THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Vol. XXVII. April, 1910. No. 2. 



IN MEMORIAM: JAMES GUSHING MERRILL. 



Born March 26, 1853.— Died October 27, 1902. 



by william brewster, 



With Portrait (Plate VII). 



James Gushing Merrill, third of that name in direct descent, 

 was born in Gambridge, Massachusetts, on March 26, 1853. Both 

 branches of his family were of old New England stock, derived 

 originally from England. His father, who died when he was about 

 fifteen years of age, was a lawyer by profession, as was also his 

 grandfather, Judge Merrill of Boston, who married Ann Saltonstall 

 of Salem. His mother was (or, rather is, for she is still living) Jane 

 (Hammond) Merrill. I first made his acquaintance at a school 

 which we entered together more than half a century ago. He was 

 then a shy, graceful, slenderly-built boy, already interested in 

 Natural History and possessed, if I remember rightly, of a small 

 collection of end-blown birds' eggs and native butterflies. After 

 attending several private schools in Gambridge, and the well-known 

 one then kept by Mr. Dixwell in Boston, he went to Germany where 

 he remained for a year or two, and began the study of medicine. 

 On returning to this country he entered the medical department of 

 the University of Pennsylvania from which he was graduated in 

 1874. About a year later he received the appointment of Assistant 

 Surgeon in the United States Army. His first assignment was to 

 St. Louis Barracks, Missouri, in 1875. After this he was stationed 



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