  gen- 
erally the  face  of  nature,  is  obliterating  many  of  the  evidences 
of  a  former  state  of  things.  It  may  be  true  that  the  call  for  re- 
cording the  traces  of  previous  conditions  may  be  particularly 
strong  in  Ethnology  and  Archaeology  ;  but  in  our  own  branches 
of  the  science,  the  observations  and  consequent  theories  of  Dar- 
win having  called  special  attention  to  the  history  of  species,  it 
becomes  particularlv  important  that  accurate  biological  statistics 
should  be  obtained  for  future  comparison  in  those  countries 
where  the  circumstances  influencing  those  conditions  are  the  most 
rapidlv  changing.  The  larger  races  of  wild  animals  are  dwin- 
dling down,  like  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  under  the  deadly  in- 
fluence of  civilized  man.  Myriads  of  the  lower  orders  of  animal 
life,  as  well  as  of  plants,  disappear  with  the  destruction  of  forests, 
the  drainage  of  swamps,  and  the  gradual  spread  of  cultivation, 
and  their  places  are  occupied  by  foreign  invaders.  Other  races, 
no  doubt,  without  actually  disappearing,  undergo  a  gradual  change 
under  the  new  order  of  things,  which,  if  perceptible  only  in  the 
course  of  successive  generations,  require  so  much  the  more  for 
future  proof  an  accurate  record  of  their  state  in  the  still  unsettled 
condition  of  the  country.  In  the  Old  World  almost  every  at- 
tempt to  compare  the  present  state  of  vegetation  or  animal  life 
with  that  which  existed  in  uncivilized  times  is  in  a  great  meas- 
ure frustrated  by  the  absolute  want  of  evidence  as  to  that  former 
state;  but  in  North  America  the  change  is  going  forward,  as  it 
were,  close  under  the  eye  of  the  observer.  This  consideration 
may  one  day  give  great  value  to  the  reports  of  the  naturalist  sent 
by  the  Government,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  and  other  promoters  of  science,  to  ac- 
company the  surveys  of  new  territories." 

Havinsr  said  this  much  in  defence  of  the  scientific  men  of  the 
United  States,  I  wish,  in  conclusion,  to  prefer  some  very  serious 
charges  against  the  country  at  large,  or,  rather,  as  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  to  make  some  very  melancholy  and  hiunili- 
ating  confessions. 

The  present  century  is  often  spoken  of  as  "  the  age  of  science," 
and  Americans  are  somewhat  disposed  to  be  proud  of  the  manner 
in  which  scientific  institutions  are  fostered  and  scientific  investi- 
gators encouraged  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Our  countrymen  have  made  very  important  advances  in  many 


88  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

departments  of  research.  We  have  a  few  admirably  organized 
laboratories  and  observatories,  a  few  good  collections  of  scientific 
books,  six  or  eight  museums  worthy  of  the  name,  and  a  score  or 
moi-e  of  scientific  and  technological  schools,  well  organized  and 
better  provided  with  officers  than  with  money.  We  have  several 
strong  scientific  societies,  no  one  of  which,  however,  publishes 
transactions  worthy  of  its  own  standing  and  the  collective  reputa- 
tion of  its  members.  In  fact,  the  combined  publishing  funds  of  all 
our  societies  would  not  pay  for  the  annual  issue  of  a  volume  of 
memoirs,  such  as  appears  under  the  auspices  of  any  one  of  a  dozen 
European  societies  which  might  be  named. 

Our  Government,  by  a  liberal  support  of  its  scientific  depart- 
ments, has  done  much  to  atone  for  the  really  feeble  manner  in 
which  local  institutions  have  been  maintained.  The  Coast  Sur- 
vey, the  Geological  Surveys,  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the 
Fish  Commissions,  the  Army,  with  its  Meteorological  Bureau,  its 
Medical  Museum  and  Library,  and  its  explorations  ;  the  Navy, 
with  its  Observatory,  its  laboratories  and  its  explorations ;  and  in 
addition  to  these,  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  with  its  systematic 
pi^omotion  of  all  good  works  in  science,  have  accomplished  more 
than  is  ordinarily  placed  to  their  credit.  Many  hundreds  of  vol- 
umes of  scientific  memoirs  have  been  issued  from  the  Government 
pi-inting  office  since  1S70,  and  these  have  been  distributed  in  such 
a  generous  and  far-reaching  way  that  they  have  not  failed  to  reach 
every  town  and  village  in  the  United  States  whei"e  a  roof  has  been 
provided  to  protect  them. 

It  may  be  that  some  one  will  accuse  the  Government  of  having 
usurped  the  work  of  the  private  publisher.  Very  little  of  value 
in  the  way  of  scientific  literature  has  been  issued  during  the  same 
period  by  publishers,  except  in  reprints  or  translations  of  works 
of  foreign  investigators.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however, 
that  our  Government  has  not  only  published  the  results  of  investi- 
gations, but  has  supported  the  investigators  and  provided  them 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  89 

with  laboratories,  instruments  and  material,  and  that  the  me- 
moirs which  it  has  issued  would  never,  as  a  i^ule,  have  been  ac- 
cepted bv  private  publishers. 

I  do  not  ^^  ish  to  underrate  the  efficiency  of  American  men  of 
science,  nor  the  enthusiasm  with  which  many  public  men  and  cap- 
italists have  promoted  our  scientific  institutions.  Our  countrymen 
have  had  wonderful  successes  in  many  directions.  They  have 
borne  iheir  share  in  the  battle  of  science  against  the  unknown. 
Thev  have  had  abundant  recognition  from  their  fellow-workers 
in  the  Old  World.  Thev  have  met  perhaps  a  more  intelligent 
appreciation  abroad  than  at  home.  It  is  the  absence  of  home  ap- 
preciation that  causes  us  very  much  foreboding  for  the  future. 

In  Boston  or  Cambridge,  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Bal- 
timore, Washington,  Chicago,  or  San  Francisco,  and  in  most  of 
the  college  towns,  a  man  interested  in  science  may  find  others 
I'eady  to  talk  over  with  him  a  new  scientific  book,  or  a  discovery 
which  has  excited  his  interest.  Elsewhere,  the  chances  are,  he 
will  have  to  keep  his  thoughts  to  himself.  One  may  quickly  re- 
cite the  names  of  the  towns  and  cities  in  \vhich  mav  be  found  ten 
or  more  people  whose  knowledge  of  anv  science  is  aught  than 
vague  and  rudimentary.  Let  me  illustrate  my  idea  by  supposing 
that  everv  inhabitant  of  the  United  States,  over  fifteen  years  of 
age,  should  be  required  to  mention  ten  living  men  eminent  in  sci- 
entific work,  would  one  out  of  a  hundred  be  able  to  respond.'' 
Does  anv  one  suppose  that  there  are  three  or  four  hundred  thou- 
sand people  enlightened  to  this  degree.'' 

Let  us  look  at  some  statistics,  or,  rather,  some  facts,  which 
it  is  convenient  to  ai'range  in  statistical  form.  The  total  number 
of  white  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  in  iSSowas  about  forty- 
two  millions.  The  total  number  of  naturalists,  as  shown  in  the 
Naturalist's  Directory  for  iSS6,  was  a  little  over  4,600.  This 
list  includes  not  only  the  investigators,  who  probably  do  not  ex- 
ceed five  hundred  in  number,  and  the  advanced  teachers,  who 


90  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHLNGTON. 

muster,  perhaps,  one  thousand  strong,  but  all  who  are  sufficiently- 
interested  in  science  to  have  selected  special  lines  of  study. 

We  have,  then,  one  person  interested  in  science  to  about  ten 
thousand  inhabitants.  But  the  leaven  of  science  is  not  evenly  dis- 
tributed through  the  national  loaf.  It  is  the  tendency  of  scientific 
men  to  congregate  together.  In  Washington,  for  instance,  there 
is  one  scientific  man  to  every  500  inhabitants,  in  Cambridge  one 
to  850,  and  in  Nevv^  Haven  one  to  1,100.  In  New  Orleans  the 
proportion  is  one  to  S,Soo,  in  Jersey  City  one  to  24,000,  in  New 
York  one  to  7,000,  and  in  Brooklyn  one  to  8,500.  I  have  before 
me  the  proportions  worked  out  for  the  seventy-five  principal  cities 
of  the  United  States.  The  showing  is  suggestive,  though  no  doubt 
in  some  instances  misleading.  The  tendency  to  gregariousness 
on  the  part  of  scientific  men  may,  perhaps,  be  further  illustrated  by 
a  reference  to  certain  societies.  The  membership  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  is  almost  entirely  concentrated  about  Bos- 
ton, New  York,  Philadelphia,  Washington  and  New  Haven. 
Missouri  has  one  member,  Illinois  one.  Ohio  one,  Maryland,  New 
Jersey  and  Rhode  Island  three,  and  California  four — while  thirty- 
two  vStates  and  Territories  are  not  represented.  A  precisely  sim- 
ilar distribution  of  members  is  found  in  the  American  Society  of 
Naturalists.  A  majority  of  the  members  of  the  American  Associ- 
ation for  the  Advancement  of  Science  live  in  New^  York,  Massa- 
chusetts, Pennsylvania,  the  District  of  Columbia,  Michigan,  Min- 
nesota, Ohio,  Illinois  and  New  Jersey. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  average  proportion  of  scientific 
men  to  the  population  at  lai-ge  is  one  to  ten  thousand.  A  more 
minute  examination  shows  that  while  fifteen  of  the  States  and  Ter- 
ritories have  more  than  the  average  proportion  of  scientific  men, 
thirty-two  have  less.  Oregon  and  California,  Michigan  and  Del- 
aware have  very  nearly  the  normal  number.  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Illinois,  Colorado  and  Florida  have 
about  one  to  four  thousand.     West  Virginia,  Nevada,  Aikansas, 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  91 

Mississippi,  Georgia,  Kentuck}^  Texas,  Alabama  and  the  Caro- 
linas  are  the  ones  least  liberally  furnished.  Certain  cities  appear 
to  be  absolutely  without  scientihc  men.  The  worst  cases  of  des- 
titution seem  to  be  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  a  city  of  50,000  in- 
habitants. Wheeling,  with  30.000,  Qiiincy,  Illinois,  with  36,000, 
Newport.  Kentucky,  with  20.000,  Williamsport,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Kingston,  New  York,  with  iS,ooo,  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa, 
and  Zanesville,  Ohio,  with  17,000,  Oshkosh  and  Sandusky,  wiih 
15,000,  Lincoln,  Rhode  Island,  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  and 
Brockton  and  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  with  13,000.  In  these 
there  are  no  men  of  science  recorded,  and  eight  cities  of  more 
than  1^,000  inhabitants  have  only  one,  namely,  Omaha,  Ne- 
braska, and  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  Chelsea,  Massachusetts,  Co- 
hoes,  New  York,  Sacramento,  California,  Binghamton,  New 
York,  Portland,  Oi'egon,  and  Leadville,  Colorado. 

Of  course  these  statistical  statements  are  not  properly  statis- 
tics. I  have  no  doubt  that  some  of  these  cities  are  misrepresented 
in  what  has  been  said.  This  much,  however,  is  probably  true, 
that  not  one  of  them  has  a  scientific  societv.  a  museum,  a  school 
of  science,  or  a  sufficient  number  of  scientific  men  to  insure  even 
the  occasional  delivery  of  a  course  of  scientific  lectures. 

Studying  the  distribution  of  scientific  societies,  we  find  that 
there  are  fourteen  States  and  Territories  in  which  there  are  no  sci- 
entific societies  w'hatever.  There  are  fourteen  States  which  have 
State  academies  of  science  or  societies  which  are  so  organized  as 
to  be  equivalent  to  State  academies. 

Perhaps  the  most  discouraging  teature  of  all  is  the  diminutive 
circulation  of  scientific  periodicals.  In  addition  to  a  certain  num- 
ber of  specialists'  journals,  we  have  in  the  United  States  three 
which  are  wide  enough  in  scope  to  be  necessary  to  all  who  attempt 
to  keep  an  abstract  of  the  progress  of  science.  Of  these,  the  Amer- 
ican yournal  of  Science  has,  we  are  told,  a  circulation  of  less  than 
Soo  ;  the  A?nerican  Naturalist y  less  than  1,100,  and  Science^  less 


92  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASIIINOTON". 

than  6,000.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  copies  printed  go, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  to  public  institutions,  and  not  to  individuals. 
Even  the  Popular  Sciefice  Monthly  and  the  Scientific  Ameri- 
can^ which  appeal  to  large  classes  of  unscientific  i^eadcrs,  have 
circulations  absurdly  small. 

The  most  efTective  agents  for  the  dissemination  of  scientific 
intelligence  are,  probably,  the  religious  journals,  aided  to  some 
extent  by  the  agricultural  journals,  and  to  a  very  limited  degree 
by  the  weekly  and  daily  newspapers.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  several  influential  journals,  which  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago 
gave  attention  to  the  publication  of  trustworthy  scientific  intelli- 
gence, have  of  late  almost  entirely  abandoned  the  effort.  The 
allusions  to  science  in  the  majority  of  our  newspapers  are  singu- 
larly inaccurate  and  unscholarly,  and  too  often  science  is  referred 
to  only  when  some  of  its  achievements  offer  opportunity  for  witti- 
cism. 

The  statements  which  I  have  just  made  may,  as  I  have  said, 
prove,  in  some  instances  erroneous,  and,  to  some  extent,  mislead- 
ing, but  I  think  the  general  tendency  of  a  careful  study  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  scientific  men  and  institutions  is  to  show  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  except  in  so  far  as  they  sanction  by  their 
approval  the  work  of  the  scientific  departments  of  the  Government, 
and  the  institutions  established  by  private  munificence,  have  little 
reason  to  be  proud  of  the  national  attitude  toward  science. 

I  am,  however,  by  no  means  despondent  for  the  future.  The 
importance  of  scientific  work  is  thoroughly  appreciated,  and  it 
is  well  understood  that  many  important  public  duties  can  be  per- 
formed properly  only  by  trained  men  of  science.  The  claims  of 
science  to  a  prominent  place  in  every  educational  plan  are  every 
year  more  fully  conceded.  Science  is  permeating  the  theory  and 
the  practice  of  every  art  and  every  industry,  as  well  as  every  de- 
partment of  learning.  The  greatest  danger  to  science  is,  per- 
haps,   the    fact  that    all    who    have    studied    at   all    within    the 


PRESrDEjSTTIAL    ADDRESS.  93 

last  quarter  of  a  century  have  studied  its  rudiments  and  feel 
competent  to  employ  its  metliods  and  its  language,  and  to  form 
judgments  on  the  merits  of  current  work. 

In  the  meantime  the  professional  men  of  science,  the  scholars, 
and  the  investigators  seem  to  me  to  be  strangely  indifferent  to  the 
questions  as  to  how^  the  public  at  large  is  to  be  made  familiar 
with  the  results  of  their  labors.  It  may  be  that  the  tendency  to 
specialization  is  destined  to  deprive  the  sciences  of  their  former 
hold  upon  popular  interest,  and  that  the  study  of  zoology,  bot- 
any and  geology,  mineralogy  and  chemistry  will  become  so 
technical  that  each  will  require  the  exclusive  attention  of  its 
votaries  for  a  period  of  years.  It  may  be  that  we  are  to  have  no 
more  zoologists  such  as  Agassiz  and  Baird,  no  more  botanists 
such  as  Gray,  and  that  the  place  which  such  men  filled  in  the 
con^munity  will  be  supplied  by  combinations  of  a  number  of 
specialists,  each  of  whom  knows,  with  more  minuteness,  limited 
portions  of  the  subjects  grasped  bodily  by  the  masters  of  the  last 
generation.  It  may  be  that  the  use  of  the  word  naturalist  is  to 
became  an  anachronism,  and  that  we  are  all  destined  to  become, 
generically  biologists,  and,  specifically,  morpholog^sts,  histologists, 
embryologists,  physiologists,  or,  it  may  be,  cetologists,  chirop- 
terologists,  oologists,  carcinologists,  ophiologists,  helmintholo- 
gists,  actinologists,  coleopterists,  caricoologists,  mycologists, 
muscologists,  bacteriologists,  diatomologists,  paleo-botanists,  cryS- 
tallographet"s,  petrologists,  and  the  like. 

I  can  but  believe,  however,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  sci- 
entific scholar,  however  minute  his  specialty,  to  resist  in  himself, 
and  in  the  professional  circles  which  surround  him,  the  tendency 
toward  narrowing  technicality  in  thought  and  sympathy,  and 
above  all  in  the  education  of  non-professional  students.   • 

I  cannot  resist  the  feelinfj  that  American  men  of  science  are 
in  a  large  degree  responsible  if  their  fellow-citizens  are  not 
fully  awake  to  the  claims  of  scientific  endeavor  in  their  midst. 


