﻿WILLIAM 
  HEALEY 
  I) 
  ALL 
  

  

  By 
  C. 
  ELart 
  Meeriam 
  

  

  [With 
  1 
  plate] 
  

  

  The 
  death 
  of 
  Doctor 
  Dall 
  on 
  March 
  27, 
  1927, 
  removes 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   last 
  pillars 
  from 
  the 
  fast 
  disappearing 
  class 
  of 
  systematic 
  naturalists, 
  

   a 
  class 
  whose 
  roll 
  of 
  honor 
  in 
  America 
  is 
  adorned 
  by 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  

   Audubon, 
  Agassiz, 
  Allen, 
  Baird, 
  Cassin, 
  Cope, 
  Coues, 
  Dana, 
  Gill, 
  

   Hyatt, 
  Kennicott, 
  Leidy, 
  Newberry, 
  Packard, 
  Richardson 
  (Sir 
  John), 
  

   and 
  Verrill. 
  And 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  with 
  truth 
  that 
  in 
  his 
  chosen 
  field 
  

   no 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  labored 
  more 
  faithfully 
  or 
  contributed 
  more 
  sub- 
  

   stantially 
  to 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  Imowledge. 
  

  

  While 
  Dall 
  was 
  primarily 
  a 
  conchologist, 
  his 
  interests 
  were 
  by 
  

   no 
  means 
  confined 
  to 
  this 
  specialty 
  but 
  reached 
  out 
  into 
  many 
  and 
  

   divergent 
  paths 
  of 
  scientific 
  investigation. 
  He 
  was 
  a 
  student 
  of 
  

   nature 
  in 
  a 
  broad 
  sense 
  — 
  a 
  naturalist 
  in 
  the 
  full 
  meaning 
  of 
  the 
  term. 
  

  

  His 
  early 
  enthusiasm 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  birds 
  indicates 
  the 
  loss 
  to 
  

   ornithology 
  when 
  other 
  work 
  called 
  him, 
  for 
  not 
  only 
  did 
  he 
  give 
  

   us 
  the 
  first 
  " 
  List 
  of 
  Birds 
  of 
  Alaska 
  " 
  (1869), 
  but 
  his 
  "Avifauna 
  of 
  

   the 
  Aleutian 
  Islands" 
  (1873) 
  still 
  remains 
  the 
  authoritative 
  source 
  

   of 
  published 
  information 
  on 
  that 
  extensive 
  and 
  then 
  little 
  known 
  

   region. 
  Similarly, 
  his^' 
  Food 
  Fishes 
  of 
  Alaska 
  " 
  (1871), 
  his 
  "List 
  of 
  

   the 
  Mammals 
  of 
  Alaska, 
  with 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  Fur-bearing 
  Animals" 
  

   (1870), 
  "Parasites 
  of 
  Cetaceans" 
  (1872), 
  and 
  critical 
  studies 
  of 
  the 
  

   Cetacea, 
  with 
  descriptions 
  of 
  new 
  species 
  (1873-1874), 
  were 
  marked 
  

   contributions 
  to 
  the 
  zoology 
  of 
  the 
  time. 
  His 
  " 
  Meteorology 
  of 
  

   Alaska" 
  (1879) 
  is 
  a 
  noteworthy 
  volume, 
  containing 
  not 
  only 
  an 
  

   elaborate 
  summary 
  of 
  what 
  was 
  then 
  known 
  on 
  the 
  subject, 
  but 
  

   also 
  maps 
  showing 
  the 
  northern 
  limit 
  of 
  tree 
  growth 
  and 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   tribution 
  of 
  plants 
  and 
  animals. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  scope 
  of 
  his 
  activities 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  above 
  

   eaumeration, 
  for, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  his 
  monumental 
  contributions 
  to 
  

   conchology, 
  his 
  publications 
  enrich 
  several 
  other 
  lines 
  of 
  research, 
  

   notably 
  anthropology, 
  geography, 
  tidal 
  currents, 
  geology, 
  and 
  

   paleontology. 
  Still 
  other 
  essays 
  of 
  which 
  special 
  mention 
  should 
  

  

  * 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  Science, 
  Apr. 
  8, 
  1927, 
  Vol. 
  LXV, 
  No. 
  1684. 
  

  

  563 
  

  

  