Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo15amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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DANIEL GIRAUD ELLIOT— BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 135 bany; and in all the cities and within the boundaries of our great state, there was but one working ornithologist, George Newbold Lawrence, a man greatly older than my- self, whose sons were my friends and com- panions, but who had not inherited their father's scientific tastes. Lawrence's collec- tions seemed larger and more wonderful to my youthful eyes than any I have since seen in all the museums of the world. The condition in New York was pretty much repeated in other parts of the country. In Massachusetts there were no ornitholo- gists. Neither Allen nor Brewster had ap- peared and their predecessor, Brewer, had hardly been heard from. In Wash- ington the work was represented by Baird, who had just come to the Smithsonian In- stitution. There was no other natu- ralist in Washing- ton. Gill as a boy had begun his work on fishes, but the young naturalists, Coues and Ridgway had not yet been heard from Philadelphia was much better off however. Its ornithology was represented by George Cassin, one of the most erudite and com- petent ornitholo- gists this country has ever produced and the only one at that time famil- iar with exotic forms.i The city had its Academy and li- brary donated mainly by Dr. Thomas B. Wil- son. Also Leidy was at the height of his career. I used to work a good deal in the old building on the corner of Broad and Sansom streets, my companion often Cope, then starting on his career, his alcoholic snakes and lizards contesting table space with my birds. In all the length and breadth of the land there was not a periodical devoted to the ways of birds, and it was hard sledging for any young ornithologist. The vast majority of 1 A few years later through the publication of his Monographs, Elliot was brought into rather intimate relationship with Cassin, owing to the fact that the latter was the head of the firm of Bowen and Company (who served Audubon for so many years).
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Dr. Elliot in 1897, when curator of zoology at Field Museum, Chicago

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