94  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

I  am  not  in  sympathy  with  those  who  feel  that  their  dignity 
is  lowered  when  their  investigations  lead  toward  improvement 
in  the  physical  condition  of  mankind,  but  I  feel  that  the  highest 
function  of  science  is  to  minister  to  their  mental  and  moral  wel- 
fare. Here  in  the  United  States,  more  than  in  any  other  country, 
it  is  necessary  that  sound,  accurate  knowledge  and  a  scientific 
manner  of  thought  should  exist  among  the  people,  and  the  man 
of  science  is  becoming,  more  than  ever,  the  natural  custodian  of 
the  treasured  knowledge  of  the  world.  To  him,  above  all  oth- 
ers, falls  the  duty  of  organizing  and  maintaining  the  institutions 
for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  many  of  which  have  been  spoken 
of  in  these  addresses — the  schools,  the  museums,  the  expositions, 
the  societies,  the  periodicals.  To  him,  more  than  to  any  other 
American,  should  be  made  familiar  the  w^ords  of  President 
Washington  in  his  farewell  address  to  the  American  people  : 

"Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance, 
institutions  for   the   general  diffusion  of   knowledge. 

In    PROPORTION    AS    THE    STRUCTURE    OF    A    GOVERNMENT    GIVES 
FORCE    TO    PUBLIC    OPINIONS    IT    SHOULD    BE     ENLIGHTENED. 


WILLIAM  STIMPSON. 


SOME    AMERICAN    CONCHOLOGISTS.* 
By  William  H.  Dall. 

I  had  selected  another  theme  as  the  subject  of  my  address  on 
this  occasion.  But  the  press  of  engagements  which  had  to  be 
met  prevented  the  completion  of  the  work  required  by  my  first 
choice,  and  in  looking  about  for  a  substitute  which  would  require 
less  original  research  I  remembered  that  we  have  not  anywhere 
an  epitome  of  the  biography  of  those  naturalists  who  began  in 
this  country  the  study  of  the  mollusca  and  who  may  be  truly  said 
to  be  the  pioneers  of  American  conchology. 

There  was  the  more  propriety  in  the  selection  of  this  topic  at 
the  present  time  since  in  the  year  1SS7  came  the  seventieth 
anniversary  of  the  publication  in  the  United  States  of  the  first 
paper  on  the  American  shells,  bv  an  American,  which  ever 
appeared.  We  can  regard  it  as  forming  the  extreme  limit  which 
might  have  been  attained  by  a  single  life,  mature  enough  in  18 17 
to  have  appreciated  in  some  measure  the  dawn  of  conchological 
investigation  in  America.  The  only  naturalist  ^vhose  life  nearly 
coincided  with  this  period,  the  late  Dr.  Isaac  Lea,  passed  over  to 
the  majority  about  a  year  ago,  and,  as  it  happens,  his  attention 
was  not  called  to  what  the  French  call  •'  the  beautiful  Science" 
until  1835. 

The  contributions  of  American  investigators  to  the  sum  of  our 
knowledge  of  the  mollusca  have  been  numerous  and  important. 
Many  American  publications  are  among  the  classics  of  this  branch 
of  science. f 

*Annual  presidential  address,  delivered  at  the  Eighth  Anniversary 
Meeting  of  the  Biological  Society,  January  2S,  18SS,  in  the  lecture-room 
of  Columbian  University. 

t  Consult  BiNXEY  (W.  G.):  Bibliography  of  North-American  Conchol- 
ogy,  previous  to  the  year  i860,  prepared  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 

95 


96  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

But  it  is  not  to  their  publications  that  I  desire  to  direct  your 
attention,  nor  to  the  reputation,  due  to  their  labors,  acquired  for 
the  United  States  among  foreign  investigators.  It  is  to  the  men 
themselves,  the  circumstances  of  their  lives,  their  struggles  in  an 
inappreciative  age,  their  unwearied  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to 
the  study  of  nature. 

Of  course,  in  an  address  of  this  sort,  there  is  only  time  for  the 
briefest  mention  of  many  facts  of  interest  and  value  to  the  biog- 
rapher ;  and  it  would  be  quite  impossible  to  do  even  as  much  as 
this  for  all  those  who  have  a  right  to  appear  on  a  complete  record. 
So  I  have  confined  my  attention  to  some  of  those  who  may  fairly 
be  considered  as  pioneers,  reserving  for  another  occasion  those  still 
active,  and  many  other  worthy  names. 

Following  the  example  of  Coues  and  Goode  in  their  classifi- 
cation of  the  students  of  vertebrate  zoology,  I  may  divide  the 
study  of  mollusca  in  this  country  into  three  periods,  although 
these  are  connected  b}-  many  intermediate  links.  The  infancy  of 
the  science,  witli  a  Linnaean  classification,  has  no  representation 
in  American  conchological  Hterature,  which  sprang,  full-grown, 
like  Minerva  from  the  head  of  Jove,  from  the  Lamarckian  school 

Parti.  Washington,  Smithsonian  Institution,  March  1863;  Part  ii,  June, 
1S64,  Svo,  viii,  650,  and  iv,  298  pp.  Also  Tryon  (G.  W.)  :  A  Sketch  of  the 
History  of  Conchology  in  the  United  States  (Am.  Journ.  Science,  xxxiii, 
March  1862,  pp.  13-32),  and  List  of  American  Writers  on  Recent  Con- 
chology, with  the  titles  of  their  memoirs  and  dates  of  publication.  New- 
York,  Bailliere,  1S61,  8vo,  68  pp. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  portraits  of  the  more  distinguished  Con- 
chologists  given  in  the  first  and  second  volumes  of  the  American  Journal 
of  Conchology,  though  these  are  not  always  as  good  as  might  be  wished. 

The  above-mentioned  works,  which  contain  almost  no  biographical  de- 
tails, and  various  dictionaries  and  encyclopedias  have  been  freely  con- 
sulted for  the  material  used  in  this  address,  but  a  good  deal  of  it  has  been 
the  result  of  personal  inquiry,  letter-writing,  and  even  advertisement  in 
the  newspapers  for  dates  and  other  missing  details.  To  numerous  cor- 
respondents I  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  m}'  thanks  for  data 
furnished  and  which  would  probably  in  a  few  years  have  been  irretrievably 
lost. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  97 

of  Europe.  The  first  period  might  fitly  bear  the  name  of  its  in- 
augurator,  Thomas  Say.  It  is  characterized  by  a  rapid  advance 
in  the  determination  of  the  fauna,  the  classification  of  the  species, 
and  the  exploration  of  vast  areas.  It  extended  from  1S17  to 
1841. 

The  second  period  should  bear  the  name  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Gould. 
It  was  inaugurated  by  his  report  on  the  Invertebrata  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  characterized  by  the  broader  scope  of  investigation, 
the  interest  in  geographical  distribution,  the  anatomy  of  the 
soft  parts,  and  the  more  precise  definition  and  exact  discrimination 
of  specific  forms,  as  exemplified  in  his  writings. 

The  third  period  would  be  appropriately  called  after  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Stimpson,  who  eagerly  adopted  the  radical  changes  in  classi- 
fication rendered  necessary  by  the  discoveries  of  Loven,  and 
stood  ready  to  welcome  the  theory  of  evolution  with  all  the  light 
it  shed  in  dark  places. 

Though  violently  opposed  to  evolution,  the  teachings  of  Agas- 
siz  did  much  to  hasten  the  fruition  of  the  new  school  of  students. 
For  the  rational  methods  of  teaching  and  investigation  which  he 
devised  or  made  popular,  the  present  era  is  greatly  in  his  debt. 
This  period  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  introduced  by  any 
epoch-making  work,  but  gradually  the  old  methods  were  discarded 
for  the  new. 

The  latter  were  fully  exemplified  by  such  works  as  Morse's 
"  Pulmonifera  of  Maine"  (1S64),  Stimpson's  ^'  Hyd'-obiinie  " 
(1865),  and  a  long  list  of  subsequent  publications. 

Of  men  belonging  to  the  Sayian  period  may  be  mentioned  Say, 
Lesueur,  Barnes,  Green,  Morton,  Couthouy,  Warren,  Anthony, 
Nuttall,  Haldeman,  and  Conrad. 

Rafinesque  \\ii%  sui generis^  and  Lea  links  this  period  with  the 
next. 

Of  the  Gouldian  period  are  Gould,  Amos  Binney,  C.  B. 
Adams,  Carpenter. 


98  BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

Of  the  Stimpsonian  period   I  can  only  refer  to  Bland,  whose 
place  is  here  rather  than  with  Gould  ;  and  lastly,  Stimpson  himself. 

Thomas  Say. 

Thomas  Say  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  of  Qiiaker  ancestry, 
July  27,  17^7*  -^^^  father,  as  was  usual  in  those  days,  united  to 
the  profession  of  a  physician  the  duties  of  an  apothecary.  Young 
Say  received  a  very  rudimentary  education  in  one  of  the  Qiiaker 
schools  and  at  the  "  Friends'  Academy  "  at  Weston,  a  few  miles 
from  Philadelphia.  At  a  later  time  he  studied  pharmacy  under 
his  father's  supervision,  and  was  established  in  that  business  with 
another  person  whose  steady  habits  it  was  supposed  would  ensure 
success.  Among  his  acquaintance  Say's  name  was  always 
associated  with  honor  and  veracity.  Conscious  of  rectitude  him- 
self, ingenuous  and  sincere,  he  took  for  granted  that  others  were 
so,  and,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  he  fell  a  victim  to  his  trust  in 
others.  Having  endorsed  the  business  paper  of  ostensible  friends, 
through  their  failure  he  was  involved  in  financial  ruin.  His  heart 
was  not  in  business,  he  attended  to  it  with  indifference,  and,  from 
his  school  days,  was  drawn  irresistibly  toward  a  study  of  animated 
nature.  Maich  21,  181 2,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences,  then  in  the  process  of  transformation  from 
a  social  club  to  an  association  of  naturalists.  The  president, 
William  Maclure,  seems  to  have  been  a  warm  and  intimate  friend 
of  Say,  and  assisted  him  pecuniarily,  for  he  became  the  first 
curator  of  the  embryo  museum  and  lived  on  its  premises  for  sev- 
eral years,  part  of  the  time  subsisting  on  such  frugal  fare  as  might 
be  obtained  for  twelve  cents  a  day  !  His  time  was  devoted  to 
study  and  his  reputation  as  a  naturalist  was  already  somewhat 
spread,  for  he  was  selected  by  the  publishers  to  furnish  several 
articles  on  American  Natural  History  to  the  American  edition  of 
Nicholson's  British  Encyclopedia,  a  work  which  rapidly  reached 
its  third  edition.     In  the  winter  of  181 6-1 7  appeared  the  second 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  99 

volume,  in  which  the  article  "  Conchology,"  consisting  of  fifteen 
pages  and  illustrated  by  four  plates,  was  prepared  by  Say,  and  has 
the  honor  of  being  the  first  paper  on  American  Conchology  by 
an  American  which  appeared  in  this  country.  It  contained  a 
general  statement  of  the  principles  of  the  science  as  then  under- 
stood, followed  by  descriptions  of  American  land  and  fresh-water 
shells  to  the  number  of  thirty-one  species.  The  article  was 
issued  separately,  with  a  title  page,  as  "Descriptions  of  Land 
and  Fresh-water  Shells  of  the  United  States."  The  second  edi- 
tion, issued  the  following  year,  contained  some  improvements, 
and  the  third  edition  (1819)  had  the  article  considerably  en- 
larged, as  it  forms  twenty  pages  of  the  fourth  volume  of  the 
series.* 

The  readiness  with  which  Say  i^esponded  to  the  requests  of 
others,  his  liberality  in  communicating  his  knowledge  to  those 
who  sought  it,  and  his  agreeable  social  qualities  were  the  cause 
of  so  many  interruptions  that  he  was  led  to  devote  to  study  the 
hours  which  he  should  have  given  to  repose,  and  often  worked 
all  night.  This  injudicious  course  resulted  in  serious  derange- 
ment of  the  digestive  organs,  and  weakened  his  constitution. 
These  causes,  together  with  habits  of  rigid  austerity  in  diet,  were 
probably  instrumental  in  bringing  about  his  premature  decease. 

In  1818,  Say,  Ord,  Maclure,  and  Peale  made  an  expedition  to 
the  sea  islands  of  Georgia  and  the  country  east  of  Florida,  then 
under  Spanish  rule.  Later,  Say  was  appointed  chief  zoologist  to 
the  two  expeditions  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi,  etc., 
commanded  by  Major  Long.  The  same  modesty  which  led  him 
to  decline  a  professorship  in  an  institution  of  learning  on  the 
ground  of  inadequate  scholarship  led  him  to  decline  the  position  of 


*The  first  edition  is  very  rare.  A  copy  is  said  to  exist  in  the  library  of 
the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy.  The  second  edition  occurs  in  the  library  of  the 
Boston  AthencBum  and  the  Franklin  Institute  of  Philadelphia.  The 
original  manuscript  is  in  the  archives  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia. 


100  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

historian  of  Long's  expedition  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  the 
first  appointee.  This  modesty  led  to  habits  of  retirement,  and 
withdrew  him  from  society,  except  that  of  his  private  friends, 
among  whom  he  was  idolized.  His  domestic  virtues  were  beyond 
eulogy,  and  his  disposition  was  so  truly  amiable,  his  manners  so 
charming,  that  no  one,  having  once  formed  his  acquaintance, 
could  cease  to  esteem  him. 

These  qualities  led  him  to  be  influenced  by  those  whom  he 
admired,  and  whg  possessed  a  more  pushing  and  self-assertive 
disposition.  It  is  probable  that  the  great  mistake  of  his  life  was 
due  to  influence  thus  exerted  by  his  friend  and  patron,  Wm. 
Maclure. 

About  the  year  1824  the  recurrence  of  one  of  those  waves  of 
sentiment,  which,  like  spots  on  the  sun,  appear  at  intervals,  with 
a  certain  regularity,  to  obscure  the  common  sense  of  the  most  be- 
nevolent and  enlightened  of  mankind,  led  to  the  disinterested, 
though  foolish,  investment  by  Robert  Owen  of  large  sums  in  a 
socialistic  enterprise.  At  the  village  of  New  Harmony,  in  a 
malarious  situation  on  the  Wabash  river  of  Indiana,  the  sun  of 
righteousness,  letters,  and  science  was  to  rise  and  illuminate  the 
benighted  Western  world.  Mr.  Maclure  became  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  the  gospel  according  to  Owen,  and,  in  1825,  set  out  for  the 
New  Jerusalem,  involving  in  his  train  his  friend  Si'.y  and  several 
other  natui'alists.  With  them  went  several  ladies  of  intelligence 
and  beauty,  one  of  whom,  Lucy  Sistare,  became  the  devoted  wife 
of  Say,  and  long  svu'vived  him.*  In  a  little  more  than  a  year  the 
community  went  to  pieces,  one  founder  retiring  to  Eui"ope,  and 
the  other  to  Mexico,  disgusted  with  the  intractability  of  human 
nature.  It  is  sufficient  to  quote  a  criticism  by  the  son,  Robei't 
Dale  Owen,  himself  a  member  of  the  community,  as  given  in  his 
autobiography    fifty   years    later  :f    "  I  do  not  believe   that    any 


*She  died  in  1SS6,  according  to  Mr.  Schwarz. 

t  Threading  my  Way,  by  Robert  Dale  Owen.     8vo.    New  York,  Carleton 
&  Co.,  1874;  p.  290. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  101 

industrial  experiment  can  succeed  which  proposes  equal  remuner- 
ation to  all  men,  the  diligent  and  the  dilatory,  the  skilled  artisan 
and  the  common  laborer,  the  genius  and  the  drudge.  What  may 
be  safely  predicted  is  that  a  plan  which  remunerates  all  alike 
will,  in  the  present  condition  of  society,  ultimately  eliminate 
from  a  co-operative  association  the  skilled,  efficient,  and  industri- 
ous members,  leaving  an  ineffective  and  sluggish  residue,  in  whose 
hands  the  experiment  will  fail,  both  socially  and  pecuniarily." 

But  Say  had  become  involved  for  life.  He  had  married,  he 
had  accepted  the  agency  of  the  property,  the  duties  of  which 
compelled  his  presence  on  the  spot ;  he  had  no  other  means  of 
support,  and  therefore  resigned  himself  with  his  usual  philosophy 
to  await  the  course  of  events,  appropriating  all  his  moments  of 
leisure  to  his  favorite  pursuits,  and  preserving  unruffled  the 
serenity  of  his  mind.  Mrs.  Say  prepared  drawings  and  litho- 
graphs, and  on  a  little  hand-press  the  early  numbers  of  the 
"  American  Conchology  "  were  printed. 

The  malaria  began  to  influence  his  health.  Had  he  felt  free  to 
follow  his  medical  advice  or  the  affectionate  solicitation  of  his 
friends,  he  would  have  returned  to  the  more  genial  climate  of  his 
native  city.  But  a  sense  of  duty  predominated  over  the  claims 
of  affection  and  the  terrors  of  death,  and  he  remained  to  become 
a  sacrifice  to  a  fever,  which  carried  him  oft'  on  the  loth  of  Octo- 
ber, 1834. 

