BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PHILIP LUTLEY SCLATER. 



Mr. Philip Liitley Sclater, secrotaiy of the Zooloj2;ical Society of 

 London, is one of the best known of living zoologists. Few men 

 have contributed so much as he to systematic ornithology, and none 

 have done so mucli in the identification and description of new forms 

 from the Western Continent. His work has been largely in connec- 

 tion with the luxuriant fauna of Neotropical America, little known at 

 the time when he began his researches. Nearly every year since he 

 began woik in 1853, his correspondents in tropical America have laid 

 at his feet new wealth in the form of collections from regions hitherto 

 unexplored. 



lie has characterized 1,007 new species (245 in collaboi-ation with 

 Osbert Salvin), V.)5 new genera (25 with Salvin), and two ncnv fami- 

 lies of American birds. 



Remarlvable as has been his industr}" and his accnracy in diagnosis 

 and description, the fact should be recognized that but for his energy 

 and his skill as an organizer many regions now well known to the 

 ornithologist would doubtless still remain unexploi'cd. 



The labors of Mr. Sclater iiave also resulted in great additions to our 

 knowledge of the geographical distribution of vertebrates. Not only 

 has he w<)rk<'d out many local faunas, but his generalizations u])on tlie 

 dist I'ibul ion of life and the division of the globe into zoogcogi-apliical 

 regions liavc had great iulhienee u[)on scientific o[)iniou. lh> was 

 one of th(^ pioneers in tiiis field of investigation, and his wi-itiugs 

 upon the subject have always been full of suggestion and have stim- 

 ulated many others to engager in similar inquiry. His views as to the 

 geographical distribution of birds are undoubtedly more widely 

 accepted throughout the world than those of any other authority, 

 and though, with increasing knowledge, modifications in the scheme 

 proposed by him long ago will doubtless become more and more 

 numerous, his studies of geographical distribution will always be 

 considered as of fundamental importance, and the terms which he 

 suggested for the principal divisions of the earth's surface will doubt- 

 less remain in ordinary use. 



For more than thirty y<'ai-s the chief executive official' of the most 

 wealthy and vigoi-ous zoological society in the woi-ld, his influence 

 n[)()n the progi'css of natural history exploi-ation has been very great, 

 and his relations with Amerieau natui-alists ha\e always been cordial 

 and cooi)erative. 



IX 



