NED HOLTJSTEPt — OSGOOD 605 



field work. His genius in the museum was immediately recognized 

 and he was placed in charge of the care and arrangement of the huge 

 mammal collection brought together by the Survey. To this task 

 he brought all the enthusiasm and devotion he had given to his own 

 collection in Delavan. Results were soon apparent, and there was 

 no doubt among older heads that in Ned Hollister the Biological 

 Survey had a "find." At the age of 30, largely self-taught, and 

 having an experience mainly of field work, he began to delve into 

 the literature of mammalogy and to show a capacity for straight 

 thinking on matters relating to classification and nomenclature that 

 was surprising. It was simply a part of his great love for the 

 entire subject and, like the rest of it, he did it thoroughly and well. 



On April 15, 1908, he was married to Miss Mabel Pfrimmei-, of 

 Kentland, Ind. A house was bought in Washington and books and 

 other personal property were moved from Delavan. After a long 

 series of temporary appointments and furloughs, he was settled with 

 definite prospects of being able to pursue the study of the subjects 

 upon which his heart was set. His wife biought a fine sympathy 

 for his Avork and, especially by an extensive knowledge of modern 

 languages, was able to be of material assistance to him. 



Late in 1909, Hollister accepted an offer of the position of assist- 

 ant curator of mammals in the United States National Museum and 

 took up his duties there January 3, 1910. Outwardly and aside from 

 the slight increase in salary, the change may have appeared to some 

 as mainly one of title, for at first it merely meant moving into a 

 new ofRce and working on another collection housed in the same 

 building. But the difference was a very great one to him, for if 

 ever there was a man who belonged in a museum and nowhere else 

 it was Ned Hollister. From the days when the '' Hollister Brothers' 

 Museum " grew from a single cowbird's egg to the full occupancy 

 of two rooms in the Delavan home, nothing was more evident than 

 his passion for all phases of museum work. His first task in the 

 National Museum was a staggering one, but he went to it single 

 handed as blithesomely as a school boy sent to meet his father at 

 the circus. The new building had just been completed and the mam- 

 mal collection was moved to it in April, 1910. Mr. Miller, curator 

 of the division of mammals, was absent in Europe and, therefore, 

 Hollister found himself with the entire responsibility for moving, 

 installing, and rearranging the great reference collection. His own 

 report of the first stages of the work, submitted to the head curator 

 of biology July 1, and published in the Museum's annual report, 

 is as follows : 



After the study skins were moved to the new building, late in April, work 

 was at once begun on a thorough and careful systematic arrangement of the 

 entire collection, so badly needed for many years. The Primates, Carnivora, 