I  have  seen  no  description  of  Mr.  Say's  personal  appearance, 
but  his  portrait*  indicates  that  his  face  and  expression  were  in 
harmony  with  his  amiable  character. 

♦National  Portrait  Gallery,  vol.  iv.  Copied  in  Am.  Journ.  Conchology, 
vol.  i,  1865.  Biography,  by  Ord,  in  LeConte's  edition  of  Say's  American 
Entomology,  and  in  Waldie's  Select  Circular  Library,  vol.  v,  1S35,  by  B. 
H.  Coates,  M.  D.  It  seems  evident  from  the  hypercritical  and  patronizing 
tone  of  Ord's  biography  that  his  old  friendship  for  Say  had  been  severely 
wrenched,  if  not  broken,  by  the  personal  controversies  which  raged  so 
violently  at  Philadelphia,  and  involved  nearly  all  the  scientific  workers,  or 
those  interested  in  the  progress  of  science,  of  which  Philadelphia  was 
then  the  American  centre.     A  better  biography  of  Say  is  greatly  needed. 


102  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

His  conchological  work  was  far  above  the  average  of  its  day, 
and  fully  abreast  of  the  knowledge  of  the  time. 

His  monument,*   erected  in   1846    by  Alexander,   brother    of 

William  Maclure,  in  the  garden  of  the  Maclure  mansion  at  New 

Harmony,  bears  the  following  appropriate  lines : 

Votary  of  Nature,  even  from  a  child, 

He  sought  her  presence  in  the  trackless  wild. 

To  him  the  shell,  the  insect,  and  the  flower 

Were  bright  and  cherished  emblems  of  her  power; 

In  her  he  saw  a  spirit  all  divine, 

And  worshipped  like  a  pilgrim  at  her  shrine. 

Charles  Alexander  Lesueur. 

Second,  in  point  of  time,  among  those  who  published  in 
America  on  American  and  other  mollusks,  is  Charles  Alexander 
Lesueur, t  born  at  Havre-de-Grace,  France,  Jan.  i,   1778. 

He  grew  up  with  a  love  for  natural  history  so  great  that  in 
order  to  accompany  the  scientific  expedition  of  the  "  Geographe  " 
under  Baudin  in  the  year  1800  he  enlisted  as  a  landsman  among 
the  crew.  Another  enthusiast  who  had,  as  it  were,  forced  him- 
self upon  the  expedition  was  Fran9ois  Peron,  who  discovered  the 
unusual  talents  of  Lesueur  as  an  artist  and  succeeded  in  getting 
him  transferred  to  the  position  of  zoological  draughtsman,  where 
those  talents  could  be  put  to  their  proper  use.  Henceforth  the 
two  young  men  were  inseparable  friends.  The  commander  of 
the  expedition  turned  out  to  be  most  unfit  for  his  position.  Be- 
sides exhibiting  great  inhumanity  to  his  subordinates,  it  is  alleged 
that  he  was  no  better  than  a  thief  and  appropriated  to  his  own 
emolument  the  stores  of  the  expedition.  He  died  at  last,  with 
many  of  the  others,  and  finally  of  the  scientific  staff  only  Peron 
and  Lesueur  returned  to  France  in  1804.     Six  years  later  Peron 

♦Recently  described  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz  in  Proc.  Ent.  Soc,  Wash., 
vol.  i,  No.  2. 

t  See  Memoir,  by  George  Ord,  in  Silliman's  Journal,  second  series,  vol. 
viii,  p.  189,  1849. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  lOP) 

died  in  the  midst  of  his  labors.  Lesueur,  inconsolable,  was  in- 
duced to  take  a  voyage  to  the  Antilles  and  the  United  States  to 
remove  the  melancholy  which  oppressed  him.  He  arrived  in  the 
United  States  in  1816  and  settled  in  Philadelphia  the  following 
year,  where  he  taught  drawing  and  pursued  his  studies,  being 
very  cordially  received  by  the  resident  naturalists.  After  a  resi- 
dence of  nine  years  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  in  a  situation 
most  congenial  to  his  tastes  and  useful  to  science,  he  was  impelled, 
through  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty,  to  join  the  settlement  of 
Socialists  at  New  Harmony,  Indiana.  The  presence  of  Mr.  Say 
rendered  the  new  situation  endurable  for  a  time,  but  with  his 
death  in  1834  the  delusive  expectation  that  human  virtue  would 
increase  in  the  ratio  that  human  individuality  was  stifled  faded 
completely  away,  and  the  position  was  no  longer  bearable.  He 
departed  for  New  Orleans  and  for  France,  where  his  tastes  and 
acquirements  found  their  opportunity  of  fruition  at  Paris,  near 
the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  and  afterward  at  Havre,  where  a  museum 
was  established,  of  which  he  was  appointed  curator  in  1845.  He 
was  attacked  by  sudden  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  which  carried 
him  off  on  the  I3th  of  Dec,  1S46,  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age. 

Lesueur  was  a  man  of  unobtrusive  and  modest  manners  and 
social  and  amicable  disposition.  Frugal  himself,  he  was  gen- 
erous to  others,  even  in  cases  where  prudence  would  justify  re- 
serve. He  suffered  from  robbery,  perpetrated  under  the  guise  of 
friendship,  yet  with  the  remnant  he  had  left,  and  the  infirmities 
of  age  coming  upon  him,  he  shared  with  others  whose  necessities 
were  greater  than  his  own. 

Lesueur  was  more  of  an  ichthyologist  than  a  conchologist,  but 
his  paper  on  Firola,  in  vol.  i  of  the  Journal  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  was  the  second  paper  on  mollusks  published 
in  the  United  States  and  the  first  on  exotic  mollusks  which 
appeared  here. 


104  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTGTOlSr. 

Daniel  Henry  Barnes. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Henry  Barnes,  of  the  Baptist  denomination, 
was  born  in  Canaan,  N.  Y.,  x^pril  25,  1785,  and  was  killed  by- 
falling  from  a  stage  coach  between  Nassau  and  Troy,  N.  Y., 
October  37,  1828.  He  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1809,  and 
took  charge  for  three  years  of  the  classical  school  there,  at  a  later 
time.  Afterward  he  was  professor  of  languages  in  the  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary,  and  in  1824  wa^  associate  principal  of  the 
New  York  High  School  for  Boys,  an  institution  he  is  said  to  have 
originated  and  conducted  with  great  ability.  He  declined  calls 
to  the  Presidency  of  Waterville  College,  Maine,  and  the  Colum- 
bian University,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  He  was  a  man  of  high 
reputation  for  character  and  culture,  and  one  of  the  chief  pro- 
moters of  the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  now  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Sciences.  He  assisted  Webster  in  the 
prepai-ation  of  his  dictionary,  and  published  several  early  papers 
on  the  Unionidce  and  Chitons,  of  which  he  described  several 
forms,  while  others  have  been  named  in  his  honor  by  several 
naturalists. 

Jacob  Green. 

Another  of  the  earliest  contributors  to  molluscan  literature  in 
America  was  Dr.  Jacob  Green,  who  was  born  July  26,  1790, 
at  Philadelphia,  and  died  there  February  i,  1S41.  He  was  the 
son  of  Ashbel  Green,  President  of  Princeton  College  in  1812,  and 
grandson  of  the  Revolutionary  patriot,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green, 
who  was  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  i757*  Owx 
conchologist  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1806, 
was  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  history  at  Princeton  1818- 
22,  and  then  pi'ofessor  of  chemistry  in  the  Jeflerson  Medical  Col- 
lege, of  Philadelphia,  until  his  death.  While  his  contributions 
to  conchology  were  not  numerous  they  were  of  a  high  order  of 
merit,   and   on   other    subjects,  such  as   chemistry,  paleontology 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  105 

(Trilobites),  and  botany,  his  work  procured   him  a  wide-spread 
and  excellent  reputation. 

John  Warren. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  here  an  old  Englishman  named 
John  Warren,  who  for  many  years  dealt  in  shells  and  curiosities 
in  Boston.  About  1S57  he  was  still  extant.  I  have  little  per- 
sonal information  about  him,  but  remember  him  as  a  stout,  florid 
old  gentleman,  who  supplied  Miss  Sarah  Pratt  and  other  Boston 
amateurs  with  handsome  shells  at  high  prices.  In  1S34  he  pub- 
lished a  small  quarto  edition  of  Lamarck's  genera  of  shells, 
illustrated  with  17  plates,  which  he  entitled  "  The  Conchologist." 

He  did  no  original  work,  but,  singularly  enough,  in  Carus  and 
Englemann's  Bibliography,  he  is  confounded  with  Dr.  J.  C. 
Warren,  the  distinguished  surgeon  of  Boston,  who  published 
some  papers  on  molluscan  anatomy. 

Samuel  George  Morton. 

Among  those  who  have  promoted  the  study  of  mollusca  from 
the  paleontological  side,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  distinguished 
names  is  that  of  Samuel  George  Morton.*  Born  in  Philadelphia 
Jan.  26,  1799,  of  Irish  ancestry  and  of  a  family  in  which  the 
gifts  of  education  were  highly  prized  and  abundantly  enjoyed,  he 
early  lost  his  flither,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  entered  a  counting- 
room  to  be  prepared  for  a  mercantile  career.  His  desire  for  study 
monopolized  his  leisure,  and  in  181 7  he  entered  the  medical 
school  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he  graduated  in 
1S20  with  honors,  and  afterwards  pursued  his  studies  at  Paris 
and  in  Edinburgh.  In  1826  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  practiced  his  profession  and  pursued  his  scientific  studies,  and 
the  following  year  he  married  Rebecca  Pearsall.  His  career  was 
terminated  on  the  15th  of  May,  i85i,by  an  attack  of  pneumonia, 

♦See  Silliman's  Journal,  2d  series,  vol.  xiii,  p.  153,  March,  1853. 


106  BTOLOGICAi    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTOIS^ 

but  not  until  his  name,  through  his  scientific  work,  had  become 
familiar  to  scholars  in  both  hemispheres.  His  synopsis  of  the 
organic  remains  in  the  Cretaceous  formation  of  the  United  States 
gave  him  a  high  reputation  and  materially  advanced  the  science. 
Morton  was  enthusiastic  and  energetic,  but  neither  vain  nor  arro- 
gant. He  was  drawn  into  the  early  controversies  which  involved 
the  Philadelphian  group  of  naturalists,  and  appears  in  them  as 
the  especial  champion  of  Say  and  Conrad.  He  had  a  literary 
turn  and  strong  I'eligious  convictions,  both  of  which  are  percep- 
tible in  his  scientific  publications. 

Thomas  Nuttall. 

Although  he  was  especially  distinguished  in  the  domain  of 
botany,  yet  by  his  shell  collections  in  various  parts  of  America, 
and  somewhat  belated  studies  of  this  conchological  material,  it 
becomes  proper  to  include  in  this  summary,  a  notice  of  Thomas 
Nuttall.  Born  in  Settle,  Yorkshire,  in  17S6,  he  was  in  very 
humble  circumstances,  and  as  a  journeyman  printer  had  few 
opportunities  for  mental  development.  Yet  he  was  endowed 
with  a  strong,  clear  intellect,  the  faculty  of  self-denial,  and  the 
passion  for  study  and  for  the  investigation  of  nature.  A  hope  of 
improving  his  position  in  life  and  of  finding  opportunity  for  study 
of  the  natural  sciences  brought  him  to  the  United  States  in  1S08, 
when  only  32  years  of  age.  Through  the  influence  of  Barton, 
the  botanist,  he  was  led  to  take  up  the  study  of  plants,  and  a  large 
part  of  his  life  was  thenceforth  devoted  to  exploration  and  re- 
search. In  1S17  he  already  had  been  admitted  to  several  scientific 
societies  of  high  standing.  In  1822  he  succeeded  Peck  in  chai-ge 
of  the  botanic  garden  at  Cambridge,  Mass.  In  1842  a  small 
estate  near  Liverpool  was  left  him  by  a  relative,  on  the  condition 
that  he  resided  upon  it  at  least  nine  months  of  every  year.  He 
then  returned  to  England,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three,    September  10,  1859.     Durand  says  of  him  :*   "He  was  a 

♦Biographical  Notice,  Proc.  Am.  Philos.  Soc,  vii,  p.  297,  i860. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  107 

remarkable  looking  man  ;  liis  head  was  ver}'  large,  bald,  and 
bore  marks  of  a  vigorous  intellect ;  his  forehead  expansive,  but 
his  features  diminutive,  with  a  small  nose,  thin  lips,  and  round 
chin,  and  with  gray  eyes  under  fleshy  eyebrows.  His  height 
was  above  the  middle,  his  person  stout,  with  a  slight  stoop  ;  and 
his  walk  peculiar  and  mincing,  resembling  that  of  an  Indian. 
Nuttall  was  naturally  shy  and  reserved  in  his  manners  in  general 
society,  but  not  so  with  those  who  knew  him  well.  If  silent  or 
perhaps  morose  in  the  presence  of  those  for  whom  he  felt  a  sort 
of  antipathy,  yet,  when  with  congenial  companions,  he  was 
affable  and  courteous,  communicative  and  agreeable."  *  *  * 
"  I  have  frequently  seen  him  in  social  circles  when  he  was  the 
delight  of  the  company,  from  his  cheerful  and  natural  replies  to 
all  questions,  and  his  voluntary  details  on  the  subject  of  his 
travels  and  adventures."  *  *  *  "Nuttall  was  extremely 
economical  in  his  habits  and  careless  about  his  dress.  None  of 
his  Philadelphia  friends,  I  believe,  ever  knew  where  he  resided, 
or  in  what  manner  he  lived."  The  profession  of  science  is  not  a 
very  profitable  one,  yet.  in  spite  of  the  few  opportunities  he  had 
for  accumulating,  he  had  succeeded,  through  the  strictest  saving, 
in  laying  aside  enough  for  his  old  age,  even  if  he  had  not  in- 
herited the  estate  of  Nut  Grove,  which  was  encumbered  with 
annuities  and  burdened  with  a  heavy  income  tax. 

Nuttall's  adventures  and  privations  while  exploring  among 
hostile  Indians,  or  during  long  voyages,  were  many  and  exciting, 
but  he  declared  to  his  friends  that  hardships  were  cheaply  pur- 
chased if  they  brought  him  the  opportunity  for  travel  and  the 
contemplation  of  nature,  which  he  found  a  source  of  constant 
delight. 


108 


BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 


J.    p.    COUTHOUY. 


Joseph  Pitty  Couthouy. 

Among  the  early  papers  on  mollusca  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  none  are  more  finished  and 
satisfactory  than  those  by  Joseph  Pitty  Couthouy.  Born  in  Bos- 
ton January  6,  1808,  of  French  extraction,  I  learn  that  he  joined 
the  Boston  Latin  School  with  the  class  which  entered  in  1820. 
His  tastes  were  for  a  seafaring  life  ;  he  shipped  on  board  his 
father's  vessel  and  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession.  He  married 
Mary  Greenwood  Wild,  March  9,  1833.  He  became  a  member 
of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  April  6.  1836,  and  in 
the  reference  to  his  first  paper,  read  October  5,  1836,  I  find  him 
styled  Captain  Couthouy.  A  year  later  the  United  States  explor- 
ing expedition  under  Wilkes  was  projected,  and,  full  of  enthusiasm, 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  109 

Couthouy  came  on  in  person  and  applied  to  President  Andrew 
Jackson  for  a  position  on  the  scientific  corps.  The  President 
said  he  could  not  seriously  entertain  the  application  as  the  list  of 
officers  was  already  complete.  To  which  the  irrepressible  young 
sailor  replied,  "Well,  General,  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  don't  go,  if  I 
have  to  go  before  the  mast !  "*  This  pleased  "Old  Hickory," 
who  told  him,  "  Go  back  to  Boston  and  I  will  see  if  anything  can 
be  done  for  you."  There,  a  few  days  after  his  return,  his  commis- 
sion as  Conchologist  of  the  Scientific  Corps  was  received.  He 
sailed  with  the  expedition  August  i8,  183S.  After  leaving 
vSamoa  his  health  suffered.  Wilkes,  who  was  preparing  a  narra- 
tive of  the  expedition,  demanded  that  Couthouy  should  turn  all 
his  notes  and  drawings  over  to  his  commander.  Couthouy  re- 
fused, as  he  considered  that  his  subsequent  work  would  be 
crippled  by  the  absence  of  notes  and  drawings  already  made,  and 
that  as  a  member  of  the  scientific  corps  he  was  entitled  to  retain 
his  papers  until  the  end  of  the  voyage.  He  was  thereupon  sus- 
pended by  Wilkes  and  ordered  home  from  Honolulu  in  1S40, 
"  for  disobedience  of  orders." 

