270 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ope. And why do we la}' so much 

 stress on this adopted foreigner's ef- 

 forts? Becanse the science of ornithol- 

 ogy was in its infancy; aye, in its em- 

 bryonic state till Alexander Wilson, 

 that devout child of nature, by years 

 of patient toil, study, poverty and dis- 

 couragement at last brought forth from 

 its obscurity the science that has enlist- 

 ed in its service minds of the very high- 

 est order. Because thei'e is mt to be 

 found in that long line of his illnstrous 

 followers one who has led a life abound- 

 ing in such depressing circumstances 

 and still has given to the woj'ld a mon- 

 ument of industry to be compared with 

 his efforts. Those of you who have 

 read an account of his life cannot but 

 rejoice to think that we are living in an 

 enlightened a-re. An age when our be- 

 loved science is encouraged rather than 

 discouraged. Briefly review again the 

 circumstances under which his work 

 was brought forth. Consider the life 

 of penury he led and then consider 

 what that life gave to us. Eight y-ears 

 ' previous to the appearance of his flrst 

 volume. — years in which most if not the 

 whole mass of his knowledge of the sub- 

 ject was gained, were j'ears spent in 

 wrestling with disappointment, pover- 

 ty and sickness. In all that time he 

 worked patiently and thoroughly,scarce- 

 ly receiving any outside aid in the 

 furtherance of his designs. Finally let 

 us think of him as he leaves the abode 

 of civilized man. launches his canoe on 

 unbroken waters, depends on his riHe 

 for subsistence, keeps on his solitary 

 mai'ch till the bird has sung its evening 

 song, and then lies dewn to rest with 

 no society but the hoot of the Owls and 

 no shelter but the star-lighted skies. 

 And after all due consideration let us 

 attribute to Alexander Wilson the 

 praise his great work deserves. 



Although twenty-tive hundred copies 

 of the prospectus, setting forth the 

 character of the work had been sent to 

 different parts of the country, yet when 

 the I'eal woi'k greeted the public no one 



was prepared to welcome so Hue a spec- 

 imen of art. No one entertained an 

 idea of the grandeur and com leteness 

 of the work. Little won.ler that it met 

 with so little patronage wlieu we con- 

 sider how expensive it was. The taste 

 for such luxuries had not 3'et been 

 foimedin this (country. Those who had 

 manifested an interest in the science 

 were mainly persons of limited cirtMim- 

 stances. Thus lieing an ornament to 

 the shelves of the rich or shut up in the 

 libraries of learned institutions it was a 

 sealed book to those who ideally were in 

 need of its benetits. Wilson himself 

 realized the position his book was likely 

 to hold in the public favor, and his plan 

 was to publish a second edition in four" 

 volumes, with drawings on wood. 

 This edition would have circulated 

 more generally' and would likely reach 

 the hands of all who were interesteil in 

 the science, as it could have been sold 

 at a very low figure, as compared with 

 the cost of the original edition which 

 was one hundred and twenty dollars. 

 But unfortunately he died before the 

 ninth volume of the first edition was 

 completed. 



In the latter part of September, 180^ 

 he writes to Mr. Bartram: ''In a few 

 moments I set out for the eastern states, 

 thi'ough Boston to Maine, and back 

 through the state of Vermont, in search 

 of birds and subscribers." It was with 

 a feeling of timidity that he set out in 

 search of patronage; for as he says "the 

 bearer of a subscription paper is seldom 

 welcomed with rapture.' ' He felt that 

 even if he should fail in securing sub- 

 scriliers he at least could gain a greater 

 familiarity with nature's objects. Ac- 

 cordingly he writes to a friend, "I am 

 fixing correspondents in every corner 

 of these northern regions, like so many 

 pickets and outposts, so that scared ,' a 

 Wren or Tit shall be able to pass along 

 from Yoi'k to Canada, but I shall get in- 

 telligence of it." 



Thousands of learned men examined 

 his book; and although only a few en- 



