19121 Zoology in Ameeica 57 



can science, had for its author a South Carolinian, John Ed- 

 wards Holbrook, Professor of Anatomy in the Medical College 

 of the State of South Carolina. Holbrook was an excellent 

 naturalist, a man of eminence. We learn from his list of honors 

 that he was a member of the Royal Medical Society of Edin- 

 burgh, of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, and of the 

 Lyceums of Natural History in New York, Boston, and Balti- 

 more. It is noteworthy that in Philadelphia, New York, and 

 Boston the local lyceum or academy of that early time has 

 become a strong institution, supporting and publishing investi- 

 gations and serving as an instrumentality for the cultivation 

 of the public. 



In the. decade of 1840-50 a number of works of importance 

 appeared. Much the most imposing is De Kay's Zoology of 

 New York in five large, well illustrated volumes. This widely 

 used work contains descriptions of all the animals known at the 

 time to occur mthin the state of New York, together with brief 

 descriptions of those occasionally found near the border of the 

 state. These volumes form a part of a general Natural History 

 of New York descriptive of minerals, geological formations, 

 soils, and of the plants and animals of the state. The publica- 

 tion was the outcome of the passage of a bill in 1836 calling for 

 a complete geological survey of the state. For the purposes of 

 this survey the sum of $130,000 was appropriated. The first 

 volume of the report was published in 1842. It includes a 

 description of the mammals, together with a long and histor- 

 ically interesting introduction which embodies a geographical 

 and political history of the state, together with sketches of its 

 colleges and schools, its press, its learned professions, laws, ma- 

 terial improvements, etc. The introduction includes also (I 

 quote) "an account of the studies and productions of our citi- 

 zens in the departments of history, classical learning, mathe- 

 matical science, pure and mixed biography, travels, romance 

 and general literature, poetry and the fine arts; and of re- 

 searches in our zoology, botany, meteorology, chemistry and 

 mineralogy; with an account of the inception, progress, and 

 consummation of the survey, to which those researches gave 