He  had  made  many  valuable  drawings  and  notes,  many  of 
which  are  preserved  in  the  report  on  the  Mollusca  and  Shells  of 
the  expedition.  He  had  numbered  his  notes  with  a  serial  num- 
ber, and  a  tin  tag,  similarly  numbered,  was  attached  to  the 
specimen,  which  was  preserved  in  spirits  for  future  anatomical 
study  and  identification.  The  authorities  in  "Washington  had 
appointed  a  reverend  gentleman  who  knew  nothing  of  science, 
with  a  fat  salary,  to  unpack  and  take  care  of  the  specimens  sent 
home  by  the  expedition.  This  gentleman,  finding  that  the  pres- 
ence of  some  lead  in  the  tinfoil  tags  was  whitening  the  alcohol, 
carefully  removed  nil  the  tags  and  put  them  in  a  bottle  by  them- 
selves without  replacing  them  b)^  any  other  means  of  identifi- 
cation.    Twenty  years  ago  1  saw  this  bottle  of  tags  on  a  shelf  at 

*  /.  c,  as  a  common  sailor. 


110  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHIITGTOlSr. 

the  Smithsonian  and  heard  its  mournful  history.  Prominent  con- 
chologists  resident  in  the  United  States  were  favored,  for  a  con- 
sideration, with  many  rare  specimens  before  any  of  the  expedition 
naturalists  had  returned.  Some  of  those  contemporary  with  the 
events  have  told  me  of  the  prizes  secured  in  this  immoral  man- 
ner, unworthy  of  a  true  naturalist,  though  doubtless  the  tempta- 
tion was  great. 

The  result  of  such  proceedings  may  be  imagined.  Couthouy 
found  that  the  shells  to  which  many  of  his  notes  related  could 
not  be  identified,  and  others  had  disappeared  altogether.  He 
worked  over  the  mass  that  remained  until  the  return  of  the  expe- 
dition, when,  to  crown  all  his  misfortunes,  the  pay  of  the  natu- 
ralists was  reduced  forty-four  per  cent.,  though  low  enough 
previously.  For  Couthouy,  who  had  a  wife  and  two  children  to 
support,  it  was  the  last  straw.  He  declined  to  attempt  the  report, 
and  his  papers  and  collections,  after  sundry  vicissitudes,  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Gould,  who  bears  willing  testimony 
to  the  value  of  Couthouy's  work.  After  this  he  returned  to  his 
profession  as  a  master  in  the  mercantile  marine,  visiting  South 
America  and  the  Pacific.  In  1S54  ^'^^  took  command  of  an  ex- 
pedition to  the  Bay  of  Cumana,  where  he  spent  three  years  in 
the  unsuccessful  search  for  the  wreck  of  a  Spanish  treasure  ship, 
the  San  Pedro,  lost  there  early  in  the  century.  Our  next  trace  of 
him  is  shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion.  He  volunteered 
in  the  navy,  and,  August  26,  1861,  was  appointed  acting  volun- 
teer lieutenant.  Five  days  later  he  was  ordered  to  command  the 
rj.  S.  bark  Kingfisher  ;  December  31,  1862,  to  command  U.  S.  S. 
Coluifibia.,  which  was  wrecked,  and  Couthouy  made  prisoner. 
After  three  months  at  Salisbury  he  was  exchanged,  and.  May  29, 
1863,  ordered  to  the  Mississippi  squadron  to  command  the  moni- 
tor Osage^  but  was  transferred  to  U.  S.  steamer  ChillicotJic. 
On  the  3d  of  April,  1864,  while  off  Grand  Ecore,  Louisiana, 
on  the  turret  of  his  vessel,  he  was  shot  from  an  ambush  on   the 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  Ill 

shore,  and  died  the  following  day.  The  dispatches  announcing 
his  death  bore  testimony  to  his  value  as  an  officer.  He  was  eulo- 
gized by  Admiral  Porter  and  his  fellow  officers  of  the  flotilla. 

Those  who  knew  Couthouy  describe  him  as  active  and  enthu- 
siastic, with  reminders  of  his  French  ancestry  in  his  physiognomy 
and  manner;  of  middle  height,  dark  complexion,  and  more  trim 
in  his  dress  and  refined  in  his  ways  than  would  have  been  ex- 
pected from  one  who  had  always  followed  the  sea.  One  friend 
says  of  him  :  "  As  brave  and  gallant  a  soul  as  ever  trod  a  deck, 
and  a  lively  and  always  entertaining  companion." 

I  am  informed  that  he  left  a  son,  Joseph  P.,  and  two  daughters 
in  Boston,  and  the  family  is  not  extinct  there.  His  signature  to 
some  documents  at  the  Navy  Department  is  in  a  handsome  flow- 
ing hand.  He  was  a  good  linguist,  speaking  Spanish,  French, 
Italian,  and  Portuguese  with  fluency,  and  had  even  mastered  sev- 
eral dialects  used  among  the  Pacific  Islands. 

I  have  not  yet  come  on  the  track  of  any  published  portrait  of 
Couthouy,  and  none  of  the  biographical  dictionaries  or  cyclope- 
dias refer  to  him.  I  have  therefore  gone  into  detail  a  little  more 
fully  than  I  should  otherwise  have  done  to  preserve  from  oblivion 
the  memory  of  a  pati'iotic  officer  and  a  good  conchologist. 

The  sketch  portrait  which  accompanies  these  notes,  in  default 
of  a  better,  was  derived  from  an  unsatisfactory  photograph,  the 
only  thing  available,  taken  between  iS6i  and  1863  and  kindly 
lent  to  the  writer  by  a  surviving  relative. 

John  Gould  Anthoisty. 

A  naturalist  who  has  left  his  mark  on  the  classification  of  our 
fresh-water  shells  was  John  Gould  Anthony,  who  was  born  in 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  May  17,  1804,  and  died  in  Cambridge, 
Alass.,  Oct.  16,  1S77.  Mr.  Anthony  had  few  educational  advan- 
tages, leaving  school  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  and,  going  to 
Cincinnati,  engaged  in  business,  where  he  continued  for  thirty- 


112  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINOTOX 

five  years.  In  1863  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  mollusk  col- 
lection at  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  in  Cambridge  by 
Prof.  Louis  Agassiz,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Brazil  on  the 
Thayer  expedition  in  1865.  Mr.  Anthony  was  a  man  of  small 
and  delicate  frame,  with  a  well-shaped  head,  whose  brilliant  dark 
eyes  were  a  marked  feature  in  his  countenance.  He  suffered  in 
later  years  from  an  affection  which  impaired  his  sight,  and  at 
times  prevented  him  from  doing  any  work.  To  this  cause  is  due 
the  fact  that  some  of  his  later  work  was  occasionally  wanting  in 
the  precision  and  accuracy  which  characterized  that  of  an  earlier 
time.  He  wrote  a  very  beautiful,  clear  hand,  and  his  labels  were 
as  elegant  as  if  engraved  on  copper.  The  attractiveness  of  the 
Cambridge  collection  is  largely  due  to  his  unwearied  efforts.  A 
portrait  of  Mr.  Anthony,  though  not  a  very  good  one,  was  pub- 
lished in  the  American  Journal  of  Conchology,  vol.  ii,  part  2, 
1866.  His  collection  was  added  to  that  of  the  museum  at  Cam- 
bridge. 

Samuel  Stehman  Haldeman. 

Samuel  Stehman  Haldeman  was  born  at  Locust  Grove,  Penn- 
sylvania, Aug.  13,  181 3,  and  died  at  Chickies  on  the  loth  of 
September,  1880. 

He  studied  in  a  classical  school  at  Harrisburg  and  for  two  years 
at  Dickinson  College,  but  did  not  graduate.  In  1836  he  was 
called  to  assist  the  late  H.  D.  Rogers  in  the  geological  survey  of 
New  Jersey,  and  from  1S37  ^^  1843  was  engaged  in  geological 
work  on  the  State  Survey  of  Pennsylvania.  In  185 1  he  was  pro- 
fessor of  natural  science  in  the  University  or  Pennsylvania,  and 
from  1869-80  professor  of  comparative  philology  in  the  same 
institution.  He  was  a  member  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences.  His  papers  number  over  two  hundred  titles,  and  in- 
clude such  subjects  as  chess,  thq  natural  sciences,  and  especially 
philology.     He  was  a  distinguished  philologist,  but  to  American 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  1  K^ 

conchologists  his  memory  \vill  always  be  grateful,  since  he  was 
the  first  to  illustrate  a  work  on  American  mollusks  with  the  beau- 
tiful engravings  on  copper,  which  were  the  product  of  Lawson's 
burin.  These  illustrations,  though  issued  as  early  as  1S40,  are 
as  fine  as  anything  which  can  be  found  in  the  literature  to  the 
present  day.  Haldeman  was  short  and  thickset,  with  a  very 
peculiar  voice,  piercing  dark  eyes,  and  a  pleasant  and  unaffected 
manner.  He  was  in  easv  circumstances,  and  the  freedom  wdiich 
this  gave  him  resulted  in  a  wide  and  somewhat  desultory  range 
of  study,  and  heightened  some  personal  peculiarities  of  mind. 

Timothy  Abbott  Conrad. 

Distinguished  among  conchologists  and  paleontologists  alike 
was  Timothy  Abbott  Conrad,  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1S03,  who 
died  at  Trenton  Aug.  9,  1877-  Information  in  regard  to  him  I 
have  found  rather  difficult  to  obtain,  but  it  would  seem  that  he 
was  always  interested  in  the  natural  sciences,  especially  geology 
and  paleontology,  and  in  1S37  ^^'^'^  appointed  one  of  the  geolo- 
gists to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  pi"epared  the  report  for  that 
year.  He  was  paleontologist  to  the  survey  in  1S38-41.  He  pre- 
pared paleontological  reports  on  the  collections  of  the  U.  vS. 
exploring  expedition  under  Wilkes,  of  Lynch's  U.  S.  expedition 
to  the  Dead  Sea.  the  Mexican  boundary  survey,  and  some  of  the 
Pacific  Railway  explorations.  He  never  married,  and  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  lived  on  a  small  property  near  Trenton, 
coming  into  Philadelphia  frequently  to  pursue  his  work  at  the 
Academy.  He  was  of  spare  proportions,  rather  shy  and  reserved, 
wrote  an  abominable  hand,  and  was  very  careless  about  his  letters, 
which  were  largely  on  scraps  of  paper  without  date  or  location. 
He  drew  many  of  his  own  plates  on  stone,  and  his  peculiar  style 
of  illustration  is  very  recognizable.  Though  his  contributions  to 
science  were  multitudinous  and  long  continued,  his  native  care- 
lessness,  brief  diagnoses,  and  errors  of  date  and  citation  gave  his 


114  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

work  among  the  more  conservative  conchologists  a  reputation 
perhaps  less  than  its  deserts.  His  defects  were  chiefly  constitu- 
tional, rather  than  wilful  ;  he  had  an  acute  and  ohservant  eye,  and 
an  excellent,  if  sometimes  hasty,  judgment  on  matters  of  geology 
and  classification.  Wlien  we  consider  his  work  with  that  of  the 
naturalists  of  the  French  "  New  School"  of  the  present  day,  there 
seems  in  comparison  little  to  complain  of  in  Conrad's  methods. 
Early  in  life  he  undertook  several  journevs  to  the  South  especially 
for  collecting  purposes,  and  several  naturalists  contributed  to  his 
expenses  with  the  view  of  receiving  series  of  the  fossils.  An 
unfortunate  controversv  arose  from  the  conflicting  claims  to  the 
right  and  priority  of  description  of  many  of  these  species,  to 
which  Conrad's  extreme  carelessness  no  doubt  in  a  large  part 
contributed.  At  all  events  the  conflict  raged  with  great  violence 
for  several  years,  and  burdened  the  literature  with  many  syno- 
nyms. The  matter  was  still  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
some  of  his  friends,  among  whom  Morton  and  Say  have  been 
mentioned,  to  preserve,  as  they  supposed,  Conrad's  rights,  wrote 
and  published  certain  descriptions  from  his  material  during  his 
absence  and  without  his  knowledge,  of  which  he  was  obliged,  for 
their  sake,  to  assume  the  responsibility  on  his  return.  To  this 
dav  the  dates  of  publication  of  the  various  parts  of  his  ''  Tertiary 
Fossils"  are  unknown  to  the  public,  and  were  not  remembered 
by  the  author  within  a  range  of  several  years.  Conrad  dabbled 
in  literature,  and  printed  a  little  volume  of  poems  for  distribution 
among  his  friends.  I  have  heard  that  all  his  invaluable  docu- 
ments and  manuscripts  were  sold  or  destroyed  as  waste  paper 
shortly  after  his  death  through  the  ignorance  of  his  heirs. 

CONSTANTINE    SaMUEL    RafINKSQUE-ScHMALTZ. 

One  of  the  most  singular  figures  in  the  portrait  gallery  of 
scientific  men,  eccentric  as  many  of  them  have  always  been  con- 
sidered, is  that  of  Constantine  Samuel  Rafinesque-.Schmaltz.      Pie 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  115 

was  born  in  Galata,  a  suburb  of  Constantinople.  Oct.  22,  17S3. 
and  died  at  Philadelphia.  Sept.  iS,  1840,  of  cancer  of  the 
stomach.  His  father's  name  was  Rafinesque.  and  he  was  of 
French  extraction,  but  during  the  hostilities  between  the  French 
and  Neapolitans,  which  arose  about  the  time  he  settled  in  Sicily, 
he  added  the  name  of  his  mother  to  his  own  and  represented 
himself  as  an  American.  He  arrived  in  the  United  States  when 
only  nineteen  years  of  age  (iSo3),and  returned  to  Europe  in 
1S05,  after  which,  according  to  his  own  account,  lie  was  engaged 
in  commercial  pursuits  and  scientific  studies  at  Palermo.  He 
travelled  furiously,  and  collected  wherever  he  went.  In  iSi^  he 
returned  to  this  country,  but  the  vessel  which  brought  him 
was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Connecticut,  and  his  collections  and 
property  were  lost,  leaving  him  in  a  state  of  poverty  from  which 
he  never  was  able  to  emerge.  He  was.  however,  received  by 
American  naturalists  and  others  as  became  his  acquirements,  and, 
in  1819,  was  appointed  professor  of  botanv  and  natural  historv  in 
Transylvania  University,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  which  remained 
his  headquarters,  in  spite  of  many  pedestrian  journeys,  until  1826, 
when  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death.  His  multitudinous  writings  have  been  reviewed  by  Gray, 
Haldeman,  and  Trvon  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science, 
and  by  Amos  Binney  in  his  Terrestrial  Mollusks  of  the  United 
States.* 

Rafinesque  was  a  marked  example  of  the  adage,  "  Great  wit  to 
madness  nearly  is  allied,"  and  the  workings  of  a  mind  of  unusual 
acumen,  brilliancy,  and  activity  were  alwavs  clouded  bv  a  cer- 
tain incoherency  due  to  his  higlily  excitable  and  versatile  tem- 
perament. He  possessed  talents  which,  properlv  regulated, 
would  have  carried  him  to  the  front  rank  of  scientific  workers. 

*  See  Silliman's  Journal,  vof  40,  ist  series,  p.  221,  1S41 ;  also  vol.  42,  pp. 
280-91,  1842,  and  vol.  xxxiii,  2d  series,  p.  163,  March,  1S62  ;  and  Terr. 
Moll  ,  I,  pp.  41   54. 


116  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

In  1836  we  find  him  insisting,  in  his  Flora  Telluriana,  that  new 
species  and  new  genera  are  continually  produced  by  deviation 
from  existing  forms.  Every  variety  is  a  deviation  which  becomes 
a  species  as  soon  as  it  is  fixed  sutficiently  to  constantly  reproduce 
its  kind.  Many  of  the  genera  he  suggested  arc  fully  recognized 
to-day.  though  by  his  contemporaries  regarded  as  worthless.  But 
from  about  1S19  a  marked  deterioration  was  noticed  in  his  work, 
which  finally  became  tinged  deeply  with  a  sort  of  monomania. 
Societies  and  journals  were  obliged  to  refuse  his  writings,  which 
poured  forth  in  an  ever-increasing  flood.  When  he  could  obtain 
means  he  printed  for  himself,  in  shabby  and  miserable  form  it  is 
true,  but  still  he  printed  and  projected  journals  and  works  which 
died  still-born  or  never  saw  the  lieht.  His  madness  seems  to  have 
culminated  in  one  of  his  publications  where  he  describes  twelve 
new  species  of  thunder  and  lightning. 

