V $£~\ Notes and News. 95 



hands. Many months during 1862 to 1865 were given to this fascinating 

 study, with a view to the preparation and publication of a series of illus- 

 trated monographs of the pterylography of different families of birds, the 

 Owls being the first it was proposed to treat methodically. Owing to 

 lack of material and other circumstances the work was never completed, 

 but my preliminary studies extended to the leading types of North Amer- 

 ican birds, and hundreds of preparations were made illustrative of the 

 general subject. Studies of the pterylse were made partly from freshly 

 killed birds, but mainly from alcholic specimens, which were found to be 

 an excellent substitute for fresh material when the latter could not be 

 obtained. None of the results have as yet been published, and the field 

 is still open. It was found that good taxonomic characters were furnished 

 by the form and character of the pterylae, as well as by the structure of 

 the feathers themselves. Among the Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) for exam- 

 ple, good generic characters could be found in the distribution of the feath- 

 ers on the throat and top of the head — as in the number of rows of feath- 

 ers and their arrangement. Reference is here made to the subject merely 

 to strengthen Mr. Clark's "appeal for an apparently neglected branch of 

 ornithology." — J. A. Allen.] 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professor John Strong Newberry of Columbia College died, after a 

 long illness, at New Haven, Conn., December 7, 1892, at the age of 70 

 years. He was born in Windsor, Conn., in 1822, and was graduated 

 from Western Reserve College in 1840, and from the Cleveland Medical 

 College in 1846. In 1S55 he was appointed assistant surgeon and geolo- 

 gist to the Government exploring expedition under Lieut. R. S. William- 

 son, examining the country between the Sacramento Valley and the Co- 

 lumbia River. Later he accompanied Lieut. J. C. Ives in his exploration 

 of the Colorado River, 'during the years 1857-58. During the War of the 

 Rebellion he was Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission. 

 At the close of the war he was appointed Professor of Geology and Palae- 

 ontology at Columbia College, and in 1869 became State Geologist of 

 Ohio. For many years he was president of the Torrey Botanical Club in 

 New York City, and of the New York Academy of Sciences. Although 

 distinguished in early life for his medical knowledge, and later as an emi- 

 nent specialist in geology and palaeontology, he has left his mark upon 

 North American ornithology, through his field work in connection with 

 the early Government expeditions to which he was attached. His report 

 upon the birds of the route surveyed by Lieut. Williamson was published 

 in 1857 m Vol. VI of the Pacific Railroad Reports of Explorations and 

 Surveys. 



Dr. Philo R. Hoy, the well-known physician and naturalist of Racine 

 Wis., died suddenly at Racine. Dec. 9, 1S92, at the age of 76 years. He 

 was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1816, was graduated from the 



