Harry Hoogstraal 



1917-1986 



by Robert Traub and Robert F. Inger 



H 



b.arry Hoogstraal, a Field Museum benefactor and 

 an internationally renowned medical zoologist, died in 

 Cairo, Egypt, on his 69th birthday, February 24 of this 

 year. In the course of his outstanding career, Dr. Hoog- 

 straal was elected president of the American Society of 

 Parasitologists and of the American Society of Tropical 

 Medicine and Hygiene and was presented with several of 

 the highest medals of these organizations and other 

 awards. He also received 25 additional professional hon- 

 ors, including distinguished service awards from the 

 Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, 

 the Department of State, and the Medal of Honor 

 for Scientific Research from the Arab Republic 

 of Egypt. 



Dr. Hoogstraal had the signal distinction of being 

 nominated as a foreign fellow of the Royal Society, but 

 his death occurred before the election was held. His 

 bibliography of more than 500 scientific papers, all of 

 lasting value, includes books, monographs, and other 

 large works. Dr. Hoogstraal was rightly regarded as the 

 world's leading authority on ticks and tick-borne dis- 

 eases, but had contributed significantly to our knowl- 

 edge of other arthropod-borne infections and their reser- 

 voirs in nature. The Department of Medical Zoology at 

 the United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 

 (namru-3) in Cairo was organized by Dr. Hoostraal in 

 1949, and under his distinguished leadership this unit 

 served as a base of operations for studies that were carried 

 out in many parts of the world. 



The ultimate basis of Hoogstraal's incredible suc- 

 cess in so many aspects of medical ecology lay in his 

 understanding, appreciation, and application of the fun- 

 damentals of natural history, a talent whose roots were 

 deep in his boyhood in Chicago and his association with 

 the Field Museum, where after haunting the halls and 

 library, he and his sister Catherine were permitted to 



Robert Traub is honorary curator of Siphonaptera, Department of 

 Entomology, Museum Support Center, Smithsonian Institution; 

 Robert F. Inger is curator of Amphibians and Reptiles, Field 

 Museum. 



Harry Hoogstraal with "Maid" upon return from Madagascar, 1949. 



attend lectures nominally restricted to adults. His first 

 formal ties with the Museum began when, inspired by his 

 mentor here, K.P. Schmidt, chief curator of Zoology, 

 Hoogstraal organized and led groups of fellow students 

 on a series of biological expeditions to hitherto unstud- 

 ied parts of Mexico. 



From their inception in 1938, these summer ex- 

 peditions resulted in vast collections of zoological and 

 botanical specimens, the bulk of which were deposited 

 in the Field Museum. The Third and Fourth Biological 

 Expeditions were unique in the period of 1940-41, for 

 they were carefully planned, staffed, and executed to 

 provide detailed and accurate studies of the fauna and 

 flora in various habitats in transects on remote moun- 

 tains, ranging from the tropical lowlands and semidesert 

 to areas above the timberline. Those who regarded the 

 North American mammalian fauna as well known were 

 surprised by results — even a new species and several new 

 subspecies of rodents were collected. The intensity and 

 scope of the field operations are illustrated by the find- 

 ings of the Fourth Biological Expedition concerning just 

 one very small group of insects, the Siphonaptera 

 (fleas). At a time when the entire roster of species of 

 fleas for the world was estimated as about 1,000 species, 



