December, 1958 



Ross: Faunistic Surveys 



129 



expansion period of roughly 1871-1922, 

 and the specialized faunistic survey pe- 

 riod of roughly 1923 to date. 



Initial Period, 1858-1869 



The Illinois Natural History Society, 

 when formed in 1858, had as its primary 

 objectives the exploration of the biota of 

 Illinois and the establishment of a scien- 

 tific library. Encouragement of animal 

 studies was patently aimed at systematics; 

 yet even in the inaugural presidential ad- 

 dress by J. B. Turner there is more than 

 an overtone of putting systematics to 

 work. In the words of Turner (1859: 

 647), 



A true philosophy, as it seems to me, would 

 never let us rest content till we had truly and 

 fully learned not the bare name and form, 

 but the final cause and use, the good and 

 evil, the full relation of each thing, object and 

 being, to all other beings, and especially to 

 man — to all his interests, enterprises, arts, 

 uses and developments, physical, mental and 

 moral. 



At the anniversary meeting in 1860 at 

 Bloomington, certain objectives of the 

 Society were expressed differently but in 

 equally broad terms (Anon. 1860:3): 



It is the aim of the Society ... to establish 

 a Museum of Natural History, at the State 

 Normal University, comprising every species 

 of plants, birds, shells, Hshes, insects, quad- 

 rupeds, minerals and fossils, found in Illinois, 

 together with such collections from various 

 parts of the world as will assist our youth 

 in gaining a knowledge of the general studies 

 of nature. 



The Natural History Society did in 

 fact found a museum at Normal, Illinois, 

 which served as a rallying point for zo- 

 ologists of the area. The Society's papers 

 and proceedings continued to be published 

 by the Agricultural Society, which fur- 

 ther continued its active encouragement 

 of faunistic work by awarding prizes for 

 exhibited collections at the state fair. 



At about this time several Illinois nat- 

 uralists began publishing accounts of the 

 zoology of the state. C. D. Wilber 

 (1861/') described a fossil mastodon, 

 Thomas (1861^/. 186U) wrote lists of 

 mammals and of some insects, R. H. 

 Holder (1861rt, 186U) wrote about birds, 

 and Walsh (1861-1868) published a re- 

 markably fine series of papers before his 



death in 1869. Although a skeleton net- 

 work of railroads crisscrossed the state, 

 most of the collecting was local, because 

 it had to be done as a hobby appended 

 to the naturalist's business or other oc- 

 cupation ; hence, the papers were based 

 chiefly on material from a few localities. 



Collections exhibited at the state fairs 

 give another informative light on faunis- 

 tic activities of that time. At the 1859 

 fair three entries were exhibited, one a 

 red deer, another a collection of stuffed 

 birds, and the third a collection of in- 

 sects. In 1860 seven entries (Reynolds 

 1861:190-1) and in 1861 eight entries 

 (Reynolds 1865:137) were exhibited in 

 zoology. There were no more exhibits in 

 zoology until 1864; in that year the 

 winners were chiefly the Illinois Natural 

 History Society and Illinois Wesleyan 

 University at Bloomington (Reynolds 

 1865:310). Apparently these two groups 

 enjoyed some rivalry at that time in the 

 development of natural history. 



An idea of the high merit of these ex- 

 hibits can be gained from the 1861 

 Awarding Committee's remarks (Reyn- 

 olds 1865:149) on the insect exhibits: 



In Entomology, a collection exhibited by 

 T. G. Floyd, of Macomb, entitled the exhibitor 

 to the "commendation" of the Society. In this 

 department. Dr. Charles A. Helmuth, of Chi- 

 cago, made a fine exhibition. His collection 

 of Beetles is very valuable and attracted 

 much attention. He has over 1100 species col- 

 lected in Illinois, besides many fine species 

 from other States and foreign countries. We 

 think him entitled to "very high commenda- 

 tion," especially for specimens exhibited be- 

 longing to the order of Coleoptera. But by far 

 the best collection exhibited was presented by 

 B. D. Walsh, Esq., of Rock Island. It is hardly 

 possible to speak in too high terms of this 

 extensive collection of the insects of Illinois. 

 So far as Illinois insects are concerned, it 

 outnumbers in the order of Coleoptera, the 

 collection of Dr. Helmutii, and is very full 

 in all the other orders. It could only have been 

 collected and arranged by an exercise of 

 industry, [perseverance] and skill, and by an 

 application of scientific knowledge, reflecting 

 great honor upon the collector and entitling 

 him to high rank among the Naturalists of the 

 State and of the country. The Committee 

 do not hesitate to pronounce his the "best 

 collection illustrating the Entomology of Illi- 

 nois," and unanimously award to him the 

 premium of the Society. 



In spite of the achievements in faunis- 

 tic activities shown by both publications 



