34 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1380 



This was tlie first meeting between Dr. Gray 

 and Spencer F. Baird, second secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, who at that time, an 

 ardent young naturalist of twenty-three, was 

 professor of natural history at Dickinson Col- 

 lege, Carlisle, Pa. The friendship thus begun 

 between Gray and Baird was intimate and 

 lifelong, lasting for more than forty years, 

 and it had great constructive influence in the 

 advancement of natural history in America. 

 It was clearly Baird's discovery of the box 

 huckleberry, the very same patch in Pennsyl- 

 vania about which I have been writing, that 

 chiefly drew the two men together at their 

 first meeting, and since this charming little 

 thousand-year-old lady of the forest has done 

 so much for American naturalists, the least 

 we can do in return is to try to keep her liv- 

 ing forever.^ 



Frederick V. Coville 



VINAL N. EDWARDS 



WoEKERS in science who are wont to visit 

 Wood's Hole during the summer months will 

 miss the familiar figure and kindly greeting 

 of one who has been identified with every 

 piece of faunistie work that has been carried 

 cm at the Fish Commission Laboratory since 

 the time of Baird, and one whose wide range 

 of activity, intimate knowledge absolute l^eli- 

 ability and willingness to serve have made 

 him a most valuable source of information 

 and assistance to those connected with the 

 " Marine Laboratory " since the time of its 

 foundation. Vinal N. Edwards, in the con- 

 tinuous service of the government for over 

 eixty years, died on April 5, 1919, and leaves 



1 Gray 's first account of the box huckleberry, in 

 which from Baird's specimens he was able to as- 

 sign the species to its correct genus, Gaylussacia, 

 was published in 1846 in his "Chloris Boreali- 

 Americana, ' ' pp. 54-55 (Mem. Amer. Acad., eer. 2, 

 vol. 3). The quotation from the letter to Torrey 

 cited above is from Jane L. Gray, 1893, "Letters 

 of Asa Gray," p. 343, where the date assigned to 

 the letter is October, 3 846. By reference, how- 

 ever, to W. H. Ball, 1915, "Spencer Fullerton 

 Baird, a Biography, ' ' pp. 132-134, it is clear that 

 the meeting took place, and the letter was written, 

 in AprO, 1846. 



vacant a place in the vital affairs of Wood's 

 Hole that can not be filled. 



If a young enthusiast felt that by early 

 rising he might steal an advantage over other 

 collaborators, his arrival at " the conmiission " 

 found Vinal already hard at work. If a trip 

 was made to the gulf stream, Vinal was the 

 man that knew when, where and how to gain 

 profit out of the expedition. If it were a 

 quiet night, ideal for " skimming," it was 

 Vinal's skiff that was moving silently among 

 the slicks. Throughout the day, in the cor- 

 ridors of the laboratories, on the wharf or at 

 the traps — it made no difference where — prob- 

 ably no sentence was more frequently heard 

 than "I don't know, ask Vinal." 



Untaught in the modern conception of the 

 word, courteous in his manner, unmentioned 

 in " Who's Who," unrecorded in " American 

 Men of Science," here was a man remarkably 

 well informed, courteous and friendly in his 

 association with men, well known to a multi- 

 tude of educators, and one upon whom many 

 of the foremost workers in biological science 

 relied for information and advice. It is prob- 

 able that hundreds of new species have re- 

 sulted from his activities as a collector. In 

 Verrill's report on the invertebrates of Vine- 

 yard Sound, his name is repeatedly mentioned. 

 Smith's paper on the fishes of the Wood's 

 Hole region would have been impossible with- 

 out his help, and those who were associated 

 in the preparation and publication of the 

 "Biological Survey of the Waters of Wood's 

 Hole and Vicinity " frequently stated that one 

 of the motives which originally prompted this 

 work was the " desire to incorporate in a per- 

 manent form the valuable but unpublished 

 data in the possession of this indefatigable 

 collector and observer." 



In order that the life and work of Vinal IT. 

 Edwards may not become forgotten, testi- 

 monials from several sources have been col- 

 lected, and bound copies of these will be 

 deposited in the Library of the United States 

 Fish Commission, in the Library of the Ma- 

 rine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Hole, in 

 the Library of the National Museum, the Li- 