Of  his   personal   appearance   we   have   the  following  amusing 
notes  from  Audubon's  journal : 

''  A  long,  loose  coat  of  yellow  nankeen,  on  which  the  inroads 
of  time  were  plainly  visible,  stained  as  it  was  with  the  juice  ot 
many  a  plant,  hung  aliout  him  like  a  sack.  A  waistcoat  of  the 
same,  with  enormous  pockets  and  buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  reached 
below  over  a  pair  of  tight  pantaloons,  the  lower  parts  of  which 
were  buttoned  down  to  the  ankles.  The  dignity  he  acquired 
from  the  broad  and  prominent  brow  which  ornamented  his  coun- 
tenance was  somewhat  diminished  by  the  forlorn  appearance  of 
his  long  beard  and  the  mass  of  lank  black  hair  which  fell  from 
his  shoulders."  After  relating  the  distance  he  had  walked  he 
expressed  his  regret  that  his  apparel  should  ha-ve  suffered,  but  at 
the  same  time  he  eagerly  refused  the  offer  of  any  clean  clothes, 
and  it  was  with  evident  reluctance  he  accepted  an  invitation  for 
ablution.  The  surprise  of  the  ladies  of  Audubon's  family  was 
involuntarily  manifested  in  the  exchange  of  glances  which  spoke 
volumes.      Soon,  however,  their  astonishment  was  converted  into 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  117 

admiration  at  the  ease  and  enlightenment  of  his  conversation. 
Plants  and  animals  with  which  he  was  unfamiliar  aroused  in  him 
a  sort  of  delirium  or  ecstacy.  At  night  Audubon  was  surprised 
bv  an  uproar  in  the  naturalist's  apartment.  On  reaching  it  to 
ascertain  the  cause,  he  found  his  guest  divested  of  all  clothing, 
rushing  about  the  room  engaged  in  a  sanguinary  contest  with  the 
bats  which  had  entered  by  the  open  window.  His  weapon  was  the 
handle  of  Audubon's  favorite  violin,  which  had  been  demolished 
in  the  fray.  Without  noticing  the  entrance  of  his  host  he  con- 
tinued his  extraordinarv  gvrations  until  he  was  so  exhausted  that 
he  could  hardly  use  his  A'oice  to  request  that  Audubon  would  ob- 
tain a  specimen  for  him,  as  he  was  convinced  they  were  of  a  new 
species. 

Notwithstanding  this  unpromising  beginning,  Rafinesque  re- 
mained three  weeks  in  Audubon's  family,  who  became  perfectly 
reconciled  to  his  oddities  and  found  him  a  most  agreeable  and  in- 
telligent companion.  One  evening,  however,  he  suddenly  dis- 
appeared, without  a  word  to  anyone,  and  it  was  only  after  some 
weeks  that  a  letter  was  received  which  assured  his  entertainers  of 
his  gratitude  and  his  safety. 

In  contrast  to  his  carelessness  about  his  personal  appearance, 
the  older  Silliman  speaks  of  his  beautiful  and  exact  chirography, 
and  says  that  his  communications  were  always  in  the  neatest  pos- 
sible form.  Even  in  his  direst  poverty  he  always  retained  friends 
and  admirers.  It  is  certain  that  he  must  have  possessed  many 
lovable  cjualities. 

In  this  connection  we  mav  call  to  mind  a  friend,  Charles  A. 
Poulsen,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  devoted  to  conchology  and  had 
a  fine  collection.  Mr.  Poulsen  translated  Rafinesque's  "  Mono- 
graph of  the  Bivalve  shells  of  the  river  Ohio  "  in  1S32,  and  for 
years  his  cabinet  was  resorted  to  in  the  vain  hope  of  positively 
determining  some  of  Rafinesque's  ill-defined  species.  Air.  Poulsen 
died  in  Philadelphia  in  1S66.  and  I  have  heard  that  his  collection 


118  BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON. 

was  dispersed,  many  specimens  being  acquired  by  the  late  well- 
known  conchologist,  C.  M.  Wheatley,  of  Phoenixville,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Isaac  Lea. 

Dr.  Isaac  Lea,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  long  and  active  life 
gave  him  among  the  younger  generation  the  title  of  the  Nestor 
of  American  Naturalists,  was  born  in  Wilmington,  Delaware, 
March  4,  1792,  and  died  at  his  home  in  Philadelphia  in  his  ninety- 
fifth  year,  Dec.  8,  1886.  His  ancestors  came  from  Gloucester- 
shire, England,  accompanying  William  Penn  on  his  second  visit. 
His  taste  for  natural  history  manifested  itself  at  an  early  age,  and 
was  fostered  by  his  mother,  who  was  fond  of  botany,  and  by  his 
association  with  Vanuxem,  tlien  a  youth,  who  was  devoted  to 
mineralogy  and  geology,  then  hardly  organized  as  sciences. 
Their  studies  were  undirected  ;  but.  in  181^,  they  became  mem- 
bers of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  then  about  three  years 
old.  Though  engaged  in  business,  young  Lea  became  an  active 
member  of  the  Academy,  and  published  a  mineralogical  paper  in 
its  journal  in  1S17.  This  was  followed  by  a  very  long  series  of 
contributions  to  mineralogy  and  conchology,  recent  and  fossil, 
which  have  made  his  name  familiar  to  naturalists  all  over  the 
world. 

He  married,  in  1S21,  Miss  Frances  A.  Carey,  daughter  of  Mat- 
thew Carey,  the  well-known  economist,  and  became  a  member  of 
the  publishing  house  of  Carey  &  Sons,  from  which  he  retired  in 
1S51.  Mr.  Lea's  married  life  was  exceptionally  long  and  happy, 
lasting  fifty-two  years,  and  blessed  with  a  daughter  and  two  sons, 
who  still  survive.  One  of  these  sons  is  the  wfell-known  student 
of  ecclesiastical  history,  while  the  other  has  long  stood  at  the  head 
of  iVmerican  photographic  chemists. 

In  1825  began  those  studies  of  fresh-water  and  land  shells, 
especially  the  Unios,  with  which  Dr.  Lea's  name  will  always  be 
associated.       In   1836  he  published  his  first  "  Synopsis  "  of  the 


.^ 


^^^>^'5v*^^^l''y   /ll 


•A 


f' 


mvt.  ' 


Dr.  ISAAC  LEA. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  1  1  9 

genus,  :i  thin  octavo  of  fifty-nine  pages.  The  fourth  edition  of 
this  work  appeared  in  1S70,  when  it  had  grown  to  214  pages 
quarto. 

Dr.  Lea  was  a  member  of  most  American  and  many  foreign 
scientific  societies.  He  visited  Europe  and  studied  his  favorite 
mollusks  at  all  the  museums.  There  he  made  the  acc|uaintance  of 
Ferussac,  Brogniart,  Gay,  Kiener,  and  other  distinguished  men, 
whose  names  now  sound  like  echoes  from  a  past  epoch.  Up  to 
1S74  he  continued  ever  busy  on  the  Unionidte,  and  the  number  of 
new  forms,  recent  and  fossil,  made  known  by  him  amounts  to 
nearlv  2,000.  Not  content  with  ficruring:  and  describing  the 
shells  alone,  he  figured  the  embryonic  forms  of  thirtv-eight 
species  of  Unio,  and  described  the  soft  parts  of  more  than  300. 
He  also  investigated  physiological  questions,  such  as  the  sensi- 
tiveness of  these  mollusks  to  sunlight  and  the  differences  due  to 
sex.  His  observations  on  the  genus  Unio  form  13  quarto  vol- 
umes, magnificently  illustrated.  Dr.  Lea  was  president  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  in  1S60; 
he*  presided  over  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  in  Philadel- 
phia for  several  terms,  and  was  given  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  by 
Harvard  College  in  1853. 

His  scientific  activity  extended  over  more  than  sixtv  years. 
He  was  active  in  affairs  and  vigorously  participated  in  those  con- 
troversies in  which  Say,  Conrad,  Morton,  and  others  were  en- 
gaged half  a  century  ago.  Of  these  the  echoes  only  have  come 
down  to  us,  but  there  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  the  battle  was 
often  hot  and  the  victory  energetically  contested. 

Dr.  Lea  had  an  intellectual  and,  in  later  years,  a  most  vener- 
able presence.  '  He  was  ever  anxious  to  interest  the  young  in 
scientific  pursuits,  and  was  notably  active  in  charitable  and  relig- 
ious enterprises.  In  his  youth  he  manifested  more  than  ordinary 
artistic  talent,  much  like  his  distinguished  contemporary,  Alvan 
Clark. 


120  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  Justice  to  such  a  life  as  Dr.  Lea's  in  the 
proper  limits  of  an  address  of  this  sort.  It  is  of  the  less  impor- 
tance in  the  present  case,  because  an  excellent  bibliography  of  his 
works,  preceded  by  a  biographical  sketch  and  an  admirably 
etched  portrait,  has  been  published  by  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum,*  to  whom  Dr.  Lea  bequeathed  his  invaluable  collec- 
tion of  minerals  and  shells. 

Augustus  Addison  Gould. 

Among  those,  next  to  vSay,  who  have  beneficially  influenced 
the  study  of  mollusca  in  this  country,  and  interested  young 
people  in  that  pursuit,  no  name  stands  higher  than  that  of 
Augustus  Addison  Gould.  He  was  born  in  New  Ipswich,  New 
Hampshire,  April  33,  1S05,  and  died  of  cholera  in  Boston  on  the 
15th  of  September,  1S66.  His  father  was  originally  named 
Nathaniel  Gould  Duren,  but,  on  account  of  an  inheritance,  re- 
versed the  order  of  his  surnames.  The  father  was  a  musician, 
artist,  and  engraver,  noted  for  his  elegant  penmanship,  and  of  a 
good  Chelmsford  famil}' ;  but  not  in  affluent  circumstances. 
From  him  Dr.  Gould  probably  derived  his  facility  as  a  delineator 
of  shells.  In  early  life  voung  Gould  knew  privation,  but  he  per- 
severed in  his  endeavors  for  an  education,  and  succeeded  in  car- 
rying himself  through  college,  graduating  at  Harvard  in  1825, 
and  in  medicine  in  1830. 

He  devoted  his  energies  largely  to  his  profession,  which  he 
regarded  as  the  work  of  his  life,  and  in  which  he  soon  rose  to 
deserved  eminence.  But  natural  science  claimed  his  leisure 
hours,  and  to  increase  them  he  often  robbed  himself  of  sleep.  He 
taught  botany  and  zoology  at  Harvard  for  two  years,  was  one  of 
the  founders  and  earnest  supporters  of  the  Boston  Society  of 
Natural  History,  and  original  member  of  the  National  Academy, 

♦Bulletin  No.  23,  compiled  by  N.  P.  Scudder. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  121 

and  president  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  in  1865,  and 
until  his  death.  A  brother  was  a  member  of  the  well-known 
firm  of  Gould  &  Lincoln,  publishers,  and  through  them  a  number 
of  Dr.  Gould's  works  were  republished  during  his  lifetime.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  enumerate  his  works — the  mollusca  of  the  Wilkes 
exploring  expedition,  and  the  magnificent  posthumous  work  on 
American  land  shells,  edited  by  Dr.  Gould  for  the  executors  of 
Amos  Binney,  would  have  given  him  lasting  fame.  But  the  work 
which  was  most  useful  to  American  science  was  his  classical 
Report  on  the  Invertebrata  of  Massachusetts,  published  bv  the 
State  in  1S41.  and  adorned  with  fine  copper-plates  from  his  own 
drawings.  This  was  practically  devoted  to  the  mollusks,  and 
served  as  a  manual  for  New  England  shells,  excellent  in  every 
way,  and  free  from  unnecessary  technicality  or  pedantic  expres- 
sions. The  speaker  well  remembers  the  value  this  book  had  for 
him  in  his  boyish  days,  and  it  is  said  that  to  it  Stimpson 
owed  the  impulse  which  led  him.  in  spite  of  obstacles,  to  devote 
himself  to  science. 

Dr.  Gould  was  tall,  spare,  with  dark  gray  eves,  and  hair  orig- 
inally dark,  but  gray  at  the  time  I  first  knew  him.  He  was  the 
ideal  of  the  •'  Good  Physician,"  with  a  winning,  sympathetic 
manner  ;  quiet,  and  slightly  reserved  to  strangers,  but  with  a 
living  spring  of  gentle  humor  for  his  friends.  Full  of  kindliness, 
true  piety,  self-denial,  and  noble  impulses,  no  one  could  know 
him,  in  the  midst  of  his  interesting  family,  without  loving  and 
honoring  the  man  as  well  as  admiring  the  scientist.  The  clear, 
straightforward  and  exact  quality  of  his  work  made  it  easy  of 
comprehension,  and  there  is  no  knowing  how  many  persons  were 
inspired  by  it  to  a  study  of  the  animals  he  described.  He  was 
particularly  able  in  his  study  of  the  smaller  forms  of  land  shells, 
which  he  drew  with  wonderful  accuracy  and  artistic  taste.  A 
good  portrait  of  Dr.  Gould  was  published  in  the  Annual  of 
Scientific   Discovery   for    1S61    and    afterward    reprinted    in    the 


122  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTGTOlSr. 

American  Journal  of  Conchology,  vol.  i,  part  4,  1865.*  This 
picture,  thouj^h  well  executed,  wants  the  winning  expression 
which  was  characteristic  of  his  face. 

Amos  Binney. 

The  first  to  project  and  illustrate  in  the  highest  style  of  the  art 
a  work  on  the  Helicidae  of  the  United  States,  doing  for  the  land- 
shells  what  Haldeman  had  attempted  for  the  fresh-water  gastro- 
pods, was  Amos  Binney,  of  Boston,  born  October  18,  1803,  who 
died  at  Rome,  Italy,  February  iS,  1847,  leaving  his  work  still 
incomplete.  He  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1S21,  and  in 
medicine  at  Harvard  in  1836,  but  his  health  proving  precarious 
he  devoted  himself  to  commercial  pursuits  with  remarkable  suc- 
cess, reserving  his  leisure  for  science  and  art,  of  which  he  was 
passionately  fond.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  and  a  liberal 
giver  to  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  which  elected 
him  its  president  from  1S43  until  his  death.  He  was  active  in 
establishing  the  American  Association  of  Naturalists  and  Geolo- 
gists, which  has  since  developed  into  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 

As  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  General  Courtf  he  was 
instrumental  in  securing  the  organization  of  the  zoological  and 
botanical  commissions  to  which  we  owe  the  classical  Massachu- 
setts Reports  by  Harris,  Emerson,  Storer,  and  Gould. 

At  his  death  his  work  on  the  Terrestrial  Moll'usks  of  the  United 
States  was  unfinished,  but  he  provided  in  his  will  for  its  comple- 
tion, a  work  for  which  his  executors  designated  his  friend  and 
townsman.  Dr.  Gould,  as  editor.  This  work -is  unsurpassed  in 
elegance  of  execution   by  any  similar  publication  to  the  present 


*  A  brief  notice  of  Dr.  Gould's  life  appeared  in  those  copies  of  the  second 
edition  of  tlie  "  Invertebrata "  which  were  distributed  by  his  family. 
There  is  a  notice  by  Dr.  Jacob  Bigelow  in  tlie  transactions  of  the  Suffolk 
County  Medical  Society  in  1S66. 

t  So  the  legislature  is  styled  in  that  State. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  123 

dav.  The  premature  death  by  pneumonia  of  Dr.  Binney  cut  off 
many  promising  plans  for  the  promotion  of  science  ajid  art  in 
America.  Those  interested  in  land  shells,  however,  do  not  need 
to  be  told  that  his  son,  Mr.  William  G.  Binney,  has  well  sus- 
tained his  father's  reputation  in  the  same  field.  Dr.  Binney  was 
above  the  average  height,  robust,  well  formed  i\nd  refined  in 
appearance.  His  hair  and  eyes  were  very  dark,  and  his  expres- 
sion grave  and  reserved.  This  and  the  somewhat  severe  tone  of 
his  voice  was  apt  to  convey  to  those  who  did  not  know  him  an 
impression  of  hatttetiry  which  did  not  correspond  to  the  real  feel- 
ings of  the  man.  An  excellent  biographical  sketch  is  given  by 
Dr.  Gould  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Terrestrial  Mollusks.  which 
was  published  in  iS^i.  Dr.  Binnev  was  buried  at  Mount  Au- 
burn, where  the  monument  which  commemorates  him  is  one  of 
those  to  which  the  stranger's  attention  is  always  attracted. 

Charles  Baker  Adams. 

