SKETCH OF THOMAS EGLESTON. 261 



had given a striking example of broad interest in other departments 

 of science in his labor of love in connection with the monument to 

 the memory of the great ornithologist Audubon. The present writer 

 was closely associated with him in this work, and can testify to his 

 energy, enthusiasm, and perseverance therein. The later years of 

 Audubon's life had been spent on Manhattan Island, in a modest 

 but beautiful suburban home on the Hudson, above Harlem, known 

 as Audubon Park. He died in 1851, and was buried in a family 

 vault in Trinity Cemetery, then far out of town, now lying between 

 One hundred and Fifty-third and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 

 Streets, Amsterdam Avenue, and the Hudson. The spot was remote 

 and almost unknown, and with the death and removal of most of the 

 family, it had fallen into neglect. When One Hundred and Fifty- 

 third Street was to be opened through to the river, the vault, which 

 was close to the street line, was in danger of injury; and then Pro- 

 fessor Egleston took up the matter and proposed to the trustees 

 of the cemetery that if they would grant another plot in a better 

 location, he would endeavor to have a handsome monument erected 

 by national subscription. The trustees responded warmly, and Pro- 

 fessor Egleston undertook the work. Before going abroad in 1887 

 he broached the subject to the writer, and suggested that he present 

 it during the meeting of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, which was to be held during that summer in New 

 York. The writer gladly responded to the plan, and in August of 

 that year laid the facts before a general meeting of the association. 

 Much interest was expressed, but no action was taken, as had been 

 hoped. At the first regular meeting of the New York Academy 

 of Sciences, in October, the writer again presented the subject, with 

 better result; and a committee was appointed by the academy, con- 

 sisting of Professor Egleston as chairman, Dr. !N". L. Britton, and the 

 writer. On the return of the former from Europe the work was 

 taken up in earnest; and under the indefatigable efforts of the chair- 

 man and of the secretary, Dr. Britton, although with many delays 

 and discouragements, it was carried to a triumphant success. 



Before the end of the year (1887) the committee had held nu- 

 merous meetings, prepared and issued a circular, and engaged the 

 co-operation of several other organizations with the Academy of 

 Sciences, including the American Ornithologists' Union, the Agassiz 

 Association, and the Audubon Society (for the protection of our na- 

 tive birds). A design was proposed by the academy's committee, and 

 adopted by the joint committee of the several societies; this design 

 originated with Professor Egleston, and was a striking combination of 

 the religious, scientific, and artistic elements appropriate to the pur- 

 pose. The scheme was that of a llunic cross, the only form of that 



