404 , Palmer, In Memoriam: Theodore Nicholas Gill. [bet" 



attention to the biographical or personal side of science ; in nomen- 

 clature, rigid adherence to the law of priority, the one letter rule 

 (thereby preserving names otherwise considered preoccupied), the 

 coining of new names on classical models, and the avoidance of 

 hybrid names and other etymological monstrosities; in taxonomy, 

 exactness in definition of terms, attention to the relationships 

 of higher groups, and standardization of the divisions of birds to 

 make them comparable in rank with those of other classes of verte- 

 brates. The value of his suggestions regarding publication of an 

 annual list of additions to the Check-List and ' generized ' life histo- 

 ries of birds should not be lost sight of. While his sample biography 

 of the Osprey can hardly be considered altogether successful, even 

 from the standpoint of the author, the idea of basing the life history 

 of a species on the accounts of a number of observers to eliminate 

 errors due to individuality and personal equation is certainly 

 worthy of thorough trial before being rejected or forgotten. He 

 was especially well qualified to estimate the value of the work of 

 others in systematic zoology and his criticisms, while frank and by 

 some considered severe, were always made in a kindly spirit. 



Gill was unmarried, possesed of ample means and thus able to 

 devote his time and energies to whatever his fancy dictated. But, 

 although he worked steadily and produced a large number of papers, 

 he lacked the energy or concentration necessary for undertaking 

 any great work. He was genial and social by nature, but his 

 pleasures were comparatively few and simple. He had only a 

 passive interest in outdoor sports and took little active exercise. 

 He found his chief recreation as well as work in books, and he spent 

 many hours every day in reading and writing. The morning hours 

 and early afternoons were spent in the Smithsonian library looking 

 over the new periodicals and keeping in touch with recent dis- 

 coveries, the later part of the afternoons were devoted to the prep- 

 aration of whatever papers he had in hand, and the evenings to 

 reading. While truly a master of taxonomy, especially in the 

 marshaling of zoological facts, he lacked a corresponding efficiency 

 in handling his tools and the gradually increasing accumulation 

 of books and papers sometimes almost forced him from his desk or 

 from the room which he occupied as a study in the Smithsonian 

 building. Even the master key of his own mind was impotent 