Charles  Baker  Adams,  one  of  the  most  industrious  and  best 
known  American  conchologists,  was  born  in  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  the  eleventh  of  January.  1S14.  Of  a  family  of  six 
children  he  was  the  only  one  spared  to  his  parents.  When  four 
years  old  his  father,  Mr.  Charles  J.  Adams,  removed  permanently 
to  Boston,  where  he  engaged  in  business.  At  an  early  age  the 
boy  showed  great  interest  in  chemistry  and  natural  history,  in 
which  he  was  encouraged  by  his  parents,  who  gave  him  the  use 
of  a  room  for  a  laboratory  and  furnished  the  means  for  procuring 
chemicals  and  apparatus.  The  time  usually  given  to  play  by 
most  lads  of  his  age  was  largely  occupied  by  young  Adams  in 
experimenting  with  reagents  or  studying  and  arranging  the  vari- 
ous objects  of  natural  history  which  he  collected  in  excursions 
with  his  father  or  received  from  friends.  He  studied  in  the  Bos- 
ton' schools,  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  and  entered  Yale 
College  in  October.  1830.     In  September,  1S31,  he  removed  to 


124  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

Amherst,  and  joined  the  sophomore  class,  graduating  in  1834 
with  the  highest  honors.  Shortly  afterward  he  entered  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Andover,  but  in  1836  he  left  his  studies  of 
divinity  to  join  Professor  Hitchcock  in  prosecuting  the  geological 
survey  of  the  State  of  New  York.  This  work  being  terminated 
by  the  illness  of  Professor  Hitchcock  he  returned  to  Amherst  and 
busied  himself,  for  several  years,  partly  as  a  tutor  at  Amherst  and 
partly  by  delivering  lectures  on  geology  at  various  educational 
institutions.  In  September,  183S,  he  became  professor  of  chem- 
istry and  natural  history  at  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  and 
the  following  February  married  Mary,  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Sylvester  Holmes,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

In  1845  he  became  State  Geologist  of  Vermont,  and  continued 
the  operations  incident  to  that  office  for  three  years.  Under  his 
unremitting  labors  as  a  popular  teacher  in  the  college  and  his 
geological  work  in  the  field  his  natui'ally  delicate  constitution 
suffered,  and  he  was  obliged  to  seek  a  less  rigorous  climate.  He 
visited  the  island  of  Jamaica  in  the  winter  of  1843-4,  and  in  1847 
resigned  his  professorship  at  Middlebury  to  accept  that  of  zoology 
and  astronomy  at  Amherst.  In  the  winter  of  1848-49  he  again 
visited  Jamaica,  and  in  November,  1S50,  he  went  to  Panama,  re- 
turning by  way  of  Jamaica  the  following  spring.  Anxious  to 
pursue  further  his  investigations  on  the  moUusk-fauna  of  the  West 
Indian  islands,  Prof.  Adams  left  for  St.  Thomas  by  way  of  Ber- 
muda in  December,  1852,  arriving  on  the  27th,  but  in  his  weak 
condition  became  a  victim  of  the  pernicious  malaria  of  that  island, 
and.  though  tended  with  solicitude  by  his  St.  Thomas  friends,  died 
the  i8th  of  January,  1853.  A  tablet  was  placed  over  his  grave 
by  the  residents  of  St.  Thomas  as  a  memorial  of  their  esteem  and 
admiration  for  his  character.  The  Professor's  widow,  four  sons, 
and  a  daughter  survived  him. 

Prof.  Adams  was  of  middle  height,  slender  and  delicate  in  ap- 
pearance, with  fine  expressive  eyes  and  a  winning  countenance. 


PEESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  125 

In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  gentle  and  affectionate  ;  in  his 
friendships,  faithful  and  generous.  His  earnestness  and  ability  as 
a  teacher  gave  him  popularity  and  success  in  his  college  duties, 
while  liis  private  character  was  above  reproach.  He  was  quiet 
and  studious  in  his  habits,  but  had  the  true  New  England  genius 
tor  hard  work  ;  having  in  his  laboratory  at  the  college  an  old 
green  lounge,  where  it  is  said  he  sought  repose  in  the  early  morn- 
ing hours  after  manv  a  night  devoted  to  original  research.  Indeed, 
it  is  commonlv  reported  among  those  who  knew  him  that  he  re- 
linquished to  Nature  only  so  much  of  his  time  as  she  imperatively 
demanded  and  fairlv  burned  his  candle  at  both  ends.  Notwith- 
standing his  quiet  ways,  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  imposed  upon, 
and  among  the  college  legends,  still  passed  from  class  to  class 
at  Amherst,  are  several  which  relate  the  signal  discomfiture  of 
would-be  shirkers  of  their  duties,  which  made  him  the  terror 
of  the  lazv  men  in  his  classes. 

Professor  Adams'  work  was  distinguished  by  care  and  accu- 
racy, by  a  philosophical  grasp  unusual  at  that  day.  and  which, 
had  he  been  unhampered  by  the  current  theories  of  the  creation 
and  immutabilitv  of  species,  would  have  given  him  an  even 
higher  rank  among  naturalists.  He  monographed  the  mollusk- 
fauna  of  Panama,  and  did  more  than  any  other  single  naturalist 
toward  making  known  the  riches  of  the  West  Indian  region.  He 
emphasized  the  study  of  the  geographical  distribution  of  animals, 
and  as  a  collector  was  unparalleled  both  in  enthusiasm  and  suc- 
cess. 

His  remarkable  collection  (probably  even  now  standing  third 
or  fourth  in  the  United  States  in  point  of  interest  and  value,  and 
its  numl:)er  of  contained  types)  he  left  under  liberal  conditions  to 
Amherst  College,  where  it  still  remains.  His  publications  are 
among;  the  classics  of  American  conchologv,  and  well  bear  com- 
parison  with  many  more  pretentious  works.  Like  most  Amer- 
ican naturalists  Prof.  Adams  was  never  in  affluent  circumstances. 


126  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

.and  the  success  of  his  labors  was  largely  due  to  unremitting  self- 
denial.* 

Philip  Pearsall  Carpenter. 

Philip  Pearsall  Carpenter,  who.  b}'  his  valuable  labors  on 
American  mollusks  and  his  residence  in  America,  is  fairly  to  be 
enrolled  on  the  list  of  American  conchologists.  was  born  in 
Bristol,  England.  Nov.  4.  1S19.  and  died  at  Montreal.  Canada, 
May  24,  1877-  He  belonged  to  a  famil}'  whose  members  have 
been  renowned  for  their  devotion  to  science,  education,  liberalism 
in  all  good  things,  and  works  of  benevolence  and  charity.  He 
described  himself  as  a  born  teacher,  but  a  naturalist  bv  chance. 
But  his  interest  in  his  favorite  study  developed  earlv.  When  only 
twelve  vears  old  he  had  accumulated  a  larsre  cabinet  and  mas- 
tered  the  classification  of  the  day.  He  studied  at  the  University 
of  Edinburgh  and  at  Manchester  College,  York,  which  became 
affiliated  with  London  University,  from  which  he  received  his  de- 
gree in  1S41.  In  1S46-58  he  labored  in  the  ministry  at  Warring- 
ton, and  during  this  period  prepared  his  classic  Alemoir  on  the 
Mazatlan  Shells',  and  his  report  to  the  British  Association  on  the 
state  of  our  knowledge  of  the  moUusk-fauna  of  the  western  coast 
of  America.  In  December,  1S58,  he  visited  the  United  States 
and  traveled  extensively.  In  the  winter  of  1S59-60  he  came  to 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  where  he  spent  some  five  months  at 
work  upon  the  shell  collections  and  delivered  the  lectures  on  Mol- 
lusca  which  were  afterward  printed  in  the  Smithsonian  Report. 
In  i860  he  returned  to  England,  where  he  married  Miss  Minna 
Meyer,  of  Hamburg.  This  union,  though  entered  into  somewhat 
late  in  life,  was  most  happy.  In  1S63  he  prepared  a  supplement 
to  his  British  Association  Report  of  18^6,  which  has  been  most 
useful  to  students  of  our  west  coast  shells. 

*  His  portrait  and  an  appreciative  biogiaphical  sketch  bj  Thomas  Bland, 
of  which  I  have  made  unsparing  use,  may  be  found  in  the  American  Jonr- 
nal  of  Conchology-,  vol.  i,  pp.  191-204,  1865. 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDEESS.  127 

In  October,  1865,  he  left  England  for  Montreal,  which  was 
thenceforth  his  home,  and  where  his  valuable  collection,  pre- 
sented bv  him  to  McGill  University,  is  suitably  housed  in  the 
Peter  Redpath  Museum  of  that  institution.  During  the  period  of 
his  activity  in  Montreal  he  devoted  himself  largely  to  a  mono- 
graphic study  of  the  CJiitouidcv^  with  results  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  their  proper  classification,  but  of  which  only  a  concise 
abstract  has  yet  been  published,  though  a  large  mass  of  MSS. 
had  been  prepared  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Dr.  Carpenter  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 
from  the  New  York  State  University  in  1S60.  He  was  a  man  of 
slight  frame,  below  the  middle  height,  and  of  striking  personal 
appearance.  He  was  brimful  of  enthusiasm  not  only  in  his 
studies,  but  in  all  that  related  to  good  health,  morals,  and  practi- 
cal religion.  His  audacity  in  confronting  and  attacking  abuses 
was  unparalleled,  and,  like  most  reformers,  he  met  with  much  op- 
position and  made  many  active  opponents.  But  the  rich  charity 
of  his  nature,  his  single-minded  devotion  to  what  he  believed  to 
be  right,  and  his  disregard  of  his  personal  interests  in  all  that 
concerned  the  promotion  of  reforms,  made  even  the  bitterest  op- 
ponents concede  him  elements  of  character  of  which  anv  man  or 
communitv  might  be  justlv  proud.* 

Thomas  Bi.and. 

Thomas  Bland,  one  of  our  best  known  naturalists,  was  born 
October  4.  1S09.  in  Newark,  Nottinghamshire,  England.  His 
father  was  a  physician  and  his  mother  related  to  Shepard,  the 
naturalist.  He  was  educated  at  the  famous  Charter-House  school, 
London,  and  was  a  classmate  of  Thackeray.  Subsequently  he 
studied  and  practiced  law.     He  went  to  Barbados,  West  Indies, 

*  An  excellent  memoir  of  Dr.  P.  P.  Carpenter,  accompanied  by  a  good 
portrait,  was  prepared  bv  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Russell  Lant  Carpenter, 
^nd  published  bj  C.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.,  London,  in  iSSo. 


12H  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON, 

in  1S43,  and  later  to  Jamaica;  visited  England  in  1850,  and  in 
the  same  year  accepted  the  superintendency  of  a  gold  mine  at 
Marmato,  New  Granada.  While  a  resident  of  Jamaica,  it  was 
visited  in  1S49  ^Y  Pi'of-  C.  B.  Adams,  with  whom  Mr.  Bland 
cultivated  a  warm  friendship.  Stimulated  by  the  enthusiasm  of 
Adams,  Bland  began  those  investigations  of  the  land  shells  for 
which  he  afterward  became  so  distinguished.  In  iS^3  he  came 
to  New  York,  which  for  most  of  his  subsequent  life  became  his 
home.  Here  his  business  lay  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  the  affairs 
of  mining  companies,  with  several  of  which  he  was  connected. 
He  was  a  man  of  rather  dark  complexion,  with  brilliant  dark 
eyes  ;  somewhat  bowed  by  ill  health,  induced  by  his  long  resi- 
dence in  the  tropics,  he  seemed  rather  below  the  middle  height. 
He  was  of  a  studious  and  rather  grave  demeanor,  but  notably 
courteous,  and  always  ready  to  assist  young  students  or  others 
intei'ested  in  his  favorite  pursuit.  He  avoided  controversy,  and 
in  spite  of  his  extreme  modesty  was  several  times  called  to  posts 
of  honor  and  responsibility.  By  those  privileged  to  know  him 
he  was  held  in  high  esteem,  which  was  not  lessened  by  his  bear- 
insf  under  the  adversitv  which  unfortunatelv  clouded  his  later 
years.  Mr.  Bland  was  the  author  of  more  than  seventy  papers 
treating  of  the  Mollusks,  especialh^  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  Antilles.  His  work  was  not  confined  to  the  description  of 
species,  but  comprised,  valuable  contributions  to  their  anatomy, 
classification,  geographical  distribution,  and  the  philosophy  of 
their  development.  No  American  conchologist  has  shown  a 
more  philosophic  grasp  of  the  subject,  and  his  discussion  of  the 
distribution  of  the  land  shells  of  the  West  Indies,  published  in 
1861,  gave  him  a  wide  reputation.  He  several  times  returned  to 
this  subject  in  later  years,  and  always  with  marked  success. 
Since  3869  Mr.  Bland  was  associated  with  Mr.  W.  G.  Binney 
in  several  important  works  on  the  terrestrial  mollusks  of  North 
America.     Mr.  Bland  was  a  fellow  of  the  Geological   Societv, 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  129 

and  for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the  New  York  Lyceum 
of  Natural  History.  He  died  after  an  illness  of  several  years' 
duration  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  August  20,  1885.  A  convenient 
bibliography  of  his  papers  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Arthur  F.  Gray 
in  18S4,  and  his  portrait  is  to  be  found  in  the  American  Journal 
of  Conchology,  vol.  ii,  pt.  4,  1866. 

William  Stimpson. 

In  the  case  of  William  Stimpson  we  have  a  good  instance  of 
how  not  merely  disadvantageous  circumstances  may  be  defied 
but  positive  opposition  conquered  by  what  may  be  called  an  in- 
nate devotion  to  the  study  of  nature.  He  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
now  within  the  charter  limits  of  Boston,  Feb.  14,  1S32.  His 
parents  were  Herbert  H.  Stimpson,  who,  I  am  informed,  was  of 
Virginian  origin,  and  Mary  Ann  Brewster,  of  a  good  New  Eng- 
land family.  Mr.  Stimpson  dealt  in  stoves  and  ranges,  in  part- 
nership with  his  brother  Frederick,  at  Congress  and  Water 
streets,  Boston,  for  many  years.  He  was  a  successful  business 
man,  though  not  liberally  educated,  and  introduced  certain  im- 
provements into  cooking  ranges,  of  which  one  kind  was  long 
familiar  to  Boston  housewives  under  the  name  of  the  •'  Stimp- 
son range."  The  early  education  of  the  son  was  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  and  in  his  sixteenth  year  he  seems  to  have 
shown  unusual  mental  powers,  as  we  find  him  entering  the 
upper  class  of  the  Boston  High  School  in  September,  1S47, 
from  which  he  graduated  the  following  July.  Even  before  this 
time  he  had  become  deeply  interested  in  natural  history.  A 
copy  of  Gould's  Invertebrata  of  Massachusetts  having  fallen  into 
his  hands  his  attention  was  directed  towards  these  animals.  He 
presented  himself  to  the  author  of  the  work  to  find  out  if  it  were 
possible  for  a  copy  to  be  had  for  his  very  own.  Dr.  Gould,  with 
his  never-varying  kindness,  gave  him  an  order  on  the  State  libra- 
rian for  one  of  the  books,  and  the  exulting  joy  with  which  the 


130  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

boy  marched  out  of  the  State  House  with  the  coveted  volume 
under  his  arm  was  never  forgotten  by  him  and  often  related  in 
after  years.  But  Dr.  Gould's  kindness  did  not  stop  here  ;  he 
brought  young  Stimpson  to  the  notice  of  Agassiz,  then  in  the 
fii-st  flush  of  successful  teaching  at  Cambridge,  and  introduced 
him  to  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History.  His  relatives 
were  anxious  that  the  boy  should  go  into  business  ;  his  excursions 
to  the  sea-shore  and  the  dredging  work  which,  unaided,  he  had 
already  begun,  were  looked  on  with  no  favorable  eye,  and  only 
the  urgent  representations  of  some  of  those  who  had  become  in- 
terested in  the  boy  and  saw  in  him  a  capacity  for  better  things, 
saved  him  from  a  fate  he  detested.  As  a  compi'omise  he  was  sent 
out  with  a  civil  engineer  to  learn  that  profession,  but  his  em- 
ployer declared  he  was  too  fond  of  hunting  for  land  shells  to 
make  a  good  surveyor,  and  advised  that  he  be  allowed  to  follow 
the  career  which  his  inclinations  so  strongly  declared  for.  He  was 
allowed  to  enter  the  Latin  School  in  1848.  The  following  sum- 
mer he  managed  by  some  means  to  get  oft'  on  a  fishing  smack 
bound  for  Grand  Manan,  and  devoted  his  whole  energies  to  the 
collection  and  study  of  the  marine  animals  of  that  vicinity.  Still, 
in  the  face  of  strong  opposition,  he  succeeded  in  joining  the  work- 
ers at  Agassiz'  laboratory  in  October,  i8'^o.  Wherever  he  went 
his  enthusiasm  and  lovable  qualities  raised  up  friends,  and  through 
their  aid  an  appointment  was  secured  to  him  as  naturalist  to 
the  North  Pacific  exploring  expedition  under  Ringgold  (later  com- 
manded by  Captain  John  Rodgers,  U.  S.  N.),  which  was  sent 
out  by  the  United  States  in  1852.  With  a  paid  appointment  in 
Government  service,  those  who  had  persistently  opposed  his 
ambition  began  to  give  way  and  confess  that  there  might  be  some- 
thing in  it  after  all,  though  doubtless  laying  greater  stress  on  that 
"  something"  for  which  Stimpson  cared  least. 

He  joined  the  expedition  Nov.  33,  1S52.  and  was  absent  four 
years,  during  which  he  visited  Japan,  Bering  Strait,  and  many 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS.  131 

other  localities  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  naturalist.  No  gen- 
eral report  on  the  voyage  has  yet  appeared,  and  Stimpson's  report 
on  the  Crustacea  with  its  beautiful  illustrations  still  remains  in 
manuscript. 

He  began  to  work  up  his  materials  at  Washington,  and  for  pur- 
poses of  study  visited  Europe,  dredged  on  the  British  coast,  and 
made  hosts  of  friends  across  the  Atlantic. 

His  preliminary  studies  of  the  radiates  and  Crustacea  of  the  ex- 
pedition ensured  his  place  among  the  most  promising  of  the 
young  naturalists  of  the  day,  and  were  expressed  in  elegant  Latin. 
He  prepared  and  published  the  investigations  into  marine  life 
made  at  Grand  Manan,  and  was  the  leader  of  an  enthusiastic 
band  of  students  who  gathered  in  the  museum  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  for  work  under  the  influence  of  Henry  and  Baird,  kept 
bachelor's  hall  together  under  the  sobriquet  of  the  Megatherium 
Club,  and  instituted  the  first  biological  society  in  Washington 
under  the  name  of  the  Potomac-side  Naturalists'  Club.  Most  of 
them  subsequently  reached  distinction  m  the  pursuit  of  science. 

About  iS6o,  Stimpson  received  the  honorary  degree  of  M.  D. 
from  the  Columbian  University.  He  was  afterwards  a  member 
of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  instituted  while  the  country 
was  in  the  midst  of  its  fiercest  military  struggle.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  July,  1864,  he  married  Miss  Annie  Gordon,  of  Ilchester, 
Maryland. 

Robert  Kennicott,  of  Illinois,  whose  name  rouses  affectionate 
remembrance  in  the  minds  of  all  who  knew  him,  was  Director  of 
the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  whose  establishment  and  pro- 
gress wxre  for  the  most  part  due  to  his  enthusiasm,  ability,  and 
persistence.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Megatherium  Club, 
and  was  a  devoted  friend  of  Stimpson.  He  was  about  to  under- 
take those  explorations  in  Alaska  from  which  he  never  returned. 
He  knew  that  his  undertaking  was  arduous,  and  its  outcome  un- 
certain.    His  child,  the  Academy,  must  be  provided  for,  and  its 


132  BIOLOGHCAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHHSTGTON. 

fate  not  left  to  accident.  Stimpson  was  the  man  for  the  post  and 
was  selected.  The  institution  was  thriving,  with  a  large  mem- 
bership, an  excellent  collection,  and  the  nucleus  of  a  library.  In 
June,  iS66,  the  building  and  nearly  all  its  contents  became  a  prey 
to  fire.  But  the  trustees  had  suitably  insured  the  collection  and, 
with  the  growing  prosperity  of  the  Society,  due  largely  to  Stimp- 
son's  social  tact  and  attractive  personality,  the  Academy  purchased 
ground,  put  up  a  fire-proof  building,  and  rose  like  a  Phanix  with 
new  vigor  from  the  ashes. 

Here  Stimpson  assembled  as  in  a  sure  harbor  the  manuscripts, 
collections,  engravings,  and  drawings  of  a  lifetime. 

He  had  the  finest  and  most  complete  collection  of  East  Amer- 
ican invertebrates  which  had  ever  been  brought  together,  with  a 
vast  amount  of  illustrative  material  from  Europe,  the  Arctic  re- 
gions, and  other  parts  of  the  world.  Books  and  specimens  which 
he  did  not  own  were  freely  lent  to  him  by  the  Smithsonian  and 
by  Eastern  naturalists,  for  was  he  not  a  scientific  missionary,  a 
biological  bishop,  in  partibus  Injideliiun^  in  the  land  where  the 
almighty  dollar  reigned  supreme.''  And  more  important  still,  the 
Academy  was  fire-proof. 

A  manual  of  marine  invertebrates  of  the  coast  from  Maine  to 
Georgia  was  in  preparation  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution  ;  there 
was  already  much  manuscript  and  many  beautiful  engravings. 

All  the  Smithsonian  shell-fish  in  alcohol  were  there  ;  Pourtales 
sent  his  unspeakable  treasures  newly  ravished  from  the  depths  of 
ocean.  On  every  hand  a  wealth  of  material,  a  host  of  indulgent 
friends  and  correspondents,  a  prospect  of  good  work  for  science, 
education,  patriotism. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1S71,  a  small  fire  broke  out  in  South 
Chicago,  which  was  not  extinguished.  In  forty-eight  hours  the 
Qiieen  City  of  the  Northwest  was  practically  in  ashes. 

The  temple  of  religion,  the  refuge  of  the  sick  and  destitute, 
the  palace  of  the  millionaire,  the  shanty  of  the  day-laborer,  the 


PRESIDENTIAL    ADDRESS,  133 

sanctuary  of  trade,  the  gambler's  hell,  the  hospital,  the  home,  and 
the  grog-shop — withered,  crumbled,  or  evaporated  into  thin  air, 
before  a  power  stronger  than  tlieni  all. 

After  this  universal  destruction,  when  granite  became  flour, 
bricks  ran  to  glass,  iron  shrunk  like  wax  before  the  roaring  and 
devouring  element,  all  that  was  left  of  Stimpson's  lifework,  of  the 
building  and  its  treasures  of  art  and  nature,  was  a  heap  of  ashes, 
the  calcined  foundations,  and  the  clay  pipkin  of  a  mound  builder, 
once  rescued  from  a  western  tumulus  to  illustrate  the  arts  of  bar- 
barism, and  now,  in  this  hour  of  universal  wreck,  surviving 
every  product  of  civilization. 

The  blow  was  too  heavy.  The  spirit  indeed  was  valiant,  but 
the  body  was  frail.  He  had  long  suffered  from  weakness  of  the 
lungs,  with  periods  of  low  spirits  characteristic  of  the  ailment. 
After  an  attempt  to  work  on  the  Gulf  vStream  with  the  Coast 
Survey  in  the  winter  of  1871-3,  he  returned  broken  down,  and 
died  at  Ilchester  on  the  26th  of  May,  1872.* 

Dr.  Stimpson  was  of  middle  height,  slender,  with  brown,  curly 
hair,  and  merry  eyes,  whose  expression  was  rather  heightened 
than  impaired  by  the  glasses  he  habitually  wore.  His  bearing 
was  that  of  a  scholar,  rather  retiring,  except  with  friends,  when 
the  boyish  exuberance  of  his  spirits  had  full  sway.  Those  who 
had  the  privilege  of  his  companionship  will  carrv  an  abiding 
memory  of  his  abilities  as  a  naturalist,  and  his  noble  and  lovable 
characteristics  as  a  man. 


The  number  of  persons  brought  under  review  in  the  preceding 
pages  (omitting  Poulsen  and  Warren)  is  eighteen,  a  number  too 
small  to  afford  many  statistical  generalizations. 

Eight  of  the  men  were  college  bi"ed,  ten  of  them  acquired  their 
education  in  the  common  schools,  or  had  even  fewer  early  advan- 


*See  memorial   notice  by  J.  W.  Foster  in  Chicago  Tribune  of  June  12, 
1872.     Reported  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Academy. 


134  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

tages.  Two  were  wealthy  by  inheritance,  two  became  so  by 
business  enterprises,  fourteen  liad  a  modest  or  insufficient  in- 
come, and  were  obliged  to  work  their  way  through  life  ;  of  these 
five  were  college  bred.  Seven  were  devoted  to  science  among 
other  interests  ;  with  eleven  science  was  the  mainspring  of  their 
lives.  The  average  age  attained  was  sixty  years  ;  of  those  de- 
pendent on  their  own  industry  about  58  years.  Divided  accord- 
ing to  their  absorption  in  scientific  pursuits  we  find  those  who 
devoted  all  their  energies  to  science  averaged  62.37  y^'^iSi  the 
others  55.7  years  of  life. 

The  only  lesson  which  may  be  said  to  be  absolutely  clear  is, 
that  naturalists  are  born,  and  not  made  ;  that  the  sacred  fire  can- 
not be  extinguished  by  poverty  nor  lighted  from  a  college  taper. 
That  the  men  whose  work  is  now  classical,  and  whose  devotion 
it  is  our  privilege  to  honor,  owed  less  to  education  in  any  sense 
than  they  did  to  self-denial,  steadfastness,  energy,  a  passion  for 
seeking  out  the  truth,  and  an  innate  love  of  nature.  These  are 
the  qualities  which  enabled  them  to  gather  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  their  successors,  while  profit- 
ing by  that  harvest,  fail  not  in  the  virtues  which  made  it  possible. 


DESCRIPTION  OF   A   NEW   FOX   FROM   SOUTHERN 

CALIFORNIA. 

Vtilpes  mac  rot  is  sp.  nov. 

LONG-EARED  FOX. 

By  Dk.  C.  Hart  Merriam. 

(Read  Feb.    ii,  1888.; 

The  fox  which  is  the  subject  of  the  present  communication 
was  killed  at  Riverside,  San  Bernardino  county,  California, 
November  i,  1SS5.  It  differs  so  strikingly  from  the  other  North 
American  foxes  that  detailed  comparison  is  unnecessary.  It  is  a 
small  animal,  the  single  specimen  before  me  being  a  little  lesf- 
in  size  than  the  Kit  Fox  (  V^ulpes  velox) ,  agreeing  in  this  respec: 
with  the  California  Island  Fox  (  Urocyon  littoralis) ,  from  which 
latter  animal,  however,  it  differs  generically.  Its  most  notice- 
able external  peculiarity  consists  in  its  large  ears,  which  character 
alone  suffices  to  distinguish  it  from  its  North  American  congeners. 

It  is  not  a  little  surprising  that  so  large  a  mammal  as  a  fox, 
inhabiting  so  well  explored  a  region  as  California,  should  have 
escaped  notice  till  the  present  time  ;  and  the  fact  is  still  more 
remarkable  from  the  circumstance  that  the  animal  here  described 
differs  so  notably  from  its  nearest  relatives.  For  these  reasons, 
and  others  derived  from  a  study  of  the  specimen  with  a  view  to 
the  known  laws  of  geographical  variation,  I  am  led  to  the  belief 
that  it  is  a  Mexican  species,  finding  its  northern  limit  in  southern 
California.  The  place  where  the  present  specimen  was  killed 
(Riverside,  San  Bernardino  county)  is  only  a  hundred  miles 
from  the  Mexican  boundary. 

135 


LSfi  BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 

The  following  diagnosis  is  sufficient  for  purposes  of  identifi- 
cation : 

VULPES   MACROTIS  sp.    nov. 

Type  No.      '  — ,    male,   young  adult,   Merriam   Collection. 
2324 

Riverside,  California,  November  i,  1885.     F.  Stephens. 


External  Characters. — Size,  small,  equalling  or  a  little 
less  than  that  of  I'ulpes  velox ;  ears  long  and  broad,  relatively 
much  larger  than  in  any  other  North  American  fox,  and  well 
haired  on  both  sides  ;  muzzle,  legs,  and  tail  long  and  slender, 
the  latter  a  little  longer  than  the  body,  and  aliout  as  slender  as 
in  Urocyon  virginianus.  Soles  w^ell  haired,  tlie  plantar  tuber- 
cles being  entirely  concealed. 

Color. — Upper  parts  grizzled-gray,  palest  on  the  head  and 
darkest  on  the  back;  terminal  fourth  of  tail  ncarlv  black  ;  sides, 
upper  surface  of  legs,  and  pectoral  band  pale  fulvous ;  under 
parts  white  mixed  with  pale  ochraceous-bufT.  In  the  only  speci- 
men at  hand  the  general  color  is  almost  as  pale  as  that  of  V.  velox. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  pure  white  sub-apical  zone  of  each 
hair  is  much  enlarged,  while  the  black  terminal  portion  tapers 
rapidly  into  a  much  attenuated,  awn-shaped  point,  the  result 
being  that  the  white  predominates  over  the  black.  The  dorsal 
hairs  are  short  for  a  fox,  and  the  pale  buff  of  the  under  fur  shows 
through,  thus  completing  the  combination  which  gives  to  the 
back  its  grizzled-gray  appearance.  There  is  no  indication  of  a 
dorsal  stripe  on  either  back  or  tail.  The  convex  surface  of  the 
ear  is  well  covered  with  short  fur  which  is  pale  fulvous  in  color, 
and  mixed  with  iron  gray,  except  at  the  base  posteriorly  where 
the  gray  is  nearly  absent.  The  margin  of  the  ear  is  white,  as 
are  the  long  hairs  bordering  it  inside.  Between  the  white  border 
and  the  grizzled  fulvous  of  the  upper  surface  of  the  ear  there  is 
an  indistinct  dark  line.  The  base  of  the  ear  in  front  is  covered 
by  a  dense  growth  of  fur  and   hair  which  completely  hides  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF    A    NEW    FOX,  137 

meatus.  The  lower  lip  is  bordered  by  a  narrow  margin  of 
blackish  hair,  which  curves  upward  around  the  commissure,  and 
extends  forward  about  one-fourth  the  length  of  the  upper  lip. 
The  chin  and  throat  are  entirely  white.  The  whiskers  are 
black,  and  the  hair  about  their  bases  is  darker  than  on  other 
parts  of  the  face. 

Measurements  from  the  dry   Skin. 

{A/l  measurements  in  millimeters). 

Total  length,      ...... 

Head  and  body,  .... 

Tail  to  end  of  vertebrae. 

Tail  to  end  of  hairs,  .... 

Hind  foot,  ...... 

Height  of  ear  tVoin  crown, 


850. 
510. 
290. 

340- 

no. 

68 


Cranial  Characters. — The  skull  is  that  of  a  young  adult, 
and  probably  is  not  quite  full  grown  ;  the  zygomatic  breadth, 
therefore,  is  less  than  it  would  be  in  a  more  aged  specimen. 
Unfortunately,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  occipital  region, 
including  both  condyles,  is  broken  away ;  hence  the  basilar 
length  and  several  important  ratios  cannot  be  taken.  The  facial 
part  of  the  skull  is  much  produced  and  attenuated,  the  muzzle 
being  relatively  longer  and  more  slender  than  in  any  other  North 
American  fox,  and  the  palata,  region  correspondingly  narrowed. 
The  anterior  palatal  foramen  extends  posteriorly  to  a  point  op- 
posite the  interspace  between  the  canine  and  first  molar.  The 
palatine  bones  are  truncated  anteriorly  at  the  post-palatal  for- 
amma.  The  zygoniit  arch  upward  more  strongly  than  usual  in 
the  genus,  and  the  audital  bulljE  are  conspicuously  larger,  deeper, 
and  more  rounded,  which  condition,  doubtless,  is  correlated  with 
the  great  development  of  the  external  ears. 


138 


BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 


Cranial  Measurements . 


Basilar  length,  .... 

Occipito-nasal  length, 
Greatest  zygomatic  breadth, 

"         breadth  across  parietals, 

"  "        between  mastoids,     . 

Least  breadth  at  interorbital  constriction, 

"  "  "   postorbital   notch, 

Distance  between  postorbital  processes, 
Palatal  length,  .... 

Greatest  length  of  nasals, 
Breadth  of  muzzle  at  canines, 

"         "         "       midwav  between  canines  and  root 
Length  of  lateral  series  of  teeth  (on  alveolae). 
Breadth  of  palate  between  canines, 

"         "       "  "         1st  premolars, 

"       "  "         4th  premolars, 

"        "  "  2d  molars, 

Length  of  mandible,  .... 

Height  of  coronoid  process  from  angle. 
Length  of  lateral  series  of  teeth  (on  alveolje). 
Length  of  molariform  series. 


of  zygomae 


103. 

S8^ 
42 

38. 

19 
20. 

26, 

55 
40. 

15 

51 

9 

9' 

17 

16 

83 
^7 
57- 
47- 


*  Cannot  be  ascertained  because  the  condyles  are  broken  off. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


A. 

Page. 

Address,  seventh  presidential xiii,  9-94 

Address,  eighth  presidential xxii,  95-134 

Alaska,  travels  in xi 

Alciue  cemetery xx 

Almiqui  (Solenodon  cubanus) x 

Ambly  stoma,  description  of  larval  form x 

Amendment  to  constitution xi 

Amphiuma,  vertebrae  of ix 

Ant-decapitating  parasite xviii 

Ant  nests  and  their  inhabitants ix 

Anti-pyretics,  remarks  on viii 

Aplodontia,  a  new  species  of vii 

Aramus xxi 

Araujia  albans  as  a  butterfly  catcher xiv 

Arvieola  (Ghilotus)  pallidas xxi 

Autumnal  hues  of  the  Columbian  flora xi 

B. 

Bacteria,  parasitic,  and  their  relation  to  Sapro- 
phytes  xii 

Bacteria,  peptonizing  ferments  among xx 

Baird,  announcement  of  death  of xviii 

Baird  memorial  meeting xxiii 

Baker,  Dr.   Frank,  the  foi-amen  of  Magendie xii 

Some  unusual    musciilar  variations  in 

the  human  body xv 

Baker,  Dr.  Frank,  and  J.  L.  Wortmau,  recent 
investigations  iuto   the  mechanism  of   the 

elbow  joint viii 

Barnard,  Dr.  W.  S.,  effects  of  kerosene  ou  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life viii 

Barrows,  Walter  B.,  does  the  flying  fish  fly  ?... xviii 

Freshet  notes  on  the  Rio  Uruguay xix 

Shape  of  bill  in  snail-eating  birds xxi 

Bat,  new  species  from  western  states xii,  1-4 

Bean,  Dr.   Tarleton  H.,  the  trout  of    North 

America ix 

American  and  European  work  in  deep- 
sea  ichthyology  compared xv 

The  young  forms  of  some  of  our  food 

fishes xix 

A  new  species  of  Thyrsitops  from  the 

New  England  fishing  banks xix 

Beginnings  of  American  science,  the  third  cen- 
tury   9-94 

Beyer,  Dr.  H.  G. ,  remarks  ou  anti-pjTetics viii 

An  alleged  method  of  instructing    the 

memory xi 

The   preservation    of   bottled    museum 

specimens xv 

Action  of  caffeine  upon  the  kidneys xvi 


Page. 

