480 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1377 



ogy. His greatest acliieyeinent was in recog- 

 nizing the importance of the hookworm di- 

 sease and in carrying out with the aid of 

 the Eockefeller fund wholesale measures for 

 its suppression. I>r. Stiles discovered the 

 American variety of hookworm and made a 

 complete survey of the south. At a result of 

 this work the most severe cases of the disease 

 have 'been eliminated from this country. 



Dr. Stiles in receiving the medal told of the 

 contempt that in his early days was cast upon 

 those who attempted to make utilitarian ap- 

 plications of a science like zoology. But in 

 spite of this attitude of hostility toward ap- 

 plied zoology he decided in 1891 to enter the 

 field. Since then z»ology has been of service 

 to public health in many ways and there are 

 great opportunities for the future. For in- 

 stance typhoid fever is now so well under- 

 stood that it could be completely eradicated by 

 sufficient efFort. Dr. Stiles stated he received 

 the medal not so much as an individual but 

 rather as a representative of the Public Health 

 Service. 



Dr. Albert Einstein of Berlin was called 

 upon at the close of the session and replied 

 very briefly in German, saying that he would 

 not then speak, but would try to learn English 

 before his next visit to "Washington. 



E. E. Slosson 



Science Sebviob 



THIRD AWARD OF THE DANIEL 

 GIRAUD ELLIOT MEDAL 



' The third award of the Daniel Giraud El- 

 liot gold medal, namely, for the year 1919, 

 together with the honorarium, was voted to 

 Robert Eidgway in recognition of the eighth 

 volume of " The Birds of Middle and North 

 America," which appeared in the year 1919. 

 The two previous awards of this medal were 

 to Frank M. Chapman for his " Distribution 

 of Bird-Life in Colombia," which appeared in 

 191Y, and to William Beebe for the first vol- 

 ume of his " Monograph of the Pheasants," 

 which appeared in 1918. Thus for the third 

 time an American ornithologist secures this 

 medal, an award which is open to the zoolo- 

 gists and pateontologists of the world. 



In his address as chairman of the Elliot 



Medal Committee Professor Osborn spoke as 

 follows : 



In undertaking this great work Eidgway was 

 not only placing the crown on his labors of a third 

 of a century, but was giving expression to a plaja 

 made 'by Baard a half century before. Eidgway 

 was therefore doubly inspired when, in 1901, he 

 undertook the stupendous task of preparing a 

 ten-volume treatise on all the birds of the western 

 hemisphere north of South Amerioa. With unre- 

 mitting zeal, and always maintaining the stan- 

 dard of thoroughness and accuracy set by the first 

 volume of the series, he continued his labors until 

 eight volumes have appeared, the last in 1919. 

 Each volume contains about 850 pages, or a total 

 of 6,800 pages in all. Nearly 900 genera are de- 

 fined and over 3,000 species and subspecies de- 

 scribed. 



While giving expression to his exceptional 

 powers of analysis and description trained by 

 years of experience and observation, Eidgway has 

 produced a work which in method, comprehen- 

 siveness, and accuracy, as well as in volume, has 

 never been surpassed in the annals of ornithology. 



It is interesting to add that, like the poet, the 

 ornithologist is born, not made. Eemote from 

 museums, libraries, and naturalists, Eobert Eidg- 

 way was born at Mt. Carmel, Illinois, July 2, 

 1850. At the age of fourteen we find him trying 

 to identify local birds with the aid of Goldsmith's 

 ' ' Animated Nature ' ' and Goodrich 's ' ' Natural 

 History. ' ' His first touch with Washington as the 

 great center of ornithological research came 

 through a letter enclosing a colored drawing of 

 the Purple Finch, to which the young ornitholo- 

 gist gave the name "Eoseate Grosbeak" {Loxia 

 rosea). This letter fo\md its way to the sympa- 

 thetic hands of Assistant Secretary Spencer P. 

 Baird of the Smithsonian Institution. In Baird 

 Eidgway found a preceptor and friend eminently 

 qualified to guide Ms special talents. Baird found 

 in Eidgway a pupU who in due time became has 

 worthy successor; and cordial relations then es- 

 tablished have continued to bear fruit during the 

 succeeding fifty-seven years. 



At the early age of seventeen, that is, in 1867, 

 Eidgway was appointed zoologist of the United 

 States Geological Survey of the 40th Parallel, un- 

 der Clarence King. Eemaining in the employ of 

 the government, he became, in 1880, curator of the 

 Bivision of Birds in the United States National 

 Museum, a position he stUl occupies. He was a 

 founder of the American Ornithologists' Union 

 and from 1898 served as its president. A retiring 



