EDGAR ALEXANDER MEARNS RICHMOND. 657 



SO much SO, that it was often necessary for him to work far into 

 the night to preserve specimens brought in to him during the day. 

 In his official capacity he accompanied eight punitive expeditions 

 against hostile Moros, but even under these circumstances his col- 

 lections continued to grow, through the cooperation of his associ- 

 ates. Ethnological material, such as bolos and other native imple- 

 ments and weapons, together with various editions of the Koran, 

 were secured on these forays and utilized as specimens. He accom- 

 panied General Wood on three trips of inspection to various islands, 

 some of them zoologically unknown and rarely visited, and during 

 parts of June and July, 1904, he ascended Mount Apo, the highest 

 peak in the Philippines, where he made general collections and 

 secured much information of value. In the exploration of Mount 

 Apo he was anticipated by two English collectors, who had made 

 collections there hardly a year before. 



Hard work, combined with exposure in a tropical climate, had 

 its effect, and in September, 1904, he was sent to the Army General 

 Hospital at San Francisco, suffering from a complication of tropical 

 parasitic disorders. He visited Washington after he had partially 

 recovered his health, and took advantage of this opportunity to 

 study some of his Philippine material, and in a series of five papers 

 issued in the early part of 1905, he described 6 new genera and 25 

 new species of mammals, a new genus and 19 new species of birds, 

 besides recording 8 species of birds not previously known from the 

 islands, with notes on other of the rarer forms. Other new types 

 embraced in his collections were made known by experts in several 

 branches of zoolog3^ 



On July 20, 1905, Mearns stopped at Guam, on his way back to 

 the Philippines, and here he made the inevitable collection that 

 attended his every pause, however brief, in a new locality. In the 

 few hours spent at Guam he obtained 23 birds and a variety of other 

 material. To him everj^ specimen had a potential scientific value, 

 and if worth picking up at all was worth labeling with its full history. 

 This applied to all material, whether in his own chosen field or not, 

 his theory being that if a specimen proved to be of no interest it 

 could be easily discarded at any time. 



During the two years of his second period of service in the Philip- 

 pines he was enabled to reach many interesting and obscurely known 

 islands, having the good fortune to accompany General Wood on 

 tours of inspection to the northernmost and southernmost points 

 of the Archipelago, but space forbids notice of other than his two 

 chief exploits. In May, 1906, he was placed in command of a " Bio- 

 logical and Geographical Reconnoissance of the Malindang Moun- 

 tain Group," in western Mindanao, which was organized to explore 