Bill,  shajje  of,  in  snail-eating  birds xxi 

Biological  notes  on  southern  California xvii 

Bird,  new  to  Japan xvii 

Birds,  new  species  from  Sandwich  Islands xiv 

Bird  rocks  of  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence xviii 

Blackflsh  of  our  southern  waters xvi 

Bobolink,  ravages  of,  in  rice  fields xvii 

Botanical  section xxiv 

Botanical  terms,  some xix 

Bufi'alo,  the  last  of xiii 

c, 

Cafi'eine,  action  of,  ou  the  kidneys xvi 

Carrier  Shell,  protective  devices  in xviii 

Cervidse,  rapid  disappearance  of  the  shed  an- 
tlers of XX 

Oetacea,  the  phylogeuy  of xx 

Cetaceans,  works  published  on,  since  1886 xx 

Chickering,  Prof.  J.  W.,  Jr.,  travels  in  Alaska xi 

Civilization  as  an  exterminator  of  savage  races..xvii 

Codfish,  novcl  facts  in  natural  history  of xvi 

Collins,  Capt.  J.   W.,  novel  facts  in  the  nat- 
ural history  of  the  codfish xvi 

Contagious  Diseases,  new  method  of  producing 

immunity  from vii 

Cope,   Prof.   E.   D.,  a  new  species  of    snake 

from  the  District  of  Columbia xiv 

Hyoid  ai^paratus  in  urodele  batrachians...xiv 

Corea,  the  country  and  the  people xv 

Crozier,  A.  A.,  on  some  botanical  terms xix 

Crustacean  tracks  on  strata  of  upper  Cambrian 

(Potsdam)  age xii 

Curtice,  Dr.  Cooper,  the  timber  line  of  Pike's 
Peak XX 


Dall,  William  H.,  exhibition  of  Lingula  pyra- 

niidata ix 

Superficial  anatomy  of  species  of  pecten ix 

Amendment  to  constitution xi 

Historical  notes   on  the  department   of 

molluscs  of  the  National  Museum xi 

Recent  geological  explorations  in  south- 
western Florida xvi 

A  genus  of  bivalve  molluscs  (Cyrenella) 

new  to  North  America xvii 

Some    American    conchologists    (presi- 
dential address) 95-134 

Date  Palm,  exhibition  of  cluster  of  fruit  of. xx 

Deltoids,  peculiar  sexual  characters Ariil 


139 


140 


BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 


Page. 

Diospyros  kaki,  Japanese  persimmon xix 

Does  the  flying  fish  fly  ? xviii 

Dynastes  tityus,  abnormal  abundance  of x 


E. 


Eggleston,    Dr.   Edward,   queries    concerning 
certain  plants  and  animals  known  to  the  first 

colonists  of  North  America xvi 

Elbow  joint,  recent  investigations  into  mecha- 
nism of viii 

Eudoceras,  fossil  over  eight  feet  in  length xxi 

Eskimo  art,  representations  of  animal  life  in xvi 

Evotomys  caroliuensis xv 

F. 

Fasciation  in  Ranunculus  and  Riidbcckia x 

Fauna  and  flora  of  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains..xix 

Fenesica  tarquineus vii 

Fish  fauna  of  the  south  temperate  or  notalian 

realm xix 

Fish,  explanation  of  past  failures  in  the  crdture 

of  the  Salmonidae xix 

Fish,  new  species  of  Thyrsitops  from  the  New 

England  fishing  banks xix 

Fishes,  Japanese  chromolithographs  of xviii 

Fishes,  young  forms  of  some  of  oiu- food xix 

Flora  Columbiana,  additions  and  changes  for  1885 

viii 

Florida,  recent  geological  exijlorations  in xvi 

Flying  Fish,  does  it  fly  ?   xviii 

Foramen  of  Mageudie xii 

Fox,  description  of  a  new  species  from  Califor- 
nia  135-138 

Freshet  notes  on  the  Uruguay xix 

G. 

Geological  horizon  of  unplaced  faunas xviii 

Gill,  Pi'of.  Theodore,  characteristics  and  fam- 
ilies of  Iniomous  fishes viii 

Tseniosmous  fishes x 

The  fish  fauna  of  the  south  temperate 

or  notalian  realm xix 

The  phylogeny  of  the  Cetacea xx 

Goode,    G.    Brown,    exhibition    of    Japanese 

chromolithogi-aijhs  of  fishes xviii 

The   beginnings    of   natural  history  in 

America;  the  third  century 9-94 

Grasses,  new  species  of vii 

Grasses,  recent  collection  of  Mexican xiv 

Grasses,  notes  on  Western xviii 

Gray  Squirrel,  new  subspecies  from  Minnesota,  viii 

Great  Auk xx 

Great  Smoky  Moimtains,  fauna  and  flora  of xix 


Page. 


H. 


Hallock,  Charles,  hyper-instinct  in  animals vii 

The  transcontinental  range  of  the  moose. ..xv 
The  gi'eat  Roseau  swamp  in  north-western 

Minnesota xx 

Hesperomys  anthouyi  (a  new  mouse) xvi,  5-8 

Hill,   R.   T.,  the   true  geological   horizon    of 
some  hitherto  unplaced  faimas,  with  special 

reference  to  the  Cretaceous  of  Texas xviii 

Hopkins,  C.  L.,  notes  relative  to  the  sense  of 

snjell  in  the  turkey  buzzard xx 

Hornaday,  William  T.,  the  last  of  the  buffalo  ...xiii 
Civilization  as  an  exterminator  of  savage 

races xvii 

How  the  great  northern  sea  cow  (Rhytina)  be- 
came exterminated  xxi 

Howard,  L.  0.,  a  Rock  Creek  philanthi-opist xv 

An  ant-decapitating  parasite xviii 

Hydropsyche xv 

Hyoid  apparatus  in  Urodele  Batrachians xiv 

Hyper-instinct  in  animals vii 


Ichthyology,  American  and  European  work  in 

deep  sea,  compared. xv 

Iniomous  fishes,  characteristics  and  families  of,  viii 
Insects,  some  geographical  variations  in xix 

J- 

Japanese  persimmon xix 

Joint  Commission vl 

Jouy,  P.  Jj.,  Corea  ;  the  country  and  the  peo- 
ple  XV 

A  bird  new  to  Japan  (Pitta  oreas) xvii 


K. 


Kerosene,  effects  of  on  animal  and  vegetable 

life viii 

Kidder,  Dr.   J.   H.,  exhibition  of  concretions 

and  grass  balls. .^ xvii 

Knowlton,  F.  H.,  additions  to,  and  changes  in, 

the  flora  columbiaua  for  1885 viii 

Fasciation    in    Ranunculus    and    Rud- 

beckia x 

The  recent  shower  of  pollen  in  Washing- 
ton, the  so-called  "sulphur  shower  "....xvii 


Lagenorhynchus,  revision  of  genus x 

Lepidoptera.  occurrence  of  nocturnal,  at  sea xv 

Lingula,  a  fossil  preserving  the  cast  of  the  ped- 
uncle   XX 


ALPHABETICAL    ESTDEX. 


141 


Page. 

Liug^ila  pyramidata ix 

Lucas,  Frederick  A.,  notes  on  the  vertebrae  of 

Aniphinma,  Siren,  and  Menopoma ix 

Osteology  of  the  spotted  Tinamou,  No- 

thiira  maculosa xii 

Occurrence  of  nocturnal  Lepidoptera  at 

sea XV 

The  os-proniinens  in  birds xvii 

The  Bird  Rocks  of  the  gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence m  1887 xviii 

An  alcine  cemetery,  the  resting  place  of 

the  Great  Auk  on  FTiuk  Island xx 

Lynx,  some  distinctive  cranial  characters ix 


M. 


Marsilia  quadrifolia xi 

Mason,  Prof.  Otis  T.,  representations  of  animal 

life  in  Eskimo  art xvi 

McDonald,  Col.  Marshall,  Explanations  of  past 

failures  in  the  culture  of  Salmonidse xix 

McGee,  W.  J.,  the    ovei'lapping    habitats    of 

Stirrnella  magna  and  S.  neglecta  in  Iowa xxi 

Menopoma,  vertebrse  of ix 

Merriam,  Dr.  C.  Hart,  a  new  bat  (Vespertilio 

ciliolabrum)  from  the  West xii,  1-4 

Description  of  a  new  pocket  gopher  from 

California xii 

A  new  species  of  wood  rat  (Neotoma  bry- 
anti)  from  Gerros  Island,  Lower  Cali- 
fornia  xiv 

A  new  species  of  wood  mouse  (Evoto- 
mys  carolinensis)  from  the  mountains 

of  North  Carolina xv 

A  new  species  of  mouse  from  New  Mex- 
ico (Hesperomys  anthouyi) xvi,  5-8 

Ravages  of  the  bobolink  in  the  rice  fields 

of  the  south xvii 

Fauna  and  flora  of  the  Great  Smoky 
Mountains,  in  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee  xix 

Description  of  a  new  field  mouse  (Ai-vicola 
pallidus)  from  the  Bad  Lauds  of  north- 
western Dakota xxi 

A  new  species  of  Aplodontia  from  Cali- 
fornia  vii 

A  new  sub-species  of  gray  squirrel  from 

central  Minnesota viii 

A  new  species  of  fox  from  California,  135-138 
Molluscs,  historical  notes  on  department  of,  in 

National  Muswim xi 

Molluscs,  a  genus  of  bivalve  new  to  North  i 

America xvii    | 

Moose,  transcontinental  range  of xv 

Mouse,  descriiitiou  of  a  new  (Arvlcola  palli- 
dus), from  Dakota xxi 

Mouse,  new  species  from  New  Mexico  (Hesper- 
omys  anthonyi) xvi,  5-8 


Page. 
Mouse,  new  species  from  North  Carolina  (Evo- 

tomys  carolinensis) xv 

Mouse,  period  of  gestation  in  caged  white xix 

Musical  Sounds,  effects  on  animals ix 

Muybridge,  E. ,    photographs    of    animals   in 

motion xiv 


N. 


Neotoma  bryanti,  a  new  wood  rat xiv 

Norris,  Dr.   Basil,   U.    S.    A.,   description    of 

larval  form  of  an  Amblystoma x 

Nothura  maculosa,  osteology  of xii 


Occurrence  of  nocturnal  lepidoptera  at  sea xv 

Officers  for  1887 iv,  xii 

Officers  for  1888 v,  xxi,xxii 

Os-prominens  in  bii'ds xvii 


Palo  La  Cruz  (wood  of  the  cross) x 

Pecten,  superficial  anatomy  of  species  of ix 

Photographs  of  animals  in  motion.  xiv 

Pitta  oreas,  a  bird  new  to  Japan xvii 

Placenta,  evoUition  of,  in  mammalia xix 

Plane  ti'ee  and  its  ancestors vii 

Pollen,  recent  shower  of,  in  Washington xvii 

Pocket  gopher,  new  sub-species xii 

Potomac  drinking  water,  biological  analyses  of. viii 
Potomac  water,  quantitative  variations  in  the 

germ  life  of  in  1886 xvi 

Preservation  of  bottled  museum  specimens xii 

Protective  devices  in  carrier  shell xviii 


R. 


Raptores,  feeding  habits  of  young xxi 

Rathbun,  Richard,  temperature  charts  of  At- 
lantic coast  siu"face  water xiii 

Rau,  Dr.  Charles,  announcement  of  death  of  ...xviii 

Rhytina,  how  exterminated xxi 

Riley,  Prof.    C.   V.,    a   carnivorous   butterfly 

larva,  Fenesica  tarquineus vii 

Biological  notes  from  southern  Califor- 
nia  xvii 

Rock  Creek  philanthropist xv 

Roddy,  H.  Justin,  feeding  habits  of  some  young 

raptores xxi 

Roseau  Swamp,  the  gi-eat xx 

Rostrhamus  sociabilis xxi 

Ryder,  John  A.,  the  evolution  of  the  mamma- 
lian placenta '. ix 


142 


BIOLOGICAL    SOCIETY    OF    WASHINGTON. 


Page. 


Salmon,  Dr.  D.  E.,  and  Dr.  Theobald  Smith. 
A  new  method  of  producing  immunity 

from  contagious  diseases vii 

Notes  on  some  biological    analyses    of 

Potomac  drinking-water viii 

Saturday  lectures,  1886 xxii 

Saturday  lectures,  1887 xxiii 

Scudder,  N.  P.,  the  period  of  gestation  in  the 

common  caged  white  mouse xix 

Seaman,  Prof.  W.  H.,  notes  on  Marsilia  quad- 

rifolia xi 

Sexual  characters  in  the  Deltoids viii 

Siren,  vertebrte  of ix 

Shufeldt,  Dr.  R.  W.,  some  early,  and  as  yet 

unpublished,  drawings  of  Audubon viii 

Smith,  .John  B.,  some  peculiar  secondary  sex- 
ual characters    in    the    Deltoids    and 

their  supposed  functions viii 

Ant's  nests  and  their  inhabitants ix 

Abnormal  abundance  of  Dyuastes  tityus x 

Some  geographical  variations  of  insects ....  xix 
Smith,   Dr.    Theobald,   parasitic  bacteria  and 

their  relation  to  Saprophytes xii 

Quantitive  variations  in  the  germ  life  of 

Potomac  water  during  1886 xvi 

Peptonizing  ferments  among  bacteria xx 

Smith,  Dr.  Theobald,  and  Dr.   D.   E.    Salmon, 
a  new  method  of  producing  immunity 

from  contagious  disease vii 

Notes  on  some  biological  analyses  of  Po- 
tomac drinking-water viii 

Snake,  new  species  from  District  of  CoUimbia,  xiv 
Solenodon    cubanus,    exhibition   of   a    living 

specimen  of x 

Stearns,  Prof.  K.   E.  C,  instances  of  the  ef- 
fects of  musical  sounds  on  animals ix 

The  asclepiad  plant  (Araujia  albans)  as  a 

butterfly  catcher xiv 

The  protective  devices  of  the  carrier  shell, 

Xenophora xviii 

Stejneger,    Leonhard,    new    birds    froni    the 

Sandwich  Islands xiv 

How  the  gi-eat  northern  sea  cow  (Rhytina) 

became  exterminated.. xxi 

Sturnella  magna  and  S.  neglecta,  overlapping 

habitats  in  Iowa xxi 

"  Sulphur  shower"  xvii 

Sweden,  recent  progress  of  zoology  in xi 

T. 

Tseniosomous  fishes x 

Temperature  charts  of  Atlantic  coast  surface 
water.. xiii 


Paj 
Thyrsitops,  new  species  from  the  New  England 

fishing  banks 3 

Timber  Inie  of  Pike's  Peak.. 

Tropidonotus  bisectus 3 

Trout  of  North  America 

True,  F.   W.,   some  distinctive  cranial  char- 
acters of  the  Canadian  lynx 

A  revision  of  the  genus  Lagenorhynchus... 
Exhibition   of  a  living   Solenodon    cu- 
banus  

The  blackfish  of  our  southern  waters 3 

Review  of  some  of  the  more  important 
works  on  cetaceans  piiblished  since  1886. 
Trybom,  Dr.  Filip,  on  recent  progre.ss  of  zool- 
ogy in  Sweden 

Turkey  buzzard,  sense  of  smell  in 


V. 


Van  Diemen,  H.  E.,  the  Japanese  persimmon 

(Diospyros  kaki) 3 

Exhibition  of  cluster  of  fruit  of  the  date 

palm  (Phcenix  dactylifera) 

Vasey,  Dr.  George,  new  and  recent  species  of 

North  American  grasses 

A  recent  collection  of  Mexican  grasses 

made  by  Dr.  E.  Palmer : 

Notes  on  western  grasses xi 

Vespertilio  ciliolabrum xii,  ] 

w. 

Walcott,   C.   D.,  crustacean   tracks  found  on 
strata  of  upper  Cambrian  (Potsdam)  age. 
A  fossil  lingula  preserving  the  cast  of 
the  peduncle,  from  the   Hudson  Ter- 

rane,  near  Rome,  N.  Y 

Exhibition  of  section  of  fossil  endoceros 

over  eight  feet  in  length 1 

Ward,  Prof.  Lester  F.,  the  plane  tree  and  its 

ancestors 

Exhibition  of  specimen   of  the  Palo  la 

Cruz,  or  wood  of  the  cross 

Autumnal  hues  of  the  Columbian  flora 

White,  Dr.  C.   A.,  the  rapid  disappearance  of 

the  shed  antlers  of  the  Cervidse 

Wortman,  J.  L. ,  and  Dr.  Frank  Baker  on  recent 
investigations  into  the  mechanism  of  the  el- 
bow joint ■^ 

X. 

Xenophora,  protective  devices  in x^ 


:<:•■! 


